During the 1991 legislative session, Delegate Clifton A. Woodrum patroned House Joint Resolution 427 directing the Virginia State Crime Commission to "study the transportation of persons certified for admission to a hospital." This bill was subsequently withdrawn, and Speaker A. L. Philpott formally requested that the Commission study the transportation of persons with mental illness.

During the course of the study, the subcommittee held a series of six site visits across the Commonwealth, providing a forum for sheriffs and deputies, mental health system representatives and judicial officials to voice their concerns and discuss their recommendations for improvement. These meetings were further intended to help enhance local working relationships among meeting participants through more effective communication and a heightened understanding of each other's duties and responsibilities.

Additionally, the subcommittee conducted surveys of all Virginia sheriffs and Community Services Board (CSB) executive directors. The data collected from the surveys and the information gathered at the site visits as to the nature and extent of problems with mental health transports was carefully documented and clearly reflected in the subcommittee's findings and final recommendations.

The recommendations of the Corrections Issues Subcommittee pertaining to the transportation of persons with mental illness are as follows:

Legislative Recommendations:

• Amend and reenact § 15.1-138 of the Code to specifically provide authorization for police officers to execute and serve emergency custody orders (ECO's).

• Amend and reenact § 37.1-67.1 of the Code of Virginia to require a face-to-face evaluation by a designated public or private sector mental health evaluator of all persons to be detained before a temporary detention order (TDO) can be issued.

• Amend and reenact § 37.1-67.1 of the Code to provide statewide jurisdiction for law enforcement officers serving ECO's and TDO's.

• Amend and reenact § 37.1-71 to delete "on the same day." This change would assure that a sheriff, who, for example, is given a transportation order at 11:00 p. m. would not be in violation of the Code for not delivering the person "on the same day," but that the order for transport would still be executed immediately.

Budget Recommendations:

• Support the request of the Virginia Compensation Board to the Governor that the formula for determining the number of law enforcement sheriffs' deputies be based on a ratio of 1 deputy per 1,800 population in FY93 and 1 deputy per 1,600 population in FY94.

• Support the request of the Virginia Compensation Board to the Governor for restoration of sheriffs' overtime in the amount of $867,000.

• Support the request of the Virginia State Sheriffs' Association to the Virginia Compensation Board and the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Staffing and Funding of Constitutional Officers that staffing standards for local jails be implemented based on a ratio of 1 deputy per 3 inmates in jails built after July 1, 1990, and 1 deputy per 5 inmates over the operational capacity in order to address overcrowding. At present, staffing standards for local jails built prior to July 1, 1990 should be based upon a staffing analysis conducted by the Department of Corrections. (Note: Delegate Robert B. Ball, Sr. abstained from voting on this recommendation.)

Administrative Recommendations:

• Encourage meetings among local CSB workers, sheriffs' deputies, police officers where applicable, magistrates, special justices and any others involved in the ECO,
TDO and civil commitment processes in order to develop appropriate solutions to local problems.

• The Supreme Court of Virginia, with assistance from the Virginia State Crime Commission staff, should pursue grant funding in order to provide comprehensive training on the ECO, TDO and civil commitment processes to all special justices in the Commonwealth.

• The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, with assistance from the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, should review other states' initiatives in the area of outpatient commitment programs, develop guidelines for a model outpatient commitment program for consideration in Virginia and determine the resources necessary to implement such a program. The DMHMRSAS and the CSB's should report their findings and recommendations to the Virginia State Crime Commission.

• The Supreme Court of Virginia should redesign the TDO and ECO forms to include, on an "if known" and/or alleged basis, the same basic information about the person's physical appearance that is presently provided on criminal warrants (i.e., hair and eye colors, race, age, weight, etc.). In addition, space should be provided for additional comments in order to offer the magistrate or special justice completing the form an opportunity to include other relevant information, such as whether the person is known to be armed with a weapon, under the influence of drugs or alcohol or prone to violence. Finally, the TDO and ECO forms should also be modified so that they are more easily distinguished from each other (i.e., different colored forms).

• The Crime Commission staff, with assistance from the Virginia State Sheriffs' Association and the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, should carefully examine the legal issues surrounding reciprocal agreements with the states of Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee that would allow detained persons to be transported to hospitals in these neighboring states. (Note: The subcommittee as well as the full Crime Commission did not vote to formally approve this recommendation; however, the subcommittee Chairman directed the staff to further explore the concept of reciprocal agreements.)

• The Crime Commission staff, with assistance from the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards and the Virginia State Sheriffs' Association, should develop a procedures manual which clearly and comprehensively addresses the issuance and execution of ECO's and TDO's and emphasizes related transportation requirements. The manual should be printed and distributed to all Virginia sheriffs and applicable police chiefs, chief magistrates and community services boards' executive directors and should be made available upon request to any other interested parties.