Our View of the Legislature – Mental Health
2025 Virginia General Assembly
February 24, 2025
The 2025 legislative session ended on Saturday, February 22. During this “short session,” the Virginia Legislature considered many bills that could have an impact on the rights of people with mental health challenges. Here are some of the mental health bills we were watching:
Bills approved by both House and Senate and waiting for the Governor to sign, amend, or veto:
- HB 1713 (Watts) allows a behavioral health court or other specialty court to have jurisdiction over a felony offense.
- SB 1094 (Jordan) amends the definition of “psychiatric emergency department,” as it relates to involuntary temporary detention orders, so that a psychiatric emergency department does not have to be connected to a facility licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, but can instead be separately licensed. This will expand the kinds of entities that can be part of the TDO process.
- SB 1304 (McPike) directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to allow crisis stabilization services for non-hospitalized individuals outside of “institutions for mental disease.”
Bills postponed from the 2025 GA session:
- HB 2230 (Cherry) would have amended the conditions under which law enforcement or alternative transportation can transfer custody of someone under a temporary detention order to a qualified facility and return to transfer the individual once a bed is found at another facility.
- HB 2535 (Hope) would have repealed Virginia’s Health Care Decisions Act, which contains protections for mental health advanced directives, and replaces it with the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act.
We had been watching one bill, in particular, that would have expanded the use of “special conservators of the peace” (SCOPs) during emergency custody orders (ECOs), alleviating the need for law enforcement involvement. Experience with that approach, in very limited trial runs, seemed very promising. The Governor included significant funding for SCOPs in his proposed budget, but the legislature cut the amount allocated. Additionally, the patron of HB 2228, Delegate Cherry, asked for his bill advancing the use of SCOPs to be stricken, believing that the funding in the Governor’s budget would get the job done. dLCV will be watching as the SCOP experiment develops in the coming months.
At the disability Law Center of Virginia, we work on behalf of individuals with mental illness, and all Virginians with disabilities, 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 and policy proposals, all year long.