West Virginia Code 61-7A-3 – Persons whose names are to be supplied to the central state mental health registry
(a) The Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, or their designees, shall cooperate with the circuit clerk of each county and Administrator of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in compiling and maintaining a database containing the names and identifying information of persons who have been adjudicated to be mentally defective or who have been committed to a mental institution. The registry shall be maintained by the Administrator of the Supreme Court of Appeals or the superintendent of the West Virginia State Police.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 61-7A-3
- Committed to a mental institution: means to have been involuntarily committed for treatment pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-seven of this code. See West Virginia Code 61-7A-2
- Mental institution: means any facility or part of a facility used for the treatment of persons committed for treatment of mental illness. See West Virginia Code 61-7A-2
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) The name of any person who has been adjudicated to be mentally defective or who has been committed to a mental institution shall be provided to the Administrator of the Supreme Court of Appeals or the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police for inclusion in the central state mental health registry. Upon receipt of the information being received by the central state mental health registry it may be transmitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and to county sheriffs;
(c) The Secretary of Department of Human Resources and the circuit clerk of each county shall, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this article, supply to the Administrator of the Supreme Court of Appeals or the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police for inclusion in the central state mental health registry the name and identifying information required by the provisions of subsection (d) of this section of all persons covered by the provisions of this article and shall on an ongoing basis continue to provide such information as it is developed;
(d) The central state mental health registry shall contain the name, address at the time of commitment or adjudication, date of birth, date of commitment or adjudication of all persons who have been adjudicated to be mentally defective or who have been committed to a mental institution.
(e) The central state mental health registry shall provide only such information about a person on the registry to county sheriffs and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System as is necessary to identify registrants; and
(f) On or before January 1, 2010, the central state mental health registry shall contain the name, address at the time of commitment or adjudication, date of birth, date of commitment or adjudication and any other identifying characteristics of all persons who have been adjudicated to be mentally defective or who have been committed to a mental institution . Under no circumstances shall the registry contain information relating to any diagnosis or treatment provided.
(g) To the extent the central state mental health registry contains the names of any children under fourteen years of age on the effective date of this article, the Administrator of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals shall take whatever steps are necessary to remove those individuals from the central state mental health registry.