Probation, revocation, and suspension of sentence; penalty. Makes changes to the definition of a technical violation as it pertains to the revocation of suspension of sentence and probation and clarifies that a technical violation shall not include a violation of any specific or special term or condition imposed by the court in the original or any subsequent sentencing order and includes the consequences of a violation based solely upon a first technical violation and for a second or subsequent technical violation or any other violation, including a violation of any specific or special term or condition imposed by the court in the original or any subsequent sentencing order. Currently, there are limitations on the amount of active incarceration a court may impose for technical violations. The bill also provides that the court may fix the period of probation and the period of suspension for up to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imposed for any felony offense and up to five years for an offense punishable as a Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanor. Currently, the limitation on periods of probation and periods of suspension is up to the statutory maximum period of imprisonment for any offense. The bill also adds the offense of crimes against nature committed on or after July 1, 2022, to the list of offenses for which if some period of the sentence for such offense is suspended, the judge is required to order that period of suspension be for the length of time equal to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imprisoned.
Modification of sentence for marijuana-related offenses. Creates a process by which persons convicted of certain felony marijuana-related offenses committed prior to July 1, 2021, who remain incarcerated or on community supervision on July 1, 2022, shall receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of such person's sentence. The bill also provides that a person is eligible to be considered for parole if such person was convicted of a felony conviction, except for an act of violence, and had such felony conviction sentence enhanced because of a felony marijuana conviction and such offense was committed on or after January 1, 1995, and the person was committed by a court to the Department of Corrections and remained incarcerated for such offense on July 1, 2022. The bill incorporates SB 518.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; productivity analysis. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to conduct and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2022, a productivity analysis of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth that includes, among other metrics, an analysis of the (i) ten-year trend in the ratio of students to full-time equivalent faculty per academic program, (ii) published student to faculty ratio as a benchmark, (iii) completion rate per academic program, and (iv) plans to address both outlying low and outlying high student demand for academic programs.
Higher education; students and student organizations; remedies for certain violations. Permits any student or student organization aggrieved by a violation of certain provisions of lawrelating to campus free speech by a public institution of highereducation or any employee of such institution acting in his officialcapacity to (i) bring a cause of action against such institutionor employee for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief,monetary damages, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs; (ii)assert such violation as a defense or counterclaim in any disciplinaryaction or civil or administrative proceeding brought against suchstudent or student organization; and (iii) pursue any other remedyavailable to such student or student organization.
Virginia Human Rights Act; nondiscrimination in employment; definition of employer, statute of limitations, and provision of attorney fees. Amends the definition of "employer" to mean a person employing five or more employees, instead of 15 or more employees under current law, for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such person. The bill provides that a person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discriminatory practice may file a written complaint with the Division of Human Rights within two years of the occurrence of the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice and that an aggrieved person who has been provided a notice of his right to file a civil action for such grievance may do so within one year of receiving such notice or within two years after the alleged discriminatory practice occurred, whichever is later. The bill also changes a court's award of reasonable attorney fees and costs to a successful plaintiff from discretionary to mandatory.
Consultation with federally recognized TribalNations; permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental,cultural, and historic resources. Requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Quality,the Department of Historic Resources, and the Virginia Marine ResourcesCommission to establish policies and procedures for consulting withfederally recognized Tribal Nations in the Commonwealth when evaluating certain permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental,cultural, or historic resources or that would have tribal implications,as defined in the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of the Commonwealthto designate an Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation to facilitate communicationand consultation with Tribal Nations. The bill codifies ExecutiveOrder 82 (2021).
Low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle standards. Provides that the State Air Pollution Control Board may promulgate regulations in accordance with an Advanced Clean Car I Program beginning with vehicle model year 2030. Current law requires the Board to adopt such regulations beginning with vehicle model year 2025. Any regulations adopted by the Board under prior law shall be withdrawn and repromulgated. Such new regulations shall not be adopted prior to December 1, 2027, and shall not be effective prior to December 1, 2029.
Destroying or tampering with firefighting oremergency medical services equipment or law-enforcement vehiclesand equipment; penalty. Increases from a Class 1 misdemeanorto a Class 6 felony the penalty for injuring, destroying, removing,or tampering with any firefighting equipment or apparatus, emergencymedical services vehicle, or law-enforcement vehicle or equipment.The bill also adds to this prohibition such interference with anyother equipment or apparatus used by emergency medical services personnelor law-enforcement officers.
Solar-ready roof requirements for state agenciesand localities; energy-positive building design for schools. Requires any executive branch agency or institution and any locality enteringthe design phase for the construction of a new building greater than5,000 gross square feet in size, or the renovation of a buildingwhere the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the valueof the building, to ensure that such building includes a solar-readyroof, defined in the bill as having the structural capability toaccept the increased load from solar panels, proper sizing of theelectrical panel, installation of conduit and wire from the roofto the electrical panel, use of solar-appropriate roof membranes and other roofing materials, and clustering of vents and non-solarequipment to maximize available space for solar panels. However,the provisions of the bill do not apply to localities with a populationof less than 100,000 until July 1, 2023. The bill also requires newpublic school buildings and facilities, and improvements and renovationsto existing public school buildings and facilities where the costof the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the buildingto be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated to generatemore electricity than consumed.
Department of Education; policy on sexually explicit content in instructional material. Requires the Department of Education to develop and each local school board to adopt model policies for ensuring parental notification of any instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to (i) ensuring parental notification; (ii) directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and (iii) permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any student whose parent so requests. The bill provides that the local school board model policies may be more comprehensive than the model policies developed by the Department. The bill requires the Department to develop such model policies no later than July 31, 2022, and requires each local school board to adopt policies consistent with this act no later than January 1, 2023. The bill states that the provisions of the bill shall not be construed as requiring or providing for the censoring of books in public elementary and secondary schools.
Nondiscrimination in places of public accommodation; definitions.
School boards; teachers; planning time and planning periods. Requires each local school board to ensure that eachelementary school teacher is provided an average of one 45-minuteperiod per school day of planning time and that each middle and high school teacher is provided an average of one planning period perschool day, which shall be at least 45 minutes or one class period,whichever is longer. The bill permits local school boards and teachersto enter into an appropriate contractual arrangement providing forcompensation in lieu of such planning time or period. Under currentlaw, public elementary school teachers are guaranteed at least anaverage of 30 minutes of planning time per school day during a schoolweek.
