West Virginia legislation · 2025 Regular Session
West Virginia HB2347: The Joel Archer Substance Abuse Intervention Act.
Status: Passed both chambers, April 12, 2025
The purpose of this bill is to require that mental hygiene regions be created by the Supreme Court of Appeals; clarify that mental hygiene evaluations and proceedings may be conducted by video technology; grant civil immunity for mental health service providers who do involuntary commitment proceedings and setting out exceptions; create a temporary observation release for mental hygiene respondents; clarify that chief medical officer releases requiring approval of circuit court only apply to forensic patients; require hearings for any commitment period of longer than 90 days and prohibiting any person from being civilly committed to longer than 120 days without a hearing to determine whether the individual continues to meet commitment criteria; remove obsolete language regarding transcripts of proceedings to circuit court of county of residence; restructure the mental hygiene commissioner system by authorizing new mental hygiene regions and full-time mental hygiene commissioners employed by the Supreme Court of Appeals; authorize mental hygiene proceedings and evaluations by video and requiring facilities to provide technology that meets Supreme Court of Appeals specifications; authorize statewide coverage for mental hygiene evaluations and permitting a mental hygiene commissioner to exclude evaluator testimony based on the West Virginia Rules of Evidence; and require each Certified Community Mental Health Center to ensure that at least one examiner is available to provide uniform and continuous coverage in each region, including afterhours, weekends, and holidays.
What the bill says
An act to amend and reenact §27-5-2 and §27- 5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to involuntary custody and involuntary hospitalization; providing additional grounds for application for involuntary hospitalization; modifying evidentiary standards for imposing civil liability on mental health professionals rendering services in mental hygiene cases; requiring individual to agree to voluntary treatment before being removed from involuntary hospitalization prior to probable cause hearing; providing additional grounds for satisfaction of probable cause and involuntary hosp.
From the enrolled text, April 12, 2025:
AN ACT to amend and reenact §27-5-2 and §27- 5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to involuntary custody and involuntary hospitalization; providing additional grounds for application for involuntary hospitalization; modifying evidentiary standards for imposing civil liability on mental health professionals rendering services in mental hygiene cases; requiring individual to agree to voluntary treatment before being removed from involuntary hospitalization prior to probable cause hearing; providing additional grounds for satisfaction of probable cause and involuntary hospitalization standards in mental hygiene proceedings; providing name of amendments; permitting hospitalization of individuals with substance use disorder under certain circumstances; providing prohibition on consideration of refusal of substance abuse services when considering individual's judgment; providing for dismissal of involuntary hospitalization proceedings under certain circumstances; setting forth additional required findings by the chief medical officer; providing for restoration of firearm possession rights under certain circumstances; and providing for removal of individual from mental health registry under certain circumstances. ARTICLE 5. INVOLUNTARY HOSPITALIZATION. §27-5-2. Institution of proceedings for involuntary custody for examination; custody; probable cause hearing; examination of individual. (a) Any adult person may make an application for involuntary hospitalization for examination of an individual when the person making the application has reason to believe that the individual to be examined has a substance use disorder as defined by the most recent …