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One need only look to the research and recommendations regarding the involuntary commitment process, psychiatric hospitalizations, and CSBs to see how the last thirty years of recommendations have signaled the future importance of Specialty Dockets.
The Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission (“JLARC”) was created in 1973 as part of the legislative branch of state government to research into particular areas of need and evaluation in the Commonwealth. In this article, we utilize JLARC’s historical recommendations and apply them to the
function of Specialty Dockets, particularly in the behavioral health/mental health context. This Article focuses primarily on particular issue items in reports from JLARC and their roles in the intersection of civil involuntary commitment and criminal Specialty Dockets.
The Honorable Jacqueline S. McClenney *
* The Honorable Jacqueline S. McClenney is the Chief Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in Virginia, a University of Richmond School of Law Graduate, and the Presiding Judge for the Circuit Court Behavioral Health Docket. I am grateful to Kelly O’Brien, judicial law clerk (2023–2024) and summer intern Jordan Narcisse for their research and assistance. Thank you to the staff and participants of the Behavioral Health Docket whose commitment to service and growth are the inspiration for this Article.