A. Any person alleged to have a mental illness to a degree that warrants treatment in a facility may be admitted to a facility by compliance with one of the following admission procedures:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 37.2-801

  • Department: means the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. See Virginia Code 37.2-100
  • Facility: means a state or licensed hospital, training center, psychiatric hospital, or other type of residential or outpatient mental health or developmental services facility. See Virginia Code 37.2-100
  • Mental illness: means a disorder of thought, mood, emotion, perception, or orientation that significantly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to address basic life necessities and requires care and treatment for the health, safety, or recovery of the individual or for the safety of others. See Virginia Code 37.2-100
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249

1. Voluntary admission;

2. Admission of incapacitated persons pursuant to § 37.2-805.1; or

3. Involuntary admission by the procedure described in §§ 37.2-809 through 37.2-820.

B. The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia shall prepare the petitions, orders, and such other legal forms as may be required in procedures for custody, detention, and involuntary admission pursuant to Articles 4 (§ 37.2-808 et seq.) and 5 (§ 37.2-814 et seq.) of Chapter 8, and shall distribute such forms to the clerks of the general district courts and juvenile and domestic relations district courts of the Commonwealth. The Department shall prepare the preadmission screening report, examination, and such other clinical forms as may be required in proceedings for custody, detention, and admission pursuant to § 37.2-805, and Articles 4 (§ 37.2-808 et seq.) and 5 (§ 37.2-814 et seq.) of Chapter 8, and shall distribute such forms to community services boards, mental health care providers, and directors of state facilities.

Code 1950, §§ 37-61.1, 37-67, 37-121; 1950, pp. 903, 916; 1958, c. 154; 1964, c. 640; 1968, c. 477, § 37.1-64; 1970, c. 673; 1972, c. 639; 1976, c. 671; 1980, c. 582; 2005, c. 716; 2009, cc. 211, 268, 708.