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 Date Reminder Program established. Establishes a Court Date Reminder Program, to be developed or procured by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, for the purpose of reminding criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances. The bill directs the Program to send a text message notification to any defendant with a criminal case in general district court or circuit court for whom the court has a telephone number prior to any scheduled hearing that requires his appearance and allows a defendant to opt out of participating in the Program. The Program has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.The bill also directs the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to convene a Court Date Reminder Program work group to advise on the implementation and expansion of the Program and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by December 1, 2026.
Regional or local detention homes; educational programs; staffing; funding. Provides that the state general funds required to be provided for educational programs in regional or local detention homes (i) shall support a statewide staffing ratio of one teacher for every eight students in average daily attendance and an additional one teacher for every 10 students in the Community Placement Program and (ii) shall be distributed to regional or local detention homes in such a manner as determined by the Department of Education, whether in a ratio-based manner or otherwise, based on such factors as the Department deems appropriate, including capacity, need, enrollment trends, and the availability of alternative educational settings. Current law provides that teacher staffing ratios for regional or local detention homes shall be based on a ratio of one teacher for every 12 beds based on the capacity of the facility; however, if the previous year's average daily attendance exceeds this bed capacity, the ratio shall be based on the average daily attendance at the facility as calculated by the Department from the previous school year.
Boyd-Graves Conference and Virginia Criminal Justice Conference; work group to address legal deserts within the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Boyd-Graves Conference, in conjunction with the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference, to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to make recommendations for legislative solutions to address the disparities in the geographical distribution of available legal services within the Commonwealth. The bill directs the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2026.
Local correctional facilities; reimbursements for housing convicted state felons. Provides that, notwithstanding the quarterly installment payments the Compensation Board is required to provide for reimbursements to localities, the Compensation Board shall ensure that it provides reimbursement to localities for the entirety of the costs incurred by such locality arising from housing convicted state felons in any local or regional correctional facility.
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 an individual to pay any outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs arising from a criminal proceeding during the 180-day period following an individual's release from a term of imprisonment. This bill was incorporated into SB 180.
Court Date Reminder Program established. Establishes a Court Date Reminder Program, to be developed or procured by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, for the purpose of reminding criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances and to provide any related information. The bill directs the Program to send a text message notification to any defendant with a criminal case or traffic infraction in general district court or circuit court, allows a defendant to opt out of participating in the Program, and allows the Program administrator or his designee to use other communication methods to contact a defendant when such defendant is unable to receive text messages, including telephone, email, or other internet-based technology.
Office of the Executive Secretary; annual trauma-informed education for certain court personnel. Requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia to provide annual continuing legal education on trauma-informed practices in proceedings involving sexual abuse or abuse of a family or household member to magistrates, clerks, judges of juvenile and domestic relations district courts, general district courts, and circuit courts, and other court employees.
Petition for modification of a sentence; eligibility; procedures; report. Provides procedures for individuals serving a sentence for certain felony convictions or a combination of such convictions who remain incarcerated in a state or local correctional facility or secure facility and meet certain criteria to petition the circuit court that entered the original judgment or order to (i) suspend the unserved portion of such sentence or run the unserved portion of such sentence concurrently with another sentence, (ii) place such person on probation for such time as the court shall determine, or (iii) otherwise modify the sentence imposed. Depending on the type of conviction, the bill allows the court to grant a hearing on such petition after an individual has served at least 25 years for certain offenses, after 20 years for certain other offenses, and after 15 years for any other felony conviction not specified. The bill directs the Department of Corrections to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to (a) consider and recommend best practices for implementation of the bill and (b) evaluate and recommend updates to victim notification systems. The work group shall complete its meetings by November 1, 2026, and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2026.
