Taking certain private roads into the secondarystate highway system. Directs the Department of Transportationto accept certain private roads into the secondary state highwaysystem if the locality in which the private road is located adoptsan ordinance dedicating one percent of real property revenues generatedby property on the road to the Department to contribute to the maintenanceand upkeep of the road. A private road would be eligible if the privateroad has served at least 10 occupied parcels for a minimum of 45years and if the private road intersects with two or more roads inthe primary or secondary state highway system.
Naturopathic doctors; license required. Requiresthe Board of Medicine to license and regulate naturopathic doctors.The practice of naturopathic medicine is defined in the bill as (i)a system of primary health care for the prevention, diagnosis, andtreatment of human health conditions, injury, and disease and (ii)the use of both naturopathic and traditional medical therapies topromote or restore whole patient health. The bill also establishes the Advisory Board on Naturopathic Medicine to assist the Board ofMedicine in formulating regulations related to the practice of naturopathicmedicine.
Public institutions of higher education; governingboards; fees; collegiate athletics. Provides that anyfees levied for the purpose of collegiate athletics shall be madeoptional for students. Each board of visitors of each baccalaureatepublic institution of higher education or its designee shall activelydisclose to student and parent consumers a process to opt out ofpaying athletic fees, including by electronic or written notice withinthe billing process and online payment accounts.
Immunizations; religious tenets or practices.Allows a parent or guardian to object to the vaccination or immunizationof a child on the grounds that the administration of immunizing agentsconflicts with his religious tenets or practices, even if an emergencyor epidemic of disease has been declared by the State Board of Health,which is not allowed under current law.
Use of deadly force by a law-enforcement officerduring an arrest or detention. Eliminates the requirements thata law-enforcement officer shall not use deadly force against a personunless he has provided a warning to the subject of the deadly forcethat he will use deadly force, if feasible, and exhausted all otheroptions or such options do not reasonably lend themselves to thecircumstances. The bill shifts these requirements to the factorsconsidered in determining whether a law-enforcement officer's useof deadly force was proper.
Hate crimes; associational relationships; penalty.Redefines the categories of victims whose intentional selection fora hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminalpenalty for the offense to include a person's actual or perceivedrace, color, ethnicity, religious conviction, national origin, gender,sex, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientationor a person's actual or perceived association with another personor group of a certain actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity,religious conviction, national origin, gender, sex, disability, genderidentity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. The bill addsthese categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hatecrime involves malicious wounding and makes such crime punishableby a term of imprisonment of not less than five years, nor more than40 years. The bill also redefines these categories for the purposesof reporting hate crimes to the central repository of informationmaintained by the Virginia State Police, for civil actions to recoverdamages for vandalism, and for interactive computer service liability.
Execution of wills; witnesses. Requiresthe witnesses to a will to be disinterested, a term defined in thebill.
Law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies.Provides that any person appointed to a law-enforcement civilianoversight body shall be a citizen of the United States, shall residein the jurisdiction that he is appointed to serve, shall not havea criminal record, and shall be required to complete (i) a Citizen's Law Enforcement or Police Academy with a basic firearms instructioncourse conducted by an accredited law-enforcement agency and (ii)one daytime and one nighttime ride-along with each agency that servesunder the authority of the locality. The bill requires at least twomembers of a law-enforcement civilian oversight body to have specialized knowledge in law-enforcement activities or operations. The bill providesthat a law-enforcement civilian oversight body shall not have theauthority to award or order financial restitution and requires theredaction of all personal identifying information for law-enforcementpersonnel from all public reports made by the law-enforcement civilianoversight body.
Gifts of real estate; requirements. Prohibitsa clerk of court from recording a deed of gift conveying real estateunless it is accompanied by a certified copy of the existing deedshowing the name of the current owner of the property.
Abuse and neglect of children; contact withother parent; penalty. Provides that any parent, guardian, orother person responsible for the care of a child under the age of18 whose willful act or omission interferes with such child's contactand relationship with the other parent, guardian, or other personresponsible for the care of such child, including unreasonably denyingthe other parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the careof such child access to or visitation with such child, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Provides that an individual who is subject to arrest or prosecution for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; possession of marijuana; intoxication in public; or possession of controlled paraphernalia may be offered a first offender deferred disposition program or drug treatment court docket program if such person is reporting an overdose and seeking emergency medical attention. Under current law, such person would be immune from arrest and prosecution.
Virginia Equal Pay Act; civil penalties. Prohibits public and private employers from discriminating between employees on the basis of membership in a protected class in the payment of wages or other compensation, including benefits, by paying wages or other compensation to employees who are members of a protected class at a rate less than the rate at which it pays wages or other compensation to employees who are not members of the protected class for substantially similar work. The measure also prohibits an employer from discriminating between employees by providing less favorable employment opportunities on the basis of membership in a protected class, limiting an employee's right to discuss wages, relying on the wage history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment or determining the wages that the prospective employee is to be paid by the employer upon hire, or taking certain retaliatory actions against an employee. The measure also establishes criteria for when wage differentials between employees are permitted, but requires an employer to (i) provide a prospective employee with the wage range for the position for which the prospective employee is applying upon request or prior to inquiring about the prospective employee's wage expectations or providing an offer of compensation and (ii) maintain records of the wages and wage rates, job classifications, and other terms and conditions of employment for a period of three years. The measure gives an employee who is the subject of a violation a right of action to recover, for certain violations, the greater of compensatory damages or $10,000, liquidated damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees. Violations are also subject to civil penalties.
