Vacant building registration; civil penalty. Increases from $100 to $500 the maximum annual registration fee a locality may charge the owners of certain vacant buildings to defray the cost of processing such registration. The civil penalty for failure to register such vacant building is increased from $200 to $750, and the maximum civil penalty for failure to register in certain conservation and rehabilitation districts or in other areas designated as blighted is increased from $400 to $1,000.
Virginia Retirement System; enhanced retirement benefits for 911 dispatchers. Allows local governments to provide enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service to full-time salaried 911 dispatchers. The bill provides that such enhanced retirement benefits apply only to service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher on or after July 1, 2026, but allows an employer, as that term is defined in relevant law, to provide such enhanced retirement benefits for service earned as a full-time salaried 911 dispatcher before July 1, 2026, in addition to service earned on or after that date. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Education improvement scholarships tax credit; guidelines for scholarship foundations; scholarship amount. Provides that, on and after July 1, 2025, the aggregate amount of scholarships provided to each student, eligible student with a disability, or pre-kindergarten child by scholarship foundations may exceed the maximum amounts established in current law for such students.
Reckless exposure of illegal fentanyl to certain persons; penalty; arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Provides that any person who unlawfully possesses fentanyl, including its isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, and recklessly exposes a law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, jail officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel, as those terms are defined in relevant law, to such fentanyl and causes severe bodily injury or an overdose to such officer, firefighter, or personnel is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill also provides that no individual incarcerated in a local, regional, or state correctional facility shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for such offense if such individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself or another individual experiencing an overdose or is experiencing an overdose and another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him.
Commercial entity offering social media accounts; restricted hours for minors; civil liability. Provides that no commercial entity that offers social media accounts, as defined in the bill, shall knowingly or intentionally allow a minor to access his social media account during the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. unless the minor's parent, guardian, or legal custodian has provided permission for the minor to use such social media account during these hours. The bill provides that any commercial entity that violates these provisions shall be subject to civil liability for damages resulting from the interference with a minor's sleep cycle or mental health by allowing such minor to access to his social media account during the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. and reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Commissioner of Health; work group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water; report. Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a work group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water and develop recommendations for the reduction of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water. The bill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Education and Health by December 1, 2025.
Unauthorized use of electronic tracking device; penalties. Creates a Class 6 felony for any person who installs or places an electronic tracking device through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, or causes an electronic tracking device to be installed or placed through intentionally deceptive means and without consent, and uses such device to track the location of any person protected by a protective order issued pursuant to relevant law. The bill also states that any person who consents to the installation or placement of an electronic tracking device may withdraw such consent at any time, and such withdrawal shall allow prosecution.
Virginia Retirement System; return to work for law-enforcement officers. Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to return to work full time as a law-enforcement officer and continue to receive his pension under the Virginia Retirement System. Such person shall be required to have a break in service of at least six calendar months before reemployment. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026.
Placing swastika on certain property with intent to intimidate; penalty. Makes it a Class 6 felony for any person or persons, with the intent of intimidating another person or group of persons, to place or cause to be placed a swastika on (i) the private property of another without permission or (ii) a highway or other public place in a manner having a direct tendency to place another person in reasonable fear or apprehension of death or bodily injury.
Unlawful dissemination of intimate images of another; penalties. Creates a tiered system of penalties for the unlawful dissemination of intimate images of another person, an offense formerly known as the unlawful dissemination or sale of videographic or still images of another person.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions; apprenticeship programs; minors. Excludes from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act any personal information in a public record regarding the participation of a minor in a program run by a state public body, such as an internship, externship, or apprenticeship, except as otherwise prescribed by law.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 7 of Chapter 6 of Title 18.2 a section numbered 18.2-213.3, relating to fraudulent insurance acts; penalty.
