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February 13, 2007

Thompson appears at courthouse

Audrey Stanton

Looking quite different from the clean-cut, suit-wearing delegate who once represented the 27th District in the House of Delegates, former Delegate Ron Thompson appeared in Raleigh County Circuit Court Tuesday morning in a ball cap and hooded sweatshirt.

According to several sources speaking on condition of anonymity, Thompson was at the courthouse on a mental hygiene petition and hearing.

He has not been charged with any crime.

Mental hygiene hearings are not typically open to the public. They are used to determine if a person is a danger to himself or others, or in cases of alcohol and drug addiction.

Prior to a hearing, a licensed clinical psychologist — in Raleigh County, someone from FMRS — examines the person against whom the petition is filed. If the examination does not reveal addiction or mental illness and likelihood to cause serious harm to self or others resulting from the mental illness, the person is released and the case dismissed. But if the examination reveals a likelihood to cause harm, then a mental hygiene commissioner, circuit court judge or magistrate conducts a probable cause hearing. The examiner testifies at the hearing, as does the person who filed the petition. Mental hygiene petitions are generally filed by a family member or someone close to the family.

If the judicial officer finds probable cause, the person against whom the petition is filed will either be placed in a mental health or addiction treatment facility for up to 30 days before another hearing, or he or she may be released at some point for outpatient treatment if there is a voluntary treatment agreement.

Records of such hearings are closed because they contain personal medical information that is prevented from public release by HIPPA regulations.

Thompson, 40, appeared to leave the courthouse property willingly, in a vehicle driven by a Raleigh County sheriff’s deputy.

It was the first time the media had seen or photographed the reclusive Thompson since he last appeared for his official duties in the Legislature at the end of the 2006 session in March.

Thompson missed monthly interims and two special legislative sessions and barely ran an election campaign, yet voters elected him to a seventh term last November.

When he failed to take the oath of office Jan. 10, House Speaker Rick Thompson, no relation, instructed him to appear by Jan. 25 to take the oath or provide an acceptable reason why he could not.

On Jan. 24, Thompson informed the speaker he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified medical problem but would be back Feb. 5. When Thompson failed to appear Feb. 5, he faxed a letter to the speaker, asking to extend his self-imposed deadline until March 1, 10 days before the end of the session.

The House Rules Committee, in turn, had a state trooper hand-deliver a message to Thompson at his Beckley apartment Feb. 7, telling Thompson to appear before the committee the following day, with an explanation. He did not, so the House voted and ultimately declared his seat vacant.

— E-mail:

bnaudrey@register-herald.com

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