OVERSIGHT/RIGHTS - 2022
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PASSED
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HB 150 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; local public bodies to post meeting minutes on its website.
Introduced by: Marie E. March [R]
Requires, with certain exceptions outlined in the bill, any local public body subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to post meeting minutes on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes. The bill provides that if a local public body does not own or maintain an official public government website, it shall make copies of all meeting minutes available no later than seven working days after the conclusion of a meeting at a prominent public location in which meeting notices are regularly posted, at the office of the clerk of the public body, or, in the case of a public body that has no clerk, at the office of the chief administrator.
04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 396 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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HB 734 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records.
Introduced by: Robert B. Bell [D]
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records. Provides that (i) criminal investigative files relating to a criminal investigation or proceeding that is not ongoing are excluded from the mandatory dislosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, but may be disclosed by the custodian of such records to certain individuals except as otherwise provided in the bill, and (ii) no criminal investigative file or portion thereof shall be disclosed to any requester except (a) the victim; (b) members of the victim's immediate family, if the victim is deceased; (c) the victim's parent or guardian, if the victim is a minor and the parent or guardian is not a person of interest or a suspect in the criminal investigation or proceeding; or (d) an attorney representing a petitioner in a petition for a writ of actual innocence, unless the public body has notified any such individual of the request for such information. Upon notification of a request, such persons may file a petition in an appropriate court for an injunction to prevent disclosure of the records. The bill requires the court to consider certain information in making its determination and provides that a public body shall be prohibited from disclosing criminal investigative files if the court awards an injunction.
04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 386 (effective 7/1/22)
Read bill here.
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HB 752 Office of the State Inspector General; investigations; prohibition on interference
Introduced by: Les R. Adams [R]
Office of the State Inspector General; investigations; prohibition on interference or exertion of undue influence by the Governor, etc. Prohibits the Governor and the Governor's chief of staff, counsel, director of policy, and Cabinet Secretaries from interfering with or exerting undue influence upon any investigation by the Office of the State Inspector General of fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by a state agency or nonstate agency or by any officer or employee of a state agency or nonstate agency.
04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 600 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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HB 761 Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; availability of complaint forms
Introduced by: Paul E. Krizek [D] (by request)
Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; availability of complaint forms. Requires that any standard complaint form utilized by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission shall be made available in paper form at every clerk's office in all courts across the Commonwealth. The bill also requires that a sign be posted in all state courts of the Commonwealth, in a location accessible to the public, detailing the availability and location of such form. Such sign shall also include information on how to access a downloadable electronic version of the form, which shall be made available on the official website of the judicial system of the Commonwealth, every individual appellate, circuit, general district, and juvenile and domestic relations district court website, if such website exists, and the website for the Division of Legislative Services.
04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 588 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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HB 1080 Sex offenders in emergency shelters; notification, registration, penalty.
Introduced by: James A. "Jay" Leftwich [R]
Sex offenders in emergency shelters; notification registration; penalty. Provides that a registered sex offender who enters an emergency shelter designated by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and operated in response to a declared state or local emergency shall, as soon as practicable after entry, notify a member of the shelter's staff who is responsible for providing security of such person's status as a registered sex offender. The bill provides that any person who fails to notify the shelter's staff of his status as a registered sex offender is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. The bill provides that the shelter's staff may access the publicly available information on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry regarding such person and use such information to ensure the safety of all persons in the shelter, but such staff shall not disclose the status of the registered sex offender to any person residing in the shelter, unless otherwise required by law. The bill requires that the Department of State Police provide to any registered sex offender at the time of his initial registration a summary of his obligation to inform the staff of an emergency shelter of his status as a registered sex offender.
04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 316 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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HJ 61 Study; staffing levels, employment conditions, and compensation at Virginia Department of Corrections
Introduced by: Patrick A. Hope [D]
Study; staffing levels, employment conditions, and compensation at Virginia Department of Corrections; report. Continues the joint committee of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions; the House Committee on Public Safety; the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services established by House Joint Resolution No. 29 (2020) and continued by House Joint Resolution 522 (2021, Special Session I) to study staffing levels, employment conditions, and compensation at the Virginia Department of Corrections. The resolution directs the joint committee to conclude its work by November 30, 2022, and to report its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
02/11/22 House: VOTE: Block Vote Adoption (96-Y 0-N)
03/08/22 Senate: Agreed to by Senate by voice vote
03/08/22 House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ61ER)
View bill here.
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SB 673 Local correctional facilities; entry privileges
Introduced by: Joseph D. Morrissey [D]
Local correctional facilities; entry privileges. Authorizes the Governor and members of the General Assembly to enter the interior of any local correctional facility.
04/08/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 277 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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SB 700 Covering a security camera in a correctional facility; penalty
Introduced by: Bill DeSteph [R]
Covering a security camera in a correctional facility; penalty. Provides that any person, other than a law-enforcement officer, jail officer, correctional officer, or other custodial officer, who intentionally covers, removes, damages, renders inoperable or otherwise obscures a security camera, as defined in the bill, without the permission of the sheriff, jail superintendent, warden, or Director of the Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that any person who intentionally covers, removes, damages, renders inoperable or otherwise obscures a security camera with the intent of inhibiting or preventing a security camera from recording or transmitting a photograph, motion picture, or other digital image of the commission of a felony is guilty of a Class 6 felony.04/11/22 Governor: Approved by Governor-Chapter 674 (effective 7/1/22)
View bill here.
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VETOED
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HB 1197 Secretariat agency responsibilities; Department of Juvenile Justice.
Introduced by: Patrick A. Hope [D]
Secretariat agency responsibilities; Department of Juvenile Justice. Directs the Office of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the feasibility and benefits of transferring responsibility for the Department of Juvenile Justice from the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to the Secretary of Health and Human Resources. The bill requires the work group to submit its report containing the work group's finding by November 1, 2022, to the Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice, House Committee on Public Safety, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.
04/11/22 Governor: Vetoed by Governor
04/27/22 House: House sustained Governor's veto (48-Y 52-N)
04/28/22 House: VOTE: (48-Y 52-N)
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DID NOT PASS OR CONTINUED TO 2023
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HB 147 Local correctional facilities and lock-ups; minimum standards FAILED.
Introduced by: Bill D. Wiley [R]
Minimum standards for local correctional facilities and lock-ups; individuals in need of behavioral health or developmental services. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) to establish minimum standards for identification and care of individuals with developmental disabilities in local correctional facilities and procedures for enforcing such minimum standards, including requirements for (i) screening of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for developmental disabilities, (ii) referral of individuals committed to local correctional facilities for whom a screening indicates reason to believe the person may have a developmental disability to an appropriate provider for an assessment to determine whether the individual has a developmental disability and is in need of developmental services, and (iii) transfer of an individual determined to have a developmental disability and to be in need of developmental services from a local correctional facility to a facility at which appropriate developmental services are provided within 72 hours of completion of the assessment. The bill also requires the Board to amend standards governing the delivery of behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups to provide that if an individual is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, such individual shall be transferred from the local correctional facility or lock-up to a behavioral health facility within 72 hours of the assessment. Currently, standards governing behavioral health services in local correctional facilities and lock-ups require that if a person is assessed as being in need of behavioral health services, the local correctional facility or lock-up shall provide such services.
02/15/22 House: Left in Courts of Justice
View bill here.
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HB 655 Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. FAILED
Introduced by: Patrick A. Hope [D]
Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office). The bill enumerates the duties and powers of the Office, which include (i) providing information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, Department of Corrections (the Department) employees and contractors, and others regarding the rights of inmates; (ii) monitoring conditions of confinement and assessing compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules, regulations, policies, and best practices as related to the health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of inmates; (iii) providing technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy; (iv) providing technical assistance to local governments in the creation of correctional facility oversight bodies, as requested; (v) establishing a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the Department and data related to (a) deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody; (b) physical and sexual assaults in custody; (c) the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement; (d) the number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24 hours; (e) the number of staff vacancies at each facility; (f) the inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility; (g) staff tenure and turnover; and (h) the number of in-person visits to inmates that were made and denied at each facility; (vi) establishing procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities, which must include, at a minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of and Office response to public comment; (vii) inspecting each state correctional facility at least once every three years and at least once every year for any maximum security facility and any facility where the Office has found cause for more frequent inspection or monitoring; and (viii) issuing publicly periodic facility inspection reports and an annual report with recommendations on the state correctional facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising from any complaints investigated and resolved.
The bill also establishes a Corrections Oversight Committee, which is responsible for selecting the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. The bill additionally outlines the Office's authority to conduct inspections of each Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facility and requires the submission of an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the Director of the Department.
02/03/22 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
02/15/22 House: Left in Public Safety
View bill here.
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HB 668 Facilities for civilly committed sexually violent predators; reports FAILED.
Introduced by: Patrick A. Hope [D]
Facilities for civilly committed sexually violent predators; reports to the Commonwealth's designated protection and advocacy system. Adds persons who are civilly committed sexually violent predators to the categories of persons for whom the Commonwealth's designated advocacy and protection system provides oversight, provided funding for such purpose is provided by the General Assembly. The bill also requires state facilities to which sexually violent predators are civilly committed to notify in writing the Director of the Commonwealth's designated protection and advocacy system within 48 hours of critical incidents or deaths of individuals receiving services in the state facility, and requires the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to provide to the Director a written report setting forth the known facts of critical incidents or deaths of individuals receiving services in facilities to which sexually violent predators are civilly committed within 15 working days of such critical incident or death.
02/03/22 House: Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting (4-Y 4-N)
02/03/22 House: Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
02/09/22 House: Failed to report (defeated) in Health, Welfare and Institutions (10-Y 12-N)
02/15/22 House: Left in Appropriations
View bill here.
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HB 674 Telephone systems within correctional facilities FAILED
Introduced by: Patrick A. Hope [D]
Telephone systems within correctional facilities. Provides that no records of communications made by inmates from telephone systems within correctional facilities shall be disclosed without a search warrant, except upon the request of an inmate for the inmate's own records to be disclosed to him or his attorney. The bill requires that each correctional facility create and maintain an audit log for each inmate that shall (i) identify each disclosed record and (ii) include a copy of the search warrant issued to obtain such record. The bill provides that any records of communications obtained unlawfully shall not be admissible as evidence in a prosecution or civil action. The bill also removes provisions regarding allowable forms of payment and payment rates for calls to numbers on an approved call list using such telephone systems.
02/03/22 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
02/15/22 House: Left in Public Safety
View bill here.
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HB 683 Use of canines in correctional facilities; prohibited acts. CONTINUED TO 2023
Introduced by: Kaye Kory [D]
Use of canines in correctional facilities; prohibited acts. Prohibits any correctional officer, jail officer, or other employee of a state, local, or juvenile correctional facility from using a canine to extract a prisoner or juvenile from his cell unless there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the prisoner or juvenile, other prisoners or juveniles, or any officer or employee of the facility.
02/10/22 House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2023 by voice vote
02/11/22 House: Continued to 2023 in Public Safety by voice vote
View bill here.
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HB 801 Civilian deaths in custody; report. FAILED.
Introduced by: Marcia S. "Cia" Price [D]
Civilian deaths in custody; report. Requires every law-enforcement agency and correctional facility to report to the Department of Criminal Justice Services certain information regarding the death of any person who is detained, under arrest or in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, incarcerated, or otherwise in the custody of such law-enforcement agency or correctional facility. The bill provides that any law-enforcement agency or correctional facility that fails to comply may, at the discretion of the Department, be declared ineligible for state grants or funds. The bill also requires the Department to analyze the submitted data to (i) determine the means by which such information can be used to reduce the number of such deaths and (ii) examine the relationship, if any, between the number of such deaths and the actions of management of such law-enforcement agencies and correctional facilities. The Director of the Department shall annually report the findings and recommendations resulting from the analysis and interpretation of the data to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Attorney General beginning on or before July 1, 2023, and each July 1 thereafter.
02/10/22 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
02/15/22 House: Left in Public Safety
View bill here.
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HB 908 Use of canines in correctional facilities; prohibited acts. FAILED.
Introduced by: Alfonso H. Lopez [D]
Use of canines in correctional facilities; prohibited acts. Makes it unlawful for any correctional officer, jail officer, or other employee of a state, local, or juvenile correctional facility to use a canine, except where there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to any prisoner or detained juvenile or any officer or employee of the facility, to extract a prisoner or detained juvenile from his cell or to intervene in an altercation, fight, or other incident between prisoners or detained juveniles. The bill requires that all incidents involving the use of a canine be reported to a database established by the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, as applicable, and that such reports be made available to the public and include the name of the facility, the name of the canine, and the name of the canine's handler. The bill also requires that the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice, as applicable, make public any policies relating to the use of canines, training requirements for both canines and handlers, and the supervision of the officers or employees who are permitted to handle such canines.
02/10/22 House: Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N)
02/15/22 House: Left in Public Safety
View bill here.
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HB 1354 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of probation and parole records. CONTINUED TO 2023
Introduced by: Sally L. Hudson [D]
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of probation and parole records. Provides for an exception to the discretionary release of records of adult persons under investigation or supervision by state probation and parole services by requiring the mandatory release of such records, upon request, to any criminal justice agency, defined in the bill, located within the probation and parole district in which the public body that is the custodian of the requested records is located.
02/08/22 House: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2023 by voice vote
02/10/22 House: Continued to 2023 in General Laws by voice vote
View bill here.
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SB 543 Criminal records; sealing of records. FAILED.
Introduced by: Bill DeSteph [R]
Criminal records; sealing of records; repeal. Repeals provisions not yet effective allowing for the automatic and petition-based sealing of police and court records for certain convictions, deferred dispositions, and acquittals and for offenses that have been nolle prossed or otherwise dismissed.
01/26/22 Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Judiciary (9-Y 6-N)
View bill here.
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SB 561 Virginia Attorney Disciplinary Commission; established, FAILED
Introduced by: J. Chapman Petersen [D]
Virginia Attorney Disciplinary Commission; established. Establishes the Virginia Attorney Disciplinary Commission in the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of holding disciplinary hearings initiated by the Virginia State Bar against an attorney for a violation of the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct or Unauthorized Practice Rules that would be the basis for a sanction to be imposed against such attorney and grants the Commission the power to hold issue sanctions against such attorney. The bill transfers any existing authority to discipline attorneys from the Virginia State Bar to the Commission.
02/02/22 Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Judiciary (11-Y 4-N)
View bill here.
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SB 746 Prohibition of deceptive tactics during the custodial interrogation of a minor.
Introduced by: Scott A. Surovell [D]
Prohibition of deceptive tactics during the custodial interrogation of a minor. Provides that any confession of a minor, made as a result of a custodial interrogation conducted at a place of detention on or after July 1, 2022, shall be presumed to be inadmissible as evidence against such minor making such confession in any adjudication of delinquency or criminal proceeding for an act that if committed by an adult would be a criminal offense if, during the custodial interrogation, a law-enforcement officer knowingly engages in deception, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that the presumption of inadmissibility for such confession of a minor may be overcome if the confession was voluntarily given.
02/14/22 Senate: Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 6-N)
02/15/22 Senate: Passed Senate (26-Y 14-N)
02/28/22 House: Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (5-Y 3-N)
View bill here.
SB 767 Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration
Introduced by: Mamie E. Locke [D]
Voter registration; restoration of political rights upon release from incarceration; certain adjudications.
02/09/22 Senate: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (12-Y 4-N)
02/11/22 Senate: Engrossed by Senate as amended SB767E
02/14/22 Senate: Read third time and passed Senate (25-Y 15-N)
02/28/22 House: Assigned P & E sub: Subcommittee #1
03/01/22 House: Subcommittee recommends passing by indefinitely (6-Y 4-N)
View bill here.
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