Clarifies that at the end of the appointed term of a nonlegislative citizen member of the FOIA Advisory Council, the nonlegislative citizen member shall continue to serve until a successor is appointed. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
Provides that personal contact information provided to a public body for the purpose of receiving electronic mail from the public body is excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA, provided that the electronic mail recipient has requested that the public body not disclose such information. The bill defines "personal contact information" as the home or business (i) address, (ii) email address, or (iii) telephone number or comparable number assigned to any other electronic communication device. Current law excludes "personal information," which is defined as including a broader range of information than the limited definition of personal contact information in the bill.
Requires the attorney for the Commonwealth, upon written notice by an accused to the court and to the attorney for the Commonwealth, to permit the accused to inspect, copy, or photograph (i) any relevant written or recorded statements or confessions made by the accused or any codefendant, or the substance of any oral statements or confessions made by the accused or any codefendant; (ii) any relevant written reports of autopsies, ballistic tests, fingerprint analyses, handwriting analyses, blood, urine, and breath tests, other written scientific reports, and written reports of a physical or mental examination of the accused or the alleged victim; (iii) any books, papers, documents, tangible objects, or buildings or places, or copies or portions thereof, that are within the possession, custody, or control of the Commonwealth; (iv) all relevant police reports; and (v) all relevant statements of any non-expert witness whom the Commonwealth is required to designate on a witness list. If the accused provides written notice for discovery, the accused shall provide reciprocal discovery, which shall include (a) any written reports of autopsy examinations, ballistic tests, fingerprint, blood, urine, and breath analyses, and other scientific tests that may be within the accused's possession, custody, or control and that the accused intends to proffer or introduce into evidence at the trial or sentencing; (b) whether he intends to introduce evidence to establish an alibi; (c) if the accused intends to rely upon an insanity defense, any written reports of physical or mental examination of the accused made in connection with the case; and (d) all relevant statements of any non-expert witness whom the defense designated on a witness list. The bill directs that the Commonwealth provide its expert disclosures no later than 14 days before trial and the accused provide his expert disclosures no later than seven days before trial. The bill provides that for good cause a party may withhold or redact certain information and either party may file a motion to compel disclosure of any information withheld or redacted.
Left in Transportation
Expands the mission of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to include the reduction and prevention of substance use by youth in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to
Extends the sunset date of the motion picture production tax credit from January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2022. This bill is identical to
Left in Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop compulsory training standards for law-enforcement officers regarding mental health awareness. The bill also emergency medical services personnel, and firefighters other than volunteer firefighters to participate in a mental health awareness program created or certified by the Mental Health Work Group, established in the Department of Fire Programs.
Left in Courts of Justice
Creates the Red Tape Reduction Commission (the Commission) to develop and maintain a state regulatory baseline of all current state regulatory requirements, with the initial baseline to be completed by January 1, 2019. The bill defines a regulatory requirement as any action required to be taken or information required to be provided in accordance with a statute or regulation in order to access government services or operate and conduct business and excludes requirements that are necessary to conform to changes in Virginia statutory law or the appropriation act where no agency discretion is involved or to meet requirements of federal law or regulations. The bill also provides that after the regulatory baseline has been established, any subsequent regulatory requirement proposed by an agency that is not included in the initial state regulatory baseline is considered a new regulatory requirement and requires the approval of the Commission before it may be enacted. In addition, the bill provides for the Commission to review current state regulatory requirements and provide recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on measures to reduce the baseline regulatory requirements. The Commission must submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly by November 1, 2017, on (i) the organizational structure of the Commission, (ii) duties of staff, and (iii) guidelines for determining what constitutes a regulatory requirement. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Provides that any person sentenced to a term of life imprisonment for a single or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 25 years of such sentence, or any person who has active sentences that total more than 25 years for a single or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 25 years of such sentences, shall be eligible for parole.
Provides that restricted firearms ammunition means any ammunition that has been banned or prohibited from commercial sale by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or under federal law. Under current law, restricted firearms ammunition was defined as ammunition that are: (i) coated with or contain, in whole or in part, polytetrafluorethylene or a similar product, (ii) commonly known as "KTW" bullets or "French Arcanes," or (iii) any cartridges containing bullets coated with a plastic substance with other than lead or lead alloy cores, jacketed bullets with other than lead or lead alloy cores, or cartridges of which the bullet itself is wholly comprised of a metal or metal alloy other than lead.
