Criminal Justice

Study; JLARC; expansion of discretionary parole eligibility; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to consult with all relevant stakeholders to study the potential impacts of expanded discretionary parole eligibility. The resolution directs JLARC to complete its first year of meetings by September 1, 2026, and to submit an interim report by March 1, 2027. Additionally, JLARC is directed to complete its second year of meetings and submit its findings and recommendations no later than December 1, 2027.

Short-term rental properties; human trafficking awareness training. Requires every operator, defined in the bill, and its employees to complete an approved training course on recognizing and reporting instances of suspected human trafficking, as provided or approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, by January 1, 2028, and every two years thereafter. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. The bill contains technical amendments.

Limitation on sentence upon revocation of suspension of sentence; technical violations. Provides that the court shall consider all technical violations that are alleged to have occurred after a prior sentencing or revocation hearing as single technical violation and adjudicate the case as such, with punishment imposed pursuant to relevant law. The bill also prohibits the court from treating multiple technical violations during a single probationary period between such prior sentencing or revocation hearing as separate cases or adjudicate such violations at separate hearings. The bill requires that when a defendant has been taken into custody for an alleged violation for which the court may impose not more than 14 days of active incarceration, the court shall docket such case as soon as practicable, and any such case shall be given precedence on the docket. The bill states that if such violation is not adjudicated within 14 days of the defendant being taken into custody, the defendant shall be admitted to bail, unless (i) such defendant consents to being further detained while awaiting adjudication or sentencing or (ii) the Commonwealth has established, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant presents a significant risk of harm to himself or the community based on substance use disorder or serious mental illness and has been referred for residential treatment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the bill provides that no such defendant shall be held in custody awaiting adjudication of or sentencing on such alleged technical violation for longer than 30 days. The bill also expands the list of technical violations and provides that it shall be a defense to an alleged violation if the defendant can show that he has substantially complied with his probation obligations.

Restorative housing and isolated confinement; restrictions on use. Prohibits the use of isolated confinement, defined in the bill, in state correctional facilities, subject to certain exceptions. The bill requires that before placing an incarcerated person in restorative housing or isolated confinement for his own protection, the facility administrator shall place an incarcerated person in a less-restrictive setting, including by transferring such person to another institution or to a special-purpose housing unit for incarcerated persons who face similar threats. The bill requires that if an incarcerated person is placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement, such placement shall be reviewed every two business days and the facility administrator shall ensure that the incarcerated person receives a medical and mental health evaluation from certified medical and mental health professionals within one working day of placement in restorative housing or any form of isolated confinement. The bill also requires the facility administrator to notify the regional administrator in writing that an incarcerated person was placed in restorative housing or isolated confinement within 24 hours of such placement. Finally, the bill requires that formal reviews of an incarcerated person's placement in any form of isolated confinement shall be held in such person's presence, inform him of any reasons administrative officials believe isolated confinement remains necessary, and give the incarcerated person an opportunity to respond to those reasons, and a formal ruling shall be provided to the incarcerated individual within 24 hours.

Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; reform. Increases from seven to 12 the number of members of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (the Commission) by adding two additional attorney members, an additional active judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and two additional citizen members. The bill provides that such attorney members be chosen by members of the General Assembly from recommendations provided by the Council of the Virginia State Bar, the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, and the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and reduces the required years of practice for such lawyer members from 15 to eight. The bill establishes an initial and subsequent annual training requirement for each member and any newly hired counsel for the Commission. Additionally, the bill requires the Commission to adopt and implement a conflict of interest policy. The bill clarifies appointment powers of the Governor in any case where a member of the Commission or staff for the Commission is disqualified from or voluntarily recuses himself from participation in a proceeding. Further, the bill requires the Commission to adopt, the Committees for Courts of Justice to approve, and the Commission to make publicly available a Code of Conduct for all Commission members and Commission staff. The bill provides that the Commission shall make all reasonable efforts to contact any witnesses specified in complaints alleging judicial misconduct to assist the Commission. Further, the bill clarifies that the Commission may investigate any complaints within their purview arising out of matters that are pending or on appeal, and that the Commission shall not dismiss such complaints solely on the basis that the matter from which such complaint arose is pending or on appeal. The bill requires the Commission to make publicly available a publication specifying all possible sanctions, informal disciplinary actions, and supervision agreements the Commission may impose on a judge who is the subject of a complaint and provides an option for requiring the mandatory recusal of such judge in certain instances. The bill prohibits the Attorney General from acting as counsel in any proceeding where the Attorney General was involved in a case, either at trial or on appeal, where a complaint of judicial misconduct arose from such case, and provides that the Conflict of Interest policy the Commission adopts shall govern the Attorney General. The bill removes provisions of confidentiality for a complainant that currently bars a complainant from discussing or sharing privileged information regarding any filed complaint and permits such complainant to discuss publicly the filing of a complaint and any associated events relating to the complaint. The bill clarifies notice requirements to the complainant by the Commission. Finally, the bill permits the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to provide the annual judicial performance evaluations for all judges subject to evaluation to the Commission, and such evaluations shall remain confidential.

Civilian deaths in custody; failure to comply with annual report; funding for local and regional adult correctional facilities. Requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to notify the Office of the Governor if any local or regional correctional facility fails to send reports with information required by law regarding civilian deaths in custody within 10 days. If such facility fails to comply within 10 days, the bill allows the Governor discretion to direct the Comptroller to withhold all further payment to such facility of all funds, or of any part of them, appropriated and payable by the Commonwealth to such facility, for any and all purposes, until such correctional facility complies.

State correctional facilities; participation of prisoners in employment and educational programs; reentry planning. Expands the program assignments in which the Director of the Department of Corrections may place a prisoner while such prisoner is confined in a state correctional facility. The bill requires the Director to place a prisoner in an appropriate program assignment within (i) 90 days of the arrival of a prisoner sentenced to a new term of confinement to a state correctional facility or (ii) 60 days of a prisoner already in custody being transferred to a new state correctional facility and provides that participation in such program assignments shall be for an average of 30 hours per week, calculated individually across the calendar year. Finally, the bill expands upon the requirements for a prisoner's reentry plan, including requiring an assessment, if necessary, of a prisoner's readiness to take a high school equivalency test and any modifications needed for the prisoner to take or improve upon such test, and making available peer and group educational programs developed and led by qualified prisoners.

Deferred or installment payment agreements; outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs. Provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth or the clerk of the circuit court shall not require any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge for which such defendant was incarcerated, or any other chare for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such  defendant into a deferred payment agreement with a due date set no earlier than 180 days after the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charges for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day.

Court appearance of a person not free on bail. Makes various changes to provisions regarding bail hearings in jurisdictions having a public defender office, including (i) the appointment of counsel for the accused and (ii) a requirement that counsel for the accused, when practicable, be provided with adequate time to confer with the accused prior to any bail hearing. The bill also allows a jurisdiction that does not have a public defender office establish to implement such provisions. The bill provides that, effective in due course, the chief judge in each circuit shall create a plan to be completed by November 1, 2026, that establishes the means by which the jurisdiction will meet such provisions. The remaining provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

Abolition of fees; legal representation of indigent defendant; jury trial costs; report. Eliminates the fees for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation for persons who are determined to be indigent. The bill also eliminates fees for persons who utilize a jury trial. The bill contains a reenactment clause for such elimination of fees.The bill also directs the Indigent Defense Commission, in consultation with the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court or his designee, to convene a work group with all relevant stakeholders, including the Attorney General or his designee, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources or his designee; representatives from the Compensation Board, the Virginia Crime Commission, the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Virginia Court Clerk's Association, the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, staff from the House Appropriations and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees, and the Virginia Probation and Parole Association; and a minimum of two criminal justice reform organizations working on fees and other financial assessments imposed in criminal prosecutions in Virginia; on several topics, including current collection practices, use of funds received as a result of such collections, and the burden of a fee assessment on indigent individuals. The bill requires the work group to submit an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, and a final report by November 1, 2027.