A. Within 180 days of receiving from the Director the name of a prisoner or defendant who has been assessed by the Director pursuant to § 37.2-903, the CRC shall (i) complete its assessment of the prisoner or defendant for possible commitment pursuant to subsection B and (ii) forward its written recommendation regarding the prisoner or defendant to the Attorney General pursuant to subsection C.
B. CRC assessments of eligible prisoners or defendants shall include a mental health examination, including a personal interview, of the prisoner or defendant by a licensed psychiatrist or a licensed clinical psychologist who is designated by the Commissioner, skilled in the diagnosis and risk assessment of sex offenders, knowledgeable about the treatment of sex offenders, and not a member of the CRC. If the prisoner's or defendant's name was forwarded to the CRC based upon an evaluation by a licensed psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist, a different licensed psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist shall perform the examination for the CRC. The licensed psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist shall determine whether the prisoner or defendant is a sexually violent predator, as defined in § 37.2-900, and forward the results of this evaluation and any supporting documents to the CRC for its review.
The CRC assessment may be based on:
An actuarial evaluation, clinical evaluation, or any other information or evaluation determined by the CRC to be relevant, including but not limited to a review of (i) the prisoner's or defendant's institutional history and treatment record, if any; (ii) his criminal background; and (iii) any other factor that is relevant to the determination of whether he is a sexually violent predator.
C. Following the examination and review conducted pursuant to subsection B, the CRC shall recommend that the prisoner or defendant (i) be committed as a sexually violent predator pursuant to this chapter; (ii) not be committed, but be placed in a conditional release program as a less restrictive alternative; or (iii) not be committed because he does not meet the definition of a sexually violent predator. To assist the Attorney General in his review, the Department of Corrections, the CRC, and the psychiatrist or psychologist who conducts the mental health examination pursuant to this section shall provide the Attorney General with all evaluation reports, prisoner records, criminal records, medical files, and any other documentation relevant to determining whether a prisoner or defendant is a sexually violent predator.
D. Pursuant to clause (ii) of subsection C, the CRC may recommend that a prisoner or defendant enter a conditional release program if it finds that (i) he does not need inpatient treatment, but needs outpatient treatment and monitoring to prevent his condition from deteriorating to a degree that he would need inpatient treatment; (ii) appropriate outpatient supervision and treatment are reasonably available; (iii) there is significant reason to believe that, if conditionally released, he would comply with the conditions specified; and (iv) conditional release will not present an undue risk to public safety.
E. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any mental health professional employed or appointed pursuant to subsection B or § 37.2-907 shall be permitted to copy and possess any presentence or postsentence reports and victim impact statements. The mental health professional shall not disseminate the contents of the reports or the actual reports to any person or entity and shall only utilize the reports for use in examinations, creating reports, and testifying in any proceedings pursuant to this article.
F. If the CRC deems it necessary to have the services of additional experts in order to complete its review of the prisoner or defendant, the Commissioner shall appoint such qualified experts as are needed.
1999, cc. 946, 985, § 37.1-70.5; 2001, c. 776; 2003, cc. 989, 1018; 2004, c. 764; 2005, cc. 716, 914; 2006, cc. 863, 914; 2007, c. 876; 2009, c. 740; 2011, c. 42; 2012, cc. 668, 800.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
11
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 2007–2023 · leading case:
Hood v. Com., 701 S.E.2d 421 (Va. 2010).
Hood v. Com., 701 S.E.2d 421 (Va. 2010).
· cites it 37× “Following receipt of notice from the Director that Hood was subject to the provisions of the SVPA, the Commitment Review Committee ("CRC") ordered Hood to undergo a mental health examination as required by Code § 37.2-904. Glenn Rex Miller, Jr., Ph.”
Com. v. Wynn, 671 S.E.2d 137 (Va. 2009).
· cites it 8× “, who performed a mental health examination of Wynn pursuant to Code § 37.2-904(B). Dr. Miller was the only mental health expert who testified at the trial.”
Com. v. Miller, 643 S.E.2d 208 (Va. 2007).
· cites it 8× “Ryan was not "skilled in treatment" of sex offenders as required by Code § 37.2-904, because she did not treat them as a part of her practice but was merely certified to do so.”
Warrington v. Com., 699 S.E.2d 233 (Va. 2010).
· cites it 8× “Berman's experience did not satisfy the "treatment" criterion required under Code § 37.2-904. The Attorney General requested a continuance of the probable cause hearing so that a qualified expert could be appointed to evaluate Warrington.”
Com. v. Jackson, 661 S.E.2d 810 (Va. 2008).
· cites it 2× “By contrast, a Code § 37.2-904 assessment in Virginia includes a mental health examination, as by Dr.”
Ferrara v. Commonwealth (Va. 2021).
· cites it 15× “Code § 37.2-904. That evaluation is to include, among other things, a personal interview by a licensed psychiatrist or a licensed clinical psychologist.”
Rhoten v. Commonwealth (Va. 2013).
· cites it 4× “Code §§ 37.2-904(B) and (C). Information is forwarded to the Attorney General to enable the Commonwealth to petition for the prisoner’s civil commitment pursuant to the Act if the Attorney General so chooses.”
Brown v. Ferguson (W.D. Va. 2022).
· cites it 2× “2-903, the Department of Corrections notified the Commitment Review Committee at the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) of Brown’s anticipated release date, and the Committee arranged for a sexually violent predator (SVP) evaluation pursuant to…”
Commonwealth v. Brown, 77 Va. Cir. 470 (Nelson Cir. Ct. 2007).
· cites it 3× “Va. Code § 37.2-904 mandates that the CRC complete its assessment and forward its recommendation to the Attorney General within ninety days of receiving notice from the Director.”
DeMille v. Commonwealth (Va. 2012).
· cites it 2× “Code § 37.2-904. On September 14, 2004, the Attorney General filed a petition in the circuit court seeking the civil commitment of DeMille as a sexually violent predator.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 37.2-904(B) — 5 cases
Com. v. Wynn, 671 S.E.2d 137 (Va. 2009).
“, who performed a mental health examination of Wynn pursuant to Code § 37.2-904(B). Dr. Miller was the only mental health expert who testified at the trial.”
Com. v. Miller, 643 S.E.2d 208 (Va. 2007).
“Ryan was not "skilled in treatment" of sex offenders as required by Code § 37.2-904, because she did not treat them as a part of her practice but was merely certified to do so.”
Warrington v. Com., 699 S.E.2d 233 (Va. 2010).
“Berman's experience did not satisfy the "treatment" criterion required under Code § 37.2-904. The Attorney General requested a continuance of the probable cause hearing so that a qualified expert could be appointed to evaluate Warrington.”
Ferrara v. Commonwealth (Va. 2021).
“Code § 37.2-904. That evaluation is to include, among other things, a personal interview by a licensed psychiatrist or a licensed clinical psychologist.”
Rhoten v. Commonwealth (Va. 2013).
“Code §§ 37.2-904(B) and (C). Information is forwarded to the Attorney General to enable the Commonwealth to petition for the prisoner’s civil commitment pursuant to the Act if the Attorney General so chooses.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 37.2-904(C) — 2 cases
Ferrara v. Commonwealth (Va. 2021).
“Code § 37.2-904. That evaluation is to include, among other things, a personal interview by a licensed psychiatrist or a licensed clinical psychologist.”
Rhoten v. Commonwealth (Va. 2013).
“Code §§ 37.2-904(B) and (C). Information is forwarded to the Attorney General to enable the Commonwealth to petition for the prisoner’s civil commitment pursuant to the Act if the Attorney General so chooses.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.