Clarifies the definition of public record. The bill also (i) defines "personal contact information" that is excluded from FOIA's mandatory disclosure provisions in certain cases; (ii) clarifies that a requester has the right to inspect records or receive copies at his option; (iii) clarifies language in certain record exclusions under FOIA that certain records may be disclosed at the discretion of the custodian; (iv) consolidates the personnel record exclusion with the limitation on the application of that exclusion, and specifically clarifies that the name, in addition to position, job classification, and salary, of a public employee is public information as per opinions of the Attorney General and the FOIA Council; (v) eliminates, effective July 1, 2018, the exclusion for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority relating to operating and marketing strategies; (vi) eliminates the exclusion for correspondence of local officials as unnecessary; (vii) consolidates various public safety exclusions relating to building plans and drawings and critical infrastructure into a single exclusion; (viii) eliminates the exclusion for administrative investigations of the Department of Human Resource Management, as the exclusion is already covered under the personnel records exclusion; (ix) expands the exclusion for personal information provided to the Virginia College Savings Plan to cover qualified beneficiaries, designated survivors, and authorized individuals, which terms are defined in the bill; (x) consolidates the various record exclusions for the Department of Health Professions and the Department of Health into single exclusions for each Department; (xi) clarifies certain Department of Social Services exclusions; (xii) provides an exclusion for local finance boards that provide postemployment benefits other than pensions; and (xiii) eliminates the record exclusion for Virginia Wildlife Magazine. The bill also limits the application of the working papers exemption by stating that information publicly available or not otherwise subject to an exclusion under FOIA or other provision of law that has been aggregated, combined, or changed in format without substantive analysis or revision shall not be deemed working papers. The bill contains numerous technical amendments. This bill is a recommendation of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council pursuant to the
Increases the grace period after which collection activity for unpaid court fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution may be commenced from 30 days to 90 days after sentencing or judgment. The bill also establishes the requirements for deferred or installment payment agreements that a court must offer a defendant who is unable to pay court-ordered fines, costs, forfeitures, and penalties. The bill requires that a court take into account a defendant's financial circumstances, including whether the defendant owes fines and costs to other courts, in setting the terms of a payment agreement, but such decision shall not be based solely on the amount of fines and costs owed. The bill fixes the maximum down payments that a court may require as a condition of entering a payment plan and provides that payments made within 10 days of their due date are timely made. The bill precludes a court from denying a defendant the opportunity to enter into a payment agreement solely because of the crime committed, the total amount owed or that such amount has been referred to collections, any previous default by the defendant or failure to establish a payment history, or the defendant's eligibility for a restricted driver's license. The bill allows all costs and fines owed by a defendant to any one court to be incorporated into one payment agreement and allows a defendant to request a modification of the terms of the agreement, which shall be granted upon a good faith showing of need. The bill requires a court to consider a request by a defendant who has defaulted on a payment agreement to enter into a subsequent agreement and requires the court to fix a down payment for subsequent payment agreements. Finally, the bill provides that the payment agreement includes restitution unless the court has entered a separate order regarding the payment of restitution. This bill is identical to
Provides that any law-enforcement officer who is listed as a driver in a motor vehicle accident report submitted to the Department of Motor Vehicles will not have the accident listed on his driving record if he was driving a motor vehicle provided by a law-enforcement agency in the course of his employment and was operating the motor vehicle in the performance of his official duties at the time of such accident. This bill is identical to
Enacted, Chapter 783 (effective 9/1/17)
Provides that the 11 members of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority appointed by the Governor no longer serve at the pleasure of the Governor and may be removed prior to the expiration of a five-year term only for cause. The bill changes from nonvoting ex officio member to voting member the status of two members of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Port Authority appointed by the Governor, one of whom represents the Port of Richmond and is from the City of Richmond or the County of Chesterfield, Hanover, or Henrico and one of whom represents the Virginia Inland Port and is from the City of Winchester or the County of Clarke, Frederick, or Warren. This bill is identical to
Makes numerous changes related to the repayment of court-ordered restitution, including: (i) requiring the court to enter the amount of restitution, the date by which all restitution is to be paid, and the terms and conditions of repayment on a form prescribed by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court; (ii) providing that docketing an order of restitution as a civil judgment does not prohibit the court from enforcing such order by any other available means; and (iii) requiring the clerk of every circuit and district court to submit quarterly reports to the attorney for the Commonwealth and any probation agency serving the locality listing (a) all defendants with outstanding balances of court-ordered restitution and (b) all accounts where more than 90 days have passed since such account was sent to collections and no payments have been made. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. This bill is identical to
Reduces the maximum length of a long-term suspension from 364 calendar days to 90 school days. The bill prohibits a long-term suspension from extending beyond any 45 school day period unless the school principal or division superintendent finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the local school board. The bill requires that the length of any long-term suspension that extends beyond any 45 school day period shall be reviewed at the end of each such period.
Authorizes the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to disburse moneys from the Dam Safety, Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund in the form of grants or loans to a local government that owns a dam, to a local government for a dam located within the locality, or to a private entity that owns a dam in order to protect public safety and welfare. The grants can be used for the design, repair, and safety modifications of dams identified in safety reports.
Allows for the operation of electric personal delivery devices on the sidewalks and shared-use paths and across roadways on crosswalks in the Commonwealth unless otherwise prohibited by a locality. The bill directs that such devices shall not be considered vehicles and are exempt from the motor carrier provisions of Title 46.2 (Motor Vehicles). This bill is identical to
Requires a prescriber registered with the Prescription Monitoring Program (the Program) to request information about a patient from the Program upon initiating a new course of treatment that includes the prescribing of opioids anticipated, at the onset of treatment, to last more than seven consecutive days and exempts the prescriber from this requirement if the opioid is prescribed as part of treatment for a surgical or invasive procedure and such prescription is for no more than 14 consecutive days. Current law requires a registered prescriber to request information about a patient from the Program upon initiating a new course of treatment that includes the prescribing of opioids anticipated, at the onset of treatment, to last more than 14 consecutive days and exempts the prescriber from this requirement if the opioid is prescribed as part of a course of treatment for a surgical or invasive procedure and such prescription is not refillable. The bill extends the sunset for this requirement from July 1, 2019, to July 1, 2022.
Defines "equity" under the Virginia Tobacco Region Revolving Fund to mean any contribution to a project other than debt financing, including a federal, state, or local grant, except that the grant shall not be a Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission grant. The bill includes in the definition of "project" any other proposal recommended for evaluation and disbursement by the Commission and credit approved by the Virginia Resources Authority, subject to such conditions and policies as agreed to by the Commission and the Authority. Projects other than those defined in § 62.1-199 shall be eligible to borrow from the Fund only in the event that other funding for the project equal to 25 percent of the total cost of the project is available through equity.
Requires the Marine Resources Commission (the Commission) to post notice of an application to lease oyster planting grounds for 30 days on its website and to notify by mail any current holders of adjoining leases, and riparian owners within 200 feet of the selected grounds. Current law requires posting of notice at the local courthouse for 60 days. The bill (i) reduces from four weeks to two weeks the period during which the Commission is required to publish weekly notice of the application in a newspaper and (ii) requires all forms of notice to invite written comments. The bill also provides that the applicant shall bear the cost of notice.
