During the 2022 General Assembly Session, Senator Stephen Newman introduced Senate Bill 202. The legislation, as adopted, directed the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, together with the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, to study

“options to increase the use of alternative custody arrangements for individuals who are subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order and mitigate the burden the requirement for law enforcement custody places on local law-enforcement officers and local law-enforcement agencies. In conducting such study, the Secretary shall review overall best practices for alternative custody arrangements implemented in other states and develop recommendations for options to (i) allow law-enforcement officers to transfer custody of individuals who are subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order to another person with the necessary training and certification to maintain custody of such individual in order to reduce the time law-enforcement officers must remain with the person who is the subject of the emergency custody or temporary detention order and (ii) increase the availability of beds for individuals who are subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention order to ensure prompt transfer to an appropriate facility, including expansion of crisis intervention team assessment centers and development of regional crisis receiving centers and other options for increasing the availability of beds at state and private hospitals and other behavioral health facilities for adults and children who are subject to an emergency custody or temporary detention orders on Appropriations and Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committees on Education and Health and Finance and Appropriations by October 1, 2022." (Chapter 103).

In May 2022, a diverse group of stakeholders from across the Commonwealth, including representatives from rural and urban law enforcement organizations, health care providers, emergency physicians, hospitals, Community Services Boards (CSBs), and mental health advocacy organizations, were invited to participate in a workgroup to solicit feedback and further study and refine the existing alternative custody program in Virginia. This workgroup (Chapter 103 Workgroup) was co-chaired by Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Robert Mosier. The goal of the Chapter 103 Workgroup was to develop recommendations to alleviate the burden experienced by law enforcement caused by maintaining custody of individuals subject to emergency custody orders (ECOs) and temporary custody orders (TDOs). A listing of the Chapter 103 Workgroup membership is included as Appendix A.