McAuliffe was joined at the ceremony by dozens of top administration officials, lawmakers and state employees. Mitchell’s family members, who had previously traveled to Richmond to lobby for reforms, were not invited to attend, according to their attorney.

The bill McAuliffe signed authorizes him to replace the existing members of the board with nine experts in particular areas, such as mental health care, jail administration and death investigations. The bill, which goes into effect July 1, also sets aside money for an investigator who will conduct jail death reviews.

McAuliffe said he will encourage the board to review the deaths of the half-dozen inmates who have died since the legislation was passed in late February.

“It was a very difficult situation after Jamycheal Mitchell’s death that nobody seemed to have responsibility or was willing to take responsibility of how this actually occurred,” McAuliffe said. “I’m proud to say that we did find consensus around this issue and the need for a consistent process to review jail inmate deaths.”

In April 2015, Mitchell was supposed to be transferred to a state mental hospital for treatment, but his initial paperwork was lost. A second batch, sent months later, was stuffed in a desk drawer by an “overwhelmed” admissions worker at Eastern State Hospital.