Fairer sentencing for people convicted of crimes and a Marcus crisis alert system to improve the response to mental health emergencies are among the criminal justice reforms that have emerged from the General Assembly’s special session.

But other initiatives that also passed are on hold — including a ban on utility disconnections of residential service for nonpayment and new restrictions on landlords seeking to evict tenants who are not paying their rent.

Also on hold are a new dental benefit for Medicaid recipients, bonuses for law enforcement officers and overtime pay for personal care attendants serving ill people in their homes. All of those items and more are included in the revamped, two-year, $134 billion state budget that passed the House of Delegates and the state Senate on Oct. 16 before the legislature recessed.

The special session was called to deal with a projected $2.8 billion shortfall over the 2020-22 budget period, as well as to usher in reforms growing out of the demonstrations over police brutality and racial injustice.

Under a deal with the governor, the legislature has agreed to hold onto the budget until after the Nov. 3 election, when voters will decide whether to change the state Constitution and create a 16-member commission to handle the politically charged task of redrawing legislative districts based on population changes revealed in the U.S. Census.

If voters approve the constitutional amendment, the legislature is to return to consider inclusion of language in the budget to enable the commission to start work when the census results are released early next year.

The decision means it will take additional weeks for the governor to receive and sign the budget into law.

The delayed schedule may impact individuals headed to court for an eviction hearing. The budget language would provide a reprieve until Dec. 31 and impose new requirements on landlords who might seek to evict after that.

The language is far from the blanket prohibition against eviction that tenant advocates had sought, but still more onerous for landlords than they wanted.

The delay also means that utilities can continue disconnections that affect light, heat and water service in a residence, though many companies have self-imposed moratoriums.

Still, the legislature could boast that many of the 54 pieces of legislation that passed will usher in change in criminal justice, including authorizing localities to set up civilian oversight boards to hear complaints against police of- ficers, banning officers from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants and halting police departments from purchasing surplus military weapons and gear.

Among the changes legislators have described as most significant is the sentencing bill pushed by Sen. Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey of Richmond.

That legislation would end the 224-year practice of allowing juries trying cases to impose sentences, a practice allowed in only one other state, Kentucky.

Sen. Morrissey said as of July 1, 2021, defendants will be able to opt for sentencing by a judge, who generally must follow sentencing guidelines that often contain shorter prison terms than those meted out by juries.

Research of state court convictions shows that prison terms handed down by juries average four years longer than those imposed by judges.

Sen. Morrissey said that juries are required to impose sentences based on the ranges provided in the statute. “They never see the sentencing guidelines,” he said.

For example, the guidelines might recommend a six-month to 18-month sentence for a convicted drug dealer, he said. But a jury might sentence the individual to 22 years in prison based on the statutory range requiring a five- to 40-year sentence.

“It happens all the time,” said Sen. Morrissey, a former criminal defense lawyer, who is hoping to end such disparities.

Another reform involves the Marcus mental health alert, named for Marcus-David Peters, the 24-year-old high school biology teacher who was fatally shot by a Richmond police officer in May 2018 when he was experiencing what some have described as a mental crisis.

The legislation shepherded by Delegate Jeffrey M. Bourne of Richmond also would go into effect on July 1. The approved legislation calls for developing community care teams in every locality that could respond and help stabilize individuals in crisis situations. The team would include mental health professionals, who would take the lead, and law enforcement, the bill states.

The bill requires the state departments of Criminal Justice Services and Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to develop the program and ensure the service is established in all localities within five years through the local community services boards that are responsible for mental health services.

Mr. Peters’ family has been advocating for such a system, which already exists in Richmond but has long been underfunded.

Other legislation headed to the governor’s desk for signature requires the creation of statewide standards for police and strengthens the ability of the state Department of Criminal Justice Services to decertify officers who are found by a court or their department to have violated the standards.