As the General Assembly session continues, dLCV is looking for volunteers to help track legislation that impacts people with disabilities. If you are interested in serving as a Bill Reviewer, please email ga@dlcv.org. with “Bill Reviewer” in the subject line. A member of our team will follow up with the next steps.
During this 2026 General Assembly Session, dLCV notes some bills that aim to provide appropriate treatment to individuals experiencing physical as well as mental health emergencies. The bills would help to protect patients and potentially decrease the need for hospitalization in response to a mental health crisis.
SB738 (Jordan) and its House counterpart, HB1318 (Willett) requires that psychiatric emergency departments transfer patients with non-psychiatric emergency medical conditions to a facility that provides emergency medical treatment. State psychiatric hospitals have seen an increase in medically inappropriate admissions – patients who needed medical treatment prioritized over psychiatric treatment. State psychiatric hospitals are not medical facilities and not equipped to provide medical treatment. If this were to pass, this could reduce the amount of medically inappropriate admissions to state psychiatric hospitals and the deaths and serious illness that result. The Senate bill will be heard in the Senate Committee on Education and Health. The House bill will be in Health and Human Services, subcommittee on Behavioral Health.
HB309 (Hope) places a person under custody of the facility where they are while waiting for a temporary detention order evaluation. Currently, when a patient is under an emergency custody order, custody is not clear – often the patient remains in police custody. Sometimes, the responsibility of law enforcement officers to protect safety conflicts with the duty of hospital staff to provide care. This is what happened to Irvo Otieno when he was brought to Parham Doctors under an ECO through Henrico Police during a psychiatric emergency. While waiting for a TDO evaluation, officers remained in the room with Otieno. When he struck an officer, they charged him and transferred him to the jail, not allowing the hospital to provide adequate care. Though Irvo Otieno is the most clear example of this dilemma, this happens quite often to people experiencing psychiatric emergencies. If an officer feels threatened, the patient is transferred to jail, rather than receive the treatment they need and deserve. dLCV believes that placing people under custody of the facility might resolve this conflict and ensure that the priority will be treating the patient first. This bill was approved by the House Health and Human Services’ subcommittee on Behavioral Health, and will be heard by the full HHS Committee, probably on Tuesday, February 3rd.
Our mission is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any legislation that you think we should be following, by emailing us at ga@dlcv.org.