All-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles; seizure, impounding, and disposition. Authorizes the governing body of any city to provide by ordinance for the lawful seizure, impounding, and disposition of an illegally operated all-terrain vehicle or off-road motorcycle operated on a highway or sidewalk within such city. This bill is identical to SB 516.
Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); real property tax exemption; surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty. Provides for a referendum at the November 5, 2024, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that would expand the real property tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to be available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty with a Line of Duty determination from the U.S. Department of Defense. This bill is identical to SB 4.
Electronic communication systems within statecorrectional facilities; free telephone calls and communication services.Requires the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systemsand web-based or electronic communications systems free of chargeto any person, whether such person is initiating or receiving thecommunication. The bill also requires that a minimum ratio of onetelephone per every 10 inmates be available within each housing unitat each correctional facility and that a maximum number of telephonenumbers permitted on an approved call list must be no fewer than20. This bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.
Percy Lee House, III Memorial Bridge. Designates the bridge on Otterdam Road over Interstate 95 in Greensville County the "Percy Lee House, III Memorial Bridge." This bill is identical to HB 92.
Court of Appeals; appeal of interlocutory orders. Provides that certain interlocutory orders shall not be appealableto the Court of Appeals unless the circuit court grants a party's motion to certify such order for interlocutory appeal.
Stores and telephone systems in local correctional facilities; fees. Provides that the net profits from the operation of stores and telephonic communication systems in local correctional facilities shall be used within each facility respectively for educational, recreational, or medical purposes for the benefit of the inmates to include behavioral health, substance abuse, reentry, and rehabilitative services and may be expended to pay for the training, salaries, and benefits of employees or contractors whose primary job is to provide such programs and services to the inmates.
Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by the State Inspector General. The bill creates the Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee) made up of four members of the General Assembly, nine nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, subject to criteria described in the bill, and two nonvoting members, appointed as described in the bill, who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department facilities and requires the Office to establish a statewide toll-free telephone number, website, mailing address, and paper and electronic forms for inmates, family members, friends, and advocates to submit complaints and inquiries. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least two public hearings per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to be made available online and to be delivered to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, the Committee, and the Director of the Department. The bill directs the Office to develop a short-term and long-term strategic plan and to provide a report on its initial activities and strategic plan to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before November 15, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 456.
Board of Counseling; licensure of professionalcounselors without examination. Allows the Board of Counselingto issue a license to practice as a professional counselor withoutexamination to an applicant seeking initial licensure or renewalof such license and who satisfies all other education, experience,and fitness to practice requirements set forth in regulation andwho is qualified to practice professional counseling.
American Revolution 250 Commission; membership and staffing. Amends the membership of the American Revolution 250 Commission to allow for the appointment of ex officio members who are directors of historic homes, historic sites, or National Park Service sites or former legislative members of the Commission. The bill also provides for staff of the Commission to serve as the Commission's fiscal agent. This bill is identical to HB 839.
Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety;school safety audit; requirements. Requires the Virginia Centerfor School and Campus Safety to include in the list of items to bereviewed and evaluated in school safety audits and each school boardto require all schools under its supervision to review and evaluatein their annual school safety audits information relating to thetype of school security technology utilized in each public schoolbuilding in the applicable school division, including informationrelating to the specific types of technology systems and the age of such systems.
Department of Medical Assistance Services; publicationof information related to home care services. Directs the Departmentof Medical Assistance Services to annually publish on its website the average hourly payment rates for home care services for eachtype of service provided. The bill also requires the Department topublish the total number of Medicaid-paid home care claims and thenumber of Medicaid enrollees who received home care services in theprior year.
Board of Medicine; temporary licensure of physicians licensed in a foreign country. Permits the Board of Medicine to issue a provisional license to a physician licensed in a foreign country for no more than two years, then a subsequent renewable two-year license if the physician practices in a medically underserved area. After two years of practice under the renewable license in a medically underserved area, a physician licensed in a foreign country is eligible to apply for a full, unrestricted license to practice medicine. The bill specifies that eligibility for such licenses is conditional upon an applicant demonstrating certain educational and experiential qualifications to the Board and obtaining employment with a medical care facility that provides an assessment and evaluation program for physicians licensed in a foreign country.
