Chapter 27. INSANE PERSONS AND MENTAL DEFECTIVES.

§1. What Word “Lunatic” to Include.—The word “lunatic,” whenever it occurs in this chapter, shall be construed to include every insane person who is not an idiot.(Code 1849, c. 85, §55; Code 1860, c. 85, §65; Code 1868, c. 58, §51; 1889, c. 19, §44; 1915, c. 51, §2; Code 1923, c. 58, §2.)

§2. Resident of State and County.—For the purposes of this chapter no person shall be considered a resident of this State unless he is a citizen of the United States and has been a bona fide resident of this State for at least one year, and was not insane when he came into this State; and no person shall be considered a resident of a county who is not a resident of the State as above defined, and who has not been a resident of the county for at least sixty days, and was not insane when he came into the county.(1915, c. 51, §27; 1921, c. 131, §27; Code 1923, c. 58, §27.)

§1. Locations; Continuation; Management.—The state hospitals for the insane, heretofore established at Weston, Spencer, Huntington and Lakin, shall be continued and known, respectively, as the Weston state hospital. Spencer state hospital, Huntington state hospital and Lakin state hospital, and shall be managed, directed and controlled as prescribed in article one, chapter twenty-five of this Code, and further as provided in this chapter.(Code 1860, c. 85, §§14-20; 1863, c. 99, §1, c. 125, §1; Code 1868, c. 58, §1; 1885, pp. 98, 99; 1887, Ex. Sess., c. 9, §1, p. 254; 1889, c. 19, §1; 1897, c. 7, §§1, 19; 1903, c. 32, §1; 1904, c. 23, §1; 1915, c. 51, §1; 1919, c. 13, §§1, 2; Code 1923, c. 58, §§1, 36, 37.)

§2. Segregation of Races.—The Weston, Spencer and Huntington state hospitals shall be used for the care and treatment of white persons, and the Lakin state hospital shall be used for the care and treatment of colored persons.

§3. Superintendent of Lakin State Hospital.—The chief executive officer of the Lakin state hospital shall be a superintendent, who shall be a legally qualified physician of at least six years’ experience in the practice of his profession, and shall be a person of good executive ability.(1919, c. 13, §1; Code 1923, c. 58, §36.)

§4. Rules and Regulations as to Patients.—The state board of control shall have authority to make and adopt rules and regulations, not contrary to law, regulating the admission of patients to the said state hospitals, the care, maintenance and treatment of patients therein, and the release, parole and discharge of patients therefrom.(1897, c. 7, §4; 1904, c. 23, §3; 1915, c. 51, §3; Code 1923, c. 58, §3.)

§5. Forms for Committing Patients; Division of Patients into Classes.—The board of control shall also have authority to prepare, prescribe and have printed, forms to be used in committing patients to any of said hospitals; and in order to make provision in cases of scarcity of room, to divide into classes patients to be admitted thereto, so that admission shall be according to the relative need of patients for medical care and treatment in a hospital; and, for the same reason, to cause to be returned to their relatives, or to the counties whence they came, patients who are harmless and incurable, including dotards, feeble-minded, imbeciles and idiots.(1915, c. 51, §3; Code 1923, c. 58, §3.)

§6. Inspection of Hospitals; How Expense Thereof Paid.—The governor and the board of control shall each have authority to have any one of said hospitals inspected or investigated by an expert or experts, at any time either may think necessary. When such is done upon the order of the governor, he may pay the expense thereof out of the civil contingent fund; and when done upon the order of the board of control, it may pay the same out of the current expense fund of the institution inspected or investigated.(1889, c. 19, §46; 1915, c. 51, §3; Code 1923, c. 58, §3.)

§1. County Mental Hygiene Commission.—There shall he in each county a mental hygiene commission, to be composed of the president of the county court, the prosecuting attorney and the clerk of the county court, who shall serve as such without compensation, except for traveling or other necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties as members of the commission, which expenses shall be audited by the county court and paid out of the county treasury: Provided, That if the president of the county court shall not reside conveniently to the county seat and for that reason, or for other reasons, shall desire not to serve as a member of the commission, the county court may choose one of its other members as a member of said commission. The president of the county court, or other member thereof chosen in his stead, as above provided, shall be the chairman of the commission. In his absence, the prosecuting attorney shall act as such chairman. The clerk of the county court shall be the clerk of the commission, and shall keep in a proper book provided for the purpose a full and careful record of all the acts, orders and resolutions of the commission. Two members of the commission shall be a quorum thereof.(1915, c. 51, §4; 1921, c. 131, §4; Code 1923, c. 58, §4.)

§2. Meetings.—All meetings of the commission shall be held at the county seat, unless it shall be thought best by the commission to meet at some other place, as in the case of an insane person whose condition makes it advisable to meet at or near his residence.(1915, c. 51, §5; Code 1923, c. 58, §5.)

§3. How Proceedings Originated; Complaint; Warrant.—If any resident of a county suspect any person therein to be a lunatic, he may make complaint under oath to the clerk of the county court, giving such information and stating such facts therein as may be required, and deliver the same to the clerk of the county court, whose duty it shall be to issue a warrant ordering the person so suspected and named in such complaint to be brought before the commission at a time and place named therein, that his sanity may be inquired into. Any member of the commission without such complaint may have such warrant issued for any person found in his county, whom he shall suspect to be a lunatic. All such warrants shall be signed by the clerk of the county court and have impressed thereon the seal thereof; and may be addressed to the sheriff of the county or to any constable of any district thereof, or to a special constable appointed for the purpose and named therein; but if any relative or friend of the person so suspected will serve such warrant and cause such suspected person to be brought before the commission, he may be allowed to do so. The officer or person to whom the warrant is addressed shall take the suspected person into custody and bring him before the commission at the time and place named therein.(Code 1849, c. 85, §12; Code 1860, c. 85, §22; Code 1868, c. 58, §11; 1882, c. 67, §11; 1889, c. 19, §9; 1915, c. 51, §5; Code 1923, c. 58, §5.)

§4. Guardian Ad Litem for Suspected Person.—Before proceeding with the hearing of the matter, the commission shall appoint a guardian ad litem for such suspected person, and such guardian shall be present at the hearing and manage the case on behalf of the person suspected.(1915, c. 51, §5; Code 1923, c. 58, §5.)

§5. Witnesses; Physicians; Evidence to be Reduced to Writing.—Such witnesses as shall appear necessary shall be summoned by the commission to testify at the hearing. The substance of the evidence of each witness shall be reduced to writing. Among the witnesses there shall be included two reputable physicians, duly authorized to practice medicine in this State, who shall separately make a physical and mental examination of the suspected person, and each physician shall make out a certificate of the result of such examination in the form required by the board of control, which certificate shall be signed and sworn to by the physician, and shall be considered as evidence by the commission. Not more than one physician of any firm or association of physicians practicing medicine together shall sign any such certificate respecting the mental or bodily condition of any person suspected of insanity.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§12, 14; Code 1860, c. 85, §§22, 24; Code 1868, c. 58, §§11, 13; 1882, c. 67, §11; 1889, c. 19, §§9, 11; 1915, c. 51, §§5, 29; 1921, c. 131, §29; Code 1923, c. 58, §§5, 29.)

§6. Hearing; Disposition of Lunatic.—If the commission finds as a result of the hearing that the person suspected is a lunatic and should be confined in a hospital, and that he is not a resident of another county of this State, it shall order him to be committed to the nearest state hospital unless some relative or friend of such person will agree to take care of him, in which case the commission may deliver him to such person, and take from such relative or friend a bond in the penalty of at least five hundred dollars, with sufficient security, to be approved by the commission, payable to the State of West Virginia, with condition to restrain and take proper care of such insane person until the cause of confinement shall cease, or until he is delivered to the commission to be proceeded with according to law; but if the person found to be a lunatic is not dangerous to himself or to the lives or property of others, or is found harmless and incurable, he may be delivered to any relative or friend who will agree to take proper care of him, without such bond, if in the judgment of the commission in any case the same may be proper.(Code 1849, c. 85, §13; Code 1860, c. 85, §23; Code 1868, c. 58, §12; 1889, c. 19, §10; 1915, c. 51, §5; Code 1923, c. 58, §5.)

§7. Disposition of Lunatic Who is Nonresident of County; Expenses of Removal.—If the person so found to be a lunatic by the commission is a resident of another county of this State, the commission shall make up and transmit to the sheriff of its county a copy of the evidence taken on the examination of such person, and shall find and certify to the sheriff the following facts concerning such person, namely: Name, color, age and sex, and the county of which such person is a resident, giving the name of the city, town or post office of such residence, if known. Such certificate and copy of the evidence shall be signed by the chairman and clerk of the commission, attested by the seal of the county court. Upon receipt of such certificate and copy of evidence, the sheriff shall thereupon remove such person to the county of which he is a resident and deliver him into the custody of the clerk of the county court, or, in his absence, to the sheriff, and take a receipt in writing for him, which shall show the name of such insane person, the date of delivery, the person who delivered him and the person receiving him. The sheriff shall make due return to the clerk of the county court of his county, showing the manner in which he removed such insane person, making the above mentioned receipt part of such return. Such return shall be entered by the county clerk in the record of the proceedings of the county mental hygiene commission. The expenses necessarily incurred in effecting such removal, including the compensation of the person making the same, not to exceed three dollars per day, and of one guard when necessary, not to exceed one dollar and a half per day, for each day actually so employed, shall be paid out of the county treasury, and shall be refunded to the county paying the same by the county court of the county to which such lunatic is removed and of which he is a resident. The mental hygiene commission of the last named county shall proceed in the case of such lunatic as in the case of a person brought before them charged with being a lunatic, and in such case may consider the evidence and certificate delivered to them by the commission of the other county.(1915, c. 51, §6; 1921, c. 131, §6; Code 1923, c. 58, §6.)

§8. Commission to Inquire into Residence.—In the inquest on a person before them suspected of insanity, the county mental hygiene commission, if it appear that he is not a resident of this State, shall make diligent inquiry to ascertain his residence, and if it be ascertained, shall state in the commitment papers, as definitely as their information will justify, the city, town or other place, as well as the county or province, and the state or country, of which he is a resident.(Code 1849, c. 85, §19; Code 1860, c. 85, §29; Code 1868, c. 58, §18; 1881, c. 21, §18; 1882, c. 67, §18; 1889, c. 19, §16; 1915, c. 51, §27; 1921, c. 131, §27; Code 1923, c. 58, §27.)

§9. Arrangements Preparatory to Transfer of Insane Person to Hospital; Expenses of Commitment and Transfer.—When a person has been committed to a hospital as hereinbefore provided, the clerk of the commission shall immediately communicate with the superintendent of the proper hospital, and forward to him the commitment papers. In the meantime the commission may deliver such insane person into the custody of the sheriff for safe keeping until he is taken to the hospital, or may provide for his safe keeping for such time by any relative or friend who may agree to do so, upon such terms as may be agreed upon. No such insane person shall be confined in any jail, lockup, or other similar place, unless by reason of his violent or dangerous condition the same shall be necessary; and it shall be the duty of the commission to have all such persons admitted to a hospital where they can receive proper treatment, as speedily as possible. In any case the clerk of the county court may communicate with the superintendent of the hospital by telegraph or telephone. All expenses incurred in the arrest, hearing, and transportation of any insane person to a hospital, including any such telegraphing or telephoning, shall be certified to the county court by the clerk thereof, and shall be paid out of the county treasury.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§15, 32; Code 1860, c. 85, §§25, 42; Code 1868, c. 58, §§14, 29; 1872-3, c. 67, §14; 1882, c. 67, §§14, 29; 1889, c. 19, §§12, 27; 1915, c. 51, §7; Code 1923, c. 58, §7.)

§10. Compensation of Physicians, Witnesses and Others.—The county court of any county may contract with two or more competent physicians respecting the compensation to be paid to them for their services in examining lunatics and other persons brought before the mental hygiene commission of the county, the county court, or the circuit court, or confined in jail. The compensation of physicians, of all witnesses, and of all other persons and officers whose compensation is not fixed in this chapter or by any other law, employed in examination of such persons, or for their care and maintenance, or for other services in connection there with, unless the same shall have been agreed upon before or at the time such service was performed, or is fixed by law, shall be such as may be prescribed by the county court of the county, and shall be paid out of the county treasury.(Code 1849, c. 85, §38; Code 1860, c. 85, §48; Code 1868, c. 58, §§35, 52; 1882, c. 67, §§35, 52; 1883, c. 39, §35; 1887, Ex. Sess., c. 3, §35; 1889, c. 19, §§31, 45; 1891, c. 50, §52, c. 121, §31; 1915, c. 51, §10; 1921, c. 131, §10; Code 1923, c. 58, §10.)

§11. Expenses of Transfer to Hospital Payable out of State Treasury.—When an attendant is sent from a state hospital to bring in a person committed thereto, the expense incurred in taking the person to the hospital, including the transportation and other necessary traveling expenses of such person and of the attendant, shall be paid out of the treasury of the State. A written and fully itemized statement of such expenses, sworn to by the attendant making the same and attested by the super intendent of the hospital, shall be sent by mail to the auditor, who shall issue his warrant upon the treasury therefor.(Code 1849, c. 85, §36; Code 1860, c. 85, §46; Code 1868, c. 58, §33; 1875, c. 81, §1; 1889, c. 19, §29; 1915, c. 51, §32; 1915, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 6, §32; Code 1923, c. 58, §32.)

§12. When Officer Not to be Compensated for Transfer to Hospital.—No officer shall be allowed anything for carrying a lunatic or other person to or from a hospital, whether for himself, his guard, or the lunatic, unless he shall have previously ascertained that there is room therein for such lunatic.(Code 1849, c. 85, §37; Code 1860, c. 85, §47; Code 1868, c. 58, §34; 1889, c. 19, §30; 1915, c. 51, §16; Code 1923, c. 58, §16.)

§13. How and When Circuit Court to Inquire Into a Person’s Sanity.—If a person residing in this State be suspected to be insane but has not been found to be an insane person or a mental defective by the county mental hygiene commission, the circuit court of the county of which such person is an inhabitant shall, upon the application of any person interested, and after five days’ notice to the person suspected, proceed to examine into his state of mind, and if satisfied that he is an insane person or a mental defective, shall so find. If a person residing out of this State, but having property herein, be suspected to be insane, the circuit court of the county wherein the property or a greater part of it is, shall, upon like application and being satisfied that he is ail insane person or a mental defective, so find. Such finding, in either case, shall be authority for the appointment of a committee for such person by the county court.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§41, 42; Code 1860, c. 85, §§51, 52; Code 1868, c. 58, §§38, 39; 1882, c. 67, §38; 1889, c. 19, §§34, 35; 1915, c. 51, §26; Code 1923, c. 58, §26.)

§1. Admission to Hospital of Committed Persons.—The superintendent of the hospital to whom application is made as hereinbefore provided, shall, on receipt of such application, carefully consider the same, and if he be of the opinion that the person named is a proper one to be admitted to his institution, and there is room for him therein, he shall, without delay, cause such person to be brought to his hospital by one of the attendants thereof, the actual expenses whereof shall be paid out of the proper fund of the hospital, and repaid to the State by the county as hereinafter provided. If there be no room in the hospital to which the application is made, the superintendent thereof shall immediately communicate the fact to the board of control, which he may do when deemed necessary by telegraph or telephone, and transmit the commitment papers to the board of control, whose duty it shall be to ascertain whether there is room in any one of the other hospitals, and if there is, to cause such person to be admitted thereto, and the superintendent thereof to send an attendant for such person: Provided, That any reputable and trustworthy relative or friend of such insane person may be allowed by the county mental hygiene commission to deliver him to the hospital, if such relative or friend will do so without expense to the county or State.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§11, 15, 16; Code 1860, c. 85, §§21, 25, 26; Code 1868, c. 58, §§10, 14, 15; 1872-3, c. 67, §§14, 15; 1882, c. 67, §§14, 15; 1889, c. 19, §§12, 13; 1915, c. 51, §8; 1921, c. 131, §8; Code 1923, c. 58, §8.)

§2. Examination Upon Admission; Return to County.—When a person committed to a state hospital is received therein, he shall be carefully examined by the superintendent and one other physician thereof, who are hereby constituted the examining board of such institution. Such examination shall be made as soon after such person is received in the hospital as may be prudent; and if, from such examination (or from a subsequent examination, if the first one be not satisfactory to the examining board), such person is found to be insane and a proper person to be received therein, he shall be registered as an inmate of such hospital, and receive maintenance, treatment and care therein; but if he is not a proper person to be received in such hospital, or if, in the opinion of the examining board, such person be not insane, the superintendent shall cause him to be returned by an attendant to the sheriff of the county from which he was received. On receiving any such person it shall be the duty of the sheriff immediately to notify the clerk of the county court thereof; and it shall be the duty of the mental hygiene commission of such county promptly to consider and dispose of such case.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§6, 17, 18; Code 1860, c. 85, §§7, 27, 28; Code 1868, c. 58, §§7, 16, 17; 1871, c. 102, §7; 1882, c. 67, §§7, 17; 1887, c. 48, §7; 1889, c. 19, §§6, 14, 15; 1915, c. 51, §9; 1921, c. 131, §9; Code 1923, c. 58, §9.)

§3. Admission of Voluntary Patients.—Any resident of this State who is in the early stages of insanity, or believes himself about to become insane, or any epileptic who is not insane, or any other person so afflicted as to believe that treatment in one of said hospitals would be beneficial to him, may make application to the board of control for the benefit of treatment in one of the state hospitals, as a voluntary patient. The application shall be in writing, in such form as the board of control may prescribe, and be signed by the applicant, who shall acknowledge his signature before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments. The board of control may require the certificate of one or more physicians and such other evidence of the mental and bodily condition of the applicant as the board may think proper; and it may admit him for treatment in any state hospital upon such terms and conditions, and with such security for payment of the price agreed upon for treatment and maintenance therein, as the board may deem proper. A voluntary patient may be discharged upon certificate of the superintendent of the hospital, because he is cured or because further treatment therein is unnecessary or undesirable. A voluntary patient shall have the right to leave the hospital at any time if, in the judgment of the superintendent, he is in fit condition, and it is prudent for him to go at large, by giving five days’ notice of his desire to do so. Any relative or friend of any such person may make application to the board of control for his treatment in a state hospital, and said board of control may take such action thereon as is provided above in this section, all the provisions of which shall apply to such ease, so far as applicable, as when the application is made by the person himself.(Code 1849, c. 85, §11; Code 1860, c. 85, §21; Code 1868, c. 58, §10; 1915, c. 51, §11; 1921, c. 131, §11; Code 1923, c. 58, §11.)

§4. Other Persons Who May be Admitted to Huntington State Hospital.—There shall also be admitted to the Huntington state hospital such patients as the board of control may deem eligible; but in no case to include tubercular, cancerous or leprous persons. Such persons shall be committed by county courts, or in such other manner as the board of control may prescribe, and according to regulations prescribed by said board.(1897, c. 7, §6; 1901, c. 54, §6; 1903, c. 32, §6; 1904, c. 23, §8; 1905, c. 66, §8; 1915, c. 51, §12; 1921, c. 131, §12; Code 1923, c. 58, §12.)

§5. Commitment and Admission of Criminal Insane.—If any person charged with or convicted of crime be found, in the court before which he is so charged or was convicted, to be insane, and if such court shall order him to be confined in one of the state hospitals, he shall be received and confined in it if there be room therein for him. The sheriff or other officer of the court by which the order is made shall immediately proceed in the manner directed by section seven, article four of this chapter, to ascertain whether such vacancy exists in a state hospital; and until it is ascertained that there is a vacancy, such person shall be kept in the jail of the county of such court.(Code 1849, c. 85, §24; Code 1860, c. 85, §34; Code 1868, c. 58, §22; 1889, c. 19, §20; 1915, c. 51, §15; Code 1923, c. 58, §15.)

§6. Disposition of Insane Person Who is Nonresident of State.—When a person who is a nonresident of the State is committed to, or detained as an inmate of, a state hospital, the superintendent thereof shall immediately report the fact to the board of control. The board shall take proper steps to cause such person to be deported, if an alien; or, if otherwise a nonresident of this State, to be taken to the state, territory or place of his residence and delivered to the proper authorities thereof.(Code 1849, c. 85, §19; Code 1860, c. 85, §29; Code 1868, c. 58, §18; 1881, c. 21, §18; 1882, c. 67, §18; 1889, c. 19, §16; 1915, c. 51, §27; 1921, c. 131, §27; Code 1923, c. 58, §27.)

§7. Certificate of Restoration to Sanity; Discharge.—When any patient in any state hospital is restored to sanity the superintendent shall give him a certificate of restoration and discharge him from custody. Any patient out on parole, or on bond, or otherwise temporarily released from a hospital, who has been restored to sanity, may present himself to the superintendent, and if after examination the superintendent shall find him sane, he shall give him a certificate of restoration and a discharge.(Code 1849, c. 85, §30; Code 1860, c. 85, §40; Code 1868, c. 58, §27; 1875, c. 87, §27; 1882, c. 67, §27; 1889, c. 19, §25; 1915, c. 51, §13; 1921, c. 131, §13; Code 1923, c. 58, §13.)

§8. Return of Criminal Insane Upon Restoration.—When any person confined in a state hospital charged with crime and subject to be tried therefor, or convicted of crime and subject to be punished therefor, shall be restored to sanity, the superintendent shall give notice thereof to the clerk of the court by whose order he was confined, and deliver him to the proper officer upon the order of the court.(Code 1849, c. 85, §29; Code 1860, c. 85, §39; Code 1868, c. 58, §26; 1889, c. 19, §24; 1915, c. 51, §14; Code 1923, c. 58, §14.)

§9. Discharge by Court Proceedings of Persons Unlawfully Detained.—Any person who has been found insane by a county mental hygiene commission or any other board or tribunal other than a circuit court, and any person who is confined in any hospital or other place of confinement or otherwise restrained of his liberty in violation of law, or a patient who has been restored to sanity and to whom is the superintendent of the hospital refuses to give a certificate of restoration and discharge, may present his petition, or any relative or friend may present a petition in his behalf, to the circuit court of the county in which the hospital is located in case of a patient denied the certificate of restoration, and in other cases to the circuit court of the county in which the person is confined or is in custody, stating the facts. The courts shall treat such petition as an application for a writ of habeas corpus, so far as applicable and necessary, and cause such process to issue as the court may deem proper, and fix a time for the hearing of the case, which may be heard by the court either with or without a jury, as the court may order; and if the person is found sane, or it is found that he is held in custody in violation of law, he shall be discharged. In cases of patients who have been denied certificates of restoration and discharge by the superintendent of a hospital, or in which it is alleged that a patient is held in custody illegally in any state hospital, the superintendent shall have at least five days’ notice of the time and place of the trial in the circuit court. In all such cases the prosecuting attorney shall represent the sheriff or other county officer or the commission who shall be a defendant in such proceedings; and the attorney general shall represent the superintendent of any hospital who is a defendant. In case the decision shall be against the applicant, he or his bonds men (if any), or the person signing the petition, shall pay the costs of the proceeding. In any case in which a court may find a person sane upon an inquest or trial respecting his sanity, he shall be discharged and be entitled to a certified copy of the order of the court made in the case. Nothing in this section shall be construed as applying to patients charged with or convicted of crime.(Code 1849, c. 85, §30; Code 1860, c. 85, §40; Code 1868, c. 58, §27; 1875, c. 87, §27; 1882, c. 67, §27; 1889, c. 19, §25; 1915, c. 51, §13; 1921, c. 131, §13; Code 1923, c. 58, §13.)

§10. Escape of Inmate From State Hospital.—If any person confined in a state hospital escape therefrom, the superintendent there of shall issue a notice, giving the name and description of the person escaping, and requesting his apprehension and return to the hospital, and may offer such reward for the return of such person as the board of control may authorize. The superintendent may issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of the county, commanding him to arrest and carry such escaped person back to the hospital, which warrant the sheriff may execute in any part of the State. If such, person flee to another state, the superintendent shall notify the board of control thereof, and the board shall take such action as it may deem proper in the premises for the return of such person to the hospital. The sheriff or other person making such arrest shall be paid such compensation as is provided for like services in other cases, and such additional compensation in any case as the board of control may think reasonable and just.(Code 1849, c. 85, §28; Code 1860, c. 85, §38; Code 1868, c. 58, §25; 1889, c. 19, §23; 1915, c. 51, §17; Code 1923, c. 58, §17.)

§1. When and How Counties to Pay.—Every county shall pay into the state treasury at the rate of fifty dollars per annum for every epileptic, idiot, imbecile, feeble-minded person, mental defective, or such other incurable defective, heretofore or hereafter admitted as a patient or inmate to a state hospital or training school from such county, but no county shall be required to pay at such rate of fifty dollars per annum, or any other sum, to the State for the maintenance of any insane person proper, any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding. At every levy term of each county court it shall estimate for and levy a sufficient amount to meet all such expenses. The superintendent of such hospital, on or before the tenth day of January of each year, shall certify to the auditor a list of all the patients in the hospital during the whole or any part of the preceding year for which the counties are to pay, showing on such list under the name of the county, the number from each county and the length of time he was in said hospital during the year, and showing the amount due from each county for each patient, and the total amount due from each county for the year. As soon as such list is received by the auditor he shall charge to each county the amount appearing to be due from the certificates of the superintendent. Within ten days after the receipt of such certificate the auditor shall make out a copy thereof for each county and certify the same to the county court thereof, which list shall show the name of each patient in such hospital from the county during the year, the length of time he was in such hospital during the year, the amount charged for each patient, and the total amount charged on account of all such patients from the county; and such total amount shall constitute a debt against the county due the State. Whenever there is in the state treasury a sum of money due any county from any source, the same shall be at once applied on the debt aforesaid against the county, and the fact of such application of such fund shall be reported by the auditor to the county court of the county, which report shall be a receipt for the amount therein named.(1915, c. 51, §33; 1915, 2nd. Ex. Sess., c. 6, §33; 1921, c. 131, §33; Code 1923, c. 58, §33.)

§2. Reimbursement of County From Estate or Relatives of Insane Person.—All moneys which any county shall, pay or become liable for under the provisions of this article, on account of any inmate from the county in any state hospital or training school, the county court of the county may recover, within five years after payment of the same by the county or from the time the county became liable therefor, from the persons and in the manner following, namely: If the inmate be a minor, from his guardian; or, if he have no estate, or it be insufficient, from his father; or, if he have no father or his estate be insufficient, from his mother. If the inmate be an adult, from his or her estate; but if such estate be insufficient, and the inmate be a wife, from the estate of her husband; or, if his estate be insufficient, from the estate of her children, or such of them as have sufficient estate. If the inmate be a husband, and his estate be insufficient, from the estate of his wife; or, if her estate be insufficient, from the estate of his children, or such of them as have sufficient estate. It shall be the duty of the guardian or committee of any such inmate to pay to the county of which his ward is a resident, if he have sufficient estate in his hands to do so, the money so due to the county from his ward. The county court shall order its clerk to make out a bill against any such inmate for the sum so due to the county, which bill shall show the different items and the amount of each, and be certified by the clerk as correct, and by him delivered to the sheriff for collection. The clerk shall charge against the sheriff the amount of each of such bills, showing the date when delivered to the sheriff. It shall be the duty of the sheriff to collect the same from the proper person, or the guardian or committee of such inmate. Within sixty days after receiving any such bill, or at the next session of the county court held after the expiration of such sixty days, the sheriff shall make a report to the county court of his acts in respect thereto and return all such bills he has been unable to collect. The county court may redeliver any of such bills to the sheriff for collection, and in respect thereto the sheriff shall make report as above provided.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§49, 50; Code 1860, c. 85, §§59, 60; Code 1868, c. 58, §§45, 46; 1889, c. 19, §41; 1915, c. 51, §34; 1915, 2nd. Ex. Sess., c. 6, §34; 1921, c. 131, §34; Code 1923, c. 58, §34.)

§3. Additional Remedies of County; Exoneration From Reimbursement.—In the recovery of moneys due the county under the provisions of this article, in addition to the provisions of this article, all the provisions of sections seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty, article one, chapter nine of this Code shall apply as far as they may be applicable; and the county court may proceed according to said provisions without first placing the claim in the hands of the sheriff for collection: Provided, That as to any person liable to the county for any money under the provisions of this article, the county court may, if it find he is unable to pay the same, or that the payment of the same would work a hardship upon him or his family or others dependent upon him, exonerate him from the payment of the same or from a part thereof, or make any other order in the matter that the county court shall deem just and equitable or expedient under all the circumstances of the case.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§51, 52; Code 1860, c. 85, §§61, 62; Code 1868, c. 58, §§47, 48; 1882, c. 67, §2, p. 137; 1915, c. 51, §35; 1915, 2nd. Ex. Sess., c. 6, §35; Code 1923, c. 58, §35.)

§1. Report to County Court; Provision for Maintenance; When Not to be Paid to Jailer.—When any person is confined in any jail as an insane person, or an epileptic, or an idiot, or other incurable defective, the jailer shall certify the fact to the county court of the county at the next ensuing term, and the court shall then make such provision for the care and maintenance of such person, while in jail as it may deem proper: Provided, however, That the allowance to the jailer for such care and maintenance shall not exceed one dollar per day, except in special and extraordinary cases when the court may allow a larger sum. A reasonable allowance may be made for clothing for such person. No such allowances shall be ordered or paid, unless it appear in the certificate that the jailer proved to the court that, immediately after the commitment of such person, and at least once in each ten days thereafter, application was made to a state hospital for admission, and that such application was refused for want of room, or that applications were not continued because the admission of such person had been refused for some other cause than want of room, and unless it further appears in such certificate that the jailer made report in due time to the county court of the county, as provided in the first part of this section.(Code 1849, c. 85, §§34, 38; Code 1860, c. 85, §§44, 48; Code 1868, c. 58, §§31, 35; 1882, c. 67, §35; 1883, c. 39, §35; 1887, Ex. Sess., c. 3, §35; 1889, c. 19, §§28, 31; 1891, c. 121, §35; 1915, c. 51, §18; Code 1923, c. 58, §18.)

§2. How Discharge of Such Lunatic Obtained.—If any reputable person present to the clerk of the county court of a county wherein a person is confined as a lunatic, other than one charged with or convicted of crime, or other than one confined in a state hospital, or a duly licensed private hospital, an application in writing for the discharge of such lunatic on the ground that he has been restored to sanity, the mental hygiene commission for the county shall consider the same and may proceed to make an inquest upon such lunatic as is provided in article three of this chapter. If the commission find that such person has been restored to sanity, they shall set him at liberty, if they have authority to do so; and if they have not such authority, they shall give a certificate of their finding to the person making the application, who may present it to the proper court.(Code 1849, c. 85, §30; Code 1860, c. 85, §40; Code 1868, c. 58, §27; 1875, c. 87, §27; 1882, c. 67, §27; 1889, c. 19, §25; 1915, c. 51, §19; 1921, c. 131, §19; Code 1923, c. 58, §19)

§1. Permit From Board of Control; Regulations.—No private hospital for the care and treatment of the insane or mental defectives for compensation shall be established unless a permit therefor shall be first obtained from the board of control. The application for such permit shall be accompanied by the plan of the premises to be occupied, and with such other data and facts as the board may require. The board of control may make such terms and regulations in regard to the conduct of such hospital as it may think proper and necessary. The board of control, or any member thereof, or any person authorized by the board to do so, shall have full authority to investigate and inspect such private hospital; and the board of control may revoke the permit of any such hospital for good cause, after reasonable notice to the superintendent or other person in charge thereof.(1915, c. 51, §28; 1921, c. 131, §28; Code 1923, c. 58, §28.)

§1. Management; Superintendent.—For the treatment and training of mental defectives there shall be a state institution to be known as the “West Virginia Training School.” It shall belong to that class of institutions mentioned in section three, article one, chapter twenty-five of this Code, and shall be managed and controlled as provided in said chapter, all the provisions whereof shall be applicable to said school except as in this article provided. The chief executive officer thereof shall be a superintendent, who shall be a legally qualified physician, scientifically trained in mental medicine and of not less than five years’ experience in the treatment and care of insane persons and mental defectives, and who shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate.(1921, c. 131, §1; Code 1923, c. 58A, §1.)

§2. Land, Buildings and Equipment.—The West Virginia board of control shall select and acquire a suitable site and adequate lands, construct the necessary buildings and purchase the necessary equipment for said school.(1921, c. 131, §2; Code 1923, c. 58A, §2.)

§3. Persons Who May be Admitted.—There shall be admitted to said school any person with mental defectiveness from birth or an early age, so pronounced that he or she is unable to care for himself or herself and manage his or her affairs with ordinary prudence, and who because of mental defect is a menace to the happiness and welfare of himself or herself or of others in the community, and requires care, training or control for the protection of himself or herself or of others, and yet who is not insane. This type of persons, commonly classed as feeble-minded, including idiots, imbeciles and morons, shall be known and designated as mental defectives for the purposes of this article. Should the school at any time not be able to accommodate all persons of such class offered for admission, preference in admission shall be given to children and women of child-bearing age.(1921, c. 131, §3; Code 1923, c. 58A, §3.)

§4. Proceedings for Commitment.—Mental defectives shall be admitted to said school in the following manner:

(a) The county mental hygiene commission shall have jurisdiction of all applications for commitment of persons to said school. Any relative of a person affected may make application, by complaint under oath, to have the person adjudged a mental defective; but when the relatives of a mentally defective person either neglect or refuse to place such person in said school, or in some private institution of a like nature, and shall permit him or her to go at large, then any reputable citizen of the county may, by complaint under oath, make application to the mental hygiene commission for such commitment; and such complaint shall not to be subject to exception for defects of form. When application is filed for commitment of an alleged mentally defective person, the commission shall appoint two physicians to examine such person and determine whether or not he is mentally defective. Both of these physicians shall be selected as being the most capable physicians available because of knowledge of and training in mental medicine, and neither of them shall be related in any wise to the person sought to be committed;

(b) Where any court of the State has on trial before it a prisoner for an offense, and the judge shall have cause to believe that the prisoner is mentally defective, he may appoint two physicians as aforesaid to examine the prisoner, to ascertain whether or not he is in reality mentally defective; and if such physicians shall pronounce the prisoner to be mentally defective, the judge may commit him to said school.

In either of the cases named above, the physicians making the examination shall be required to make a complete and thorough examination, both mental and physical, and shall be required to make to the commission or court appointing them a certificate as to their findings in the matter. This certificate shall be in the form prescribed by the West Virginia board of control, and shall be made in duplicate, one copy of the same being sent with the patient when committed to the school, and the other copy being filed with the commission or court committing such person; and it shall be the duty of the superintendent of said school to refuse admission to any person unless he or she shall present a copy of such certificate.

The commission or court, by order, shall designate some reputable person to convey such mentally defective person to the school and to protect such person until such time as he or she can be conveyed to the institution. When any female is taken to the school, a female attendant shall be provided.

All expenses connected with the commitment of persons hereunder and the conveying of such mentally defective person to the school shall be borne by the county of which such person is a resident;

(c) The relative, guardian or friend of any inmate of any state institution shall have the right to apply to the mental hygiene commission for an order directing an examination of such inmate, in the manner aforesaid, to determine whether or not he or she is mentally defective; and the commission shall have the right to remove him or her from the institution in which such inmate may be, and commit him or her to the West Virginia training school: Provided, That subdivision (c) shall apply only to those who might in the first instance have been committed to said school.(1921, c. 131, §4; Code 1923, c. 58A, §4.)

§5. Training and Treatment of Inmates.—The training and treatment of persons admitted to the school shall be along such educational, medical and industrial lines as have proved most effective in approved institutions for mental defectives. The medical staff of such institution, and the medical staffs of Weston, Spencer and Huntington state hospitals, are hereby authorized to administer such medical treatment and perform such surgical operations for the inmates therein as may be necessary and expedient for the cure and prevention of mental defectiveness or disease.(1921, c. 131, §5; Code 1923, c. 58A, §5.)

§6. Parole of Inmates.—When, in the judgment of the superintendent of the school, a patient or inmate thereof shall, under the treatment and training given therein, improve mentally and physically to such an extent as no longer to constitute a menace to himself or others, the superintendent shall have the right, and it shall be his duty, to parole such person, under such rules and regulations as the board of control may prescribe.(1921, c. 131, §6; Code 1923, c. 58A, §6.)

§1. To be Appointed by County Court.—When a person is found insane or to be a mental defective by any court or by the county mental hygiene commission, or is committed to a state hospital by the county court, the county court shall appoint a committee for him.(Code 1849, c. 85, §40; Code 1860, c. 85. §50; Code 1868, c. 58, §37; 1889, c. 19, §33; 1915, c. 51, §20; 1921, c. 131, §20; Code 1923, c. 58, §20.)

§2. Bond; Refusal to Act or Failure to Qualify; Appointment of Another; Committal to Sheriff.—The county court, when making the appointment of such committee, shall take from him a bond in such penalty and with such surety as it shall deem sufficient, with condition that the person so appointed will well and truly account for any pay over to the persons entitled thereto all property and moneys which may come into his hands by virtue of such appointment, and with such other conditions as the court may require. If any person so appointed as committee refuse the trust or shall fail for ten days succeeding his appointment to give bond as aforesaid, the court, on the motion of any party interested, or at its own instance, may appoint some other person as committee, taking from him bond as above provided, or may commit the estate of such insane person or mental defective to the sheriff of the county, who shall act as such committee without giving any bond as such, and he and the sureties on his official bond shall be liable for the faithful performance of the trust.(Code 1849, c. 85, §44; Code 1860, c. 85, §54; Code 1868, c. 58, §40; 1889, c. 19, §36; 1915, c. 51, §21; Code 1923, c. 58, §21.)

§3. Appraisement of Estate.—The county court, whenever any committee is appointed for an insane person or mental defective, shall appoint appraisers and cause to be made, returned and recorded an appraisement of the property, both real and personal, of any such person in the same manner, to the same extent, within the same time, and subject to the same regulations and conditions as required by law for the estate of a deceased person.(1915, c. 51, §21; Code 1923, c. 58, §21.)

§4. Powers and Duties Generally.—The committee of any such person shall be entitled to the custody and control of his person, when he resides in the State and is not confined in a state hospital or in jail, and shall take possession of his estate, and may sue and be sued in respect thereto, and for the recovery of debts due to and from such person. He shall preserve such estate and manage it to the best advantage; shall apply the personal estate, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to the payment of the debts of such person, and the rents and profits of the residue of his estate, real and personal, and the residue of the personal estate, or so much as may be necessary, to the maintenance of such person, and of his family, if any; and shall make due accounting as required by law, and surrender the estate, or as much as he may be accountable for, to such person in case he shall be restored to sanity, or, in case of his death without having been restored to sanity, the real estate to his heirs or devisees, and the personal estate to his executors or administrators.(Code 1849, c. 85, §45; Code 1860, c. 85, §55; Code 1868, c. 58, §41; 1889, c. 19, §37; 1915, c. 51, §22; Code 1923, c. 58, §22.)

§5. Mortgage, Lease or Sale of Realty.—If the personal estate of such insane person or mental defective be insufficient for the discharge of his debts, or if such estate or the residue thereof after payment of the debts, and the rents and profits of his real estate, be insufficient for his maintenance and that of his family, if any, the committee of such insane person or mental defective may proceed, as provided in article one, chapter thirty-seven of this Code, to obtain authority to mortgage, lease or sell so much of the real estate of such insane person or mental defective as may be necessary for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them; setting forth in the bill or petition the particulars and the amount of the estate, real and personal, the application which may have been made of any personal estate, and an account of the debts and demands existing against the estate.(Code 1849, c. 85, §46; Code 1860, c. 85, §56; Code 1868, c. 58, §42; 1889, c. 19, §38; 1895, c. 6, §38; 1915, c. 51, §23; 1921, c. 131, §23; Code 1923, c. 58, §23.)

§1. Malicious Making of Medical Certificate or Complaint as to Sanity.—Any physician who shall sign a certificate respecting the sanity of any person without having made the examination as provided for by this chapter, or shall make any statement in any such certificate maliciously for the purpose of having such person declared insane, and any person who shall maliciously make application to any mental hygiene commission or other tribunal for the purpose of having another person declared insane, shall be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding one year, or both fined and imprisoned at the discretion of the court.(1915, c. 51, §29; 1921, c. 131, §29; Code 1923, c. 58, §29.)

§2. Trespass on Grounds of Hospital or Training School.—The inclosed premises and the lands adjoining the same belonging to any one of said state hospitals or training school, are hereby declared private grounds; and if any person be found thereon without authority or permission or good excuse, he shall be deemed a trespasser, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding twenty-five dollars; and if it shall appear that he was thereon for any unlawful or immoral purpose, in addition to being so fined, he shall be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days.(1915, c. 51; Code 1923, c. 58, §31.)

§3. Miscellaneous Offenses.—If any person shall entice any patient from any of said hospitals who has been legally committed thereto, or attempt to do so; or shall counsel, cause, influence or assist, or attempt to do so, any such patient to escape or attempt to escape there from, or harbor or conceal any such patient who has escaped therefrom; or shall, without the permission of the superintendent of any such hospital, give or sell to any such patient, whether on the premises thereof or elsewhere, any money, firearms, drugs, cigarettes, tobacco, or any other article whatever; or shall receive from the hands of any such patient anything of value, whether belonging to the State or not; or shall cause or influence, or attempt to cause or influence, any such patient to violate any rule or to rebel against the government or discipline of such institution; or shall tease, pester, annoy, or molest any such patient, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or, in the discretion of the court, both fined and imprisoned. If any person shall aid or abet the commission of any of the foregoing offenses, or aid or abet an attempt to commit the same, he shall be guilty the same as if he were the principal, and be punished as above provided. In the trial of an indictment for committing any of the above named offenses, the accused may be found guilty of an attempt to commit the same, or of aiding or abetting another in committing or in an attempt to commit the same. If any person, not her husband, shall have sexual intercourse with any female patient who is an inmate of any of said hospitals, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than fifteen years; and if such female patient be under sixteen years of age, he shall be im prisoned not less than ten nor more than twenty years.(1915, c. 51, §30; Code 1923, c. 58, §30.)