Bill To Standardize Court Mental Health Evaluations Passes House

State lawmakers have moved to standardize the state’s process for deciding whether to place residents in mental health institutions by creating a new role to oversee the process.

On Wednesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 2347, which would create mental hygiene regions with commissioners overseen by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. 

These commissioners would be trained attorneys who would oversee mental health evaluations regarding required institutionalization for residents experiencing mental health crises. The bill would also allow mental health evaluations to take place through video conferencing.

During floor discussion on the bill, Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, said he is the only person in the House with personal experience with mental hygiene procedures.

Steele worries the bill would remove proceedings from local control, and said he voted against a similar bill during last year’s legislative session, referring to the 2024 House Bill 5254.

“You need somebody on the ground in your county that knows you and knows the lay of the land, and not a regional person appointed by a bureaucrat out of the Supreme Court,” Steele said. “You need somebody who cares about the impact that this decision [will have].”

Steele stressed that an involuntary institutionalization can have permanent effects on people’s gun ownership amendment rights and professional future.

But proponents of the bill like lead sponsor Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, say it standardizes the state’s mental hygiene process and streamlines what can be a lengthy procedure.

Despite Steele’s concerns, a majority of delegates voted in favor of the bill. It passed the House by a vote of 69 to 26, with 5 members absent. The bill now heads to the West Virginia Senate for further consideration.