Office of the Children's Ombudsman established. Establishes the Office of the Children's Ombudsman as a means of effecting changes in policy, procedure, and legislation; educating the public; investigating and reviewing actions of the State Department of Social Services, local departments of social services, child-placing agencies, or child-caring institutions; and monitoring and ensuring compliance with relevant statutes, rules, and policies pertaining to children's protective services and the placement, supervision, treatment, and improvement of delivery of care to children in foster care and adoptive homes. The Office of the Children's Ombudsman is headed by the Children's Ombudsman, who is appointed for a term of four years by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the General Assembly. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Sponsored bills
Inquiry and report of immigration status; persons charged with or convicted of certain crimes. Removes provisions requiring (i) jail officers to ascertain the citizenship of any inmate taken into custody at a jail, (ii) probation and parole officers to inquire as to the citizenship status of an individual convicted of a felony in circuit court and referred to such officers, and (iii) officers in charge of correctional facilities to inquire as to the citizenship of any person committed to a correctional facility, and therefore such information is not required to be reported to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police. The bill also removes the mandatory duty of the clerk of a court committing a convicted alien to a correctional facility to furnish related court records to a United States immigration officer and the requirement that an intake officer report to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security any juvenile detained on an allegation that the juvenile, believed to be in the United States illegally, committed a violent felony. This bill incorporates HB 244.
Juveniles; trial as adult. Increases from 14 years of age to 16 years of age the minimum age at which a juvenile must be tried as an adult in circuit court for murder or aggravated malicious wounding; however, if the juvenile is 14 years of age or older but younger than 16 years of age, the court, on motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth, shall hold a transfer hearing. The minimum age is also raised from 14 to 16 for certain charges requiring notice of intent to try such juvenile as an adult by the attorney for the Commonwealth. In order to be tried as an adult in circuit court for the charges that under current law require notice of intent to proceed with trial as an adult by the attorney for the Commonwealth, the bill requires that (i) a report concerning the juvenile be prepared by the court services unit or other qualified agency and (ii) the attorney for the Commonwealth provide written notice that he intends to proceed with a preliminary hearing for trial of such juvenile as an adult, including affirmation that he has read the report. This bill incorporates HB 1440.
Smoking in motor vehicle with a minor present. Expands the group in the presence of whom it is illegal to smoke in a motor vehicle from minors under the age of eight to minors under the age of 15.
Minimum staffing ratio for school counselors. Requires local school boards to employ school counselors in accordance with the following ratios, effective with the 2020-2021 school year: in elementary schools, one hour per day per 75 students, one full-time equivalent at 375 students, one hour per day additional time per 75 students or major fraction thereof; in middle schools, one period per 65 students, one full-time equivalent at 325 students, one additional period per 65 students or major fraction thereof; and in high schools, one period per 60 students, one full-time equivalent at 300 students, one additional period per 60 students or major fraction thereof. The bill also requires local school boards to employ one full-time equivalent school counselor position per 325 students in grades kindergarten through 12, effective with the 2021-2022 school year. This bill incorporates HB 398.
Funeral directors and embalmers; Board to promulgate regulations for licensure. Directs the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to promulgate regulations that establish requirements of licensure for funeral directors and embalmers.
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Eliminates the provision prohibiting a judicial officer who is a magistrate, clerk, or deputy clerk of a district court or circuit court from admitting to bail, that is not set by a judge, any person who is charged with an offense giving rise to a rebuttable presumption against bail without the concurrence of an attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill also eliminates the requirement that notice be provided to the attorney for the Commonwealth before such judicial officer may set or admit a person to bail.
Naloxone; possession and administration; employee or person acting on behalf of a public place. Authorizes an employee or other person acting on behalf of a public place, as defined in the bill, who has completed a training program on the administration of naloxone or other opioid antagonist to possess and administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist, other than naloxone in an injectable formulation with a hypodermic needle or syringe, in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health. The bill also provides that a person who is not otherwise authorized to administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal may administer naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose. The bill provides immunity from civil liability for a person who, in good faith, administers naloxone or other opioid antagonist used for overdose reversal to a person who is believed to be experiencing or about to experience a life-threatening opioid overdose, unless such act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. This bill incorporates HB 650, HB 1465, and HB 1466.
Landlord and tenant; statement of tenant rights and responsibilities. Requires that the Director of Housing and Community Development develop a statement of tenant rights and responsibilities explaining in plain language the rights and responsibilities of tenants under the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and maintain such statement on the Department's website. The bill requires the Director to develop and maintain on the Department's website a printable form to be signed by the parties to a written rental agreement acknowledging that the tenant has received from the landlord the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities and requires a landlord to furnish to a prospective tenant, at the time of furnishing an unsigned copy of the proposed written rental agreement, the statement of tenant rights and responsibilities for signature by the parties to the rental agreement. The landlord may not file or maintain an action against the tenant in a court of law for any alleged lease violation until he has provided the tenant with such statement.
Suspension of driver's license for nonpayment of fines or costs. Removes the requirement that a court suspend the driver's license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs. The bill provides that the fine for any moving violation while operating a motor vehicle in a designated highway safety corridor shall be no more than $500 for any violation that is a traffic infraction and not less than $200 for any violation that is a criminal offense. The bill repeals the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977. The bill also provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall reinstate a person's privilege to drive a motor vehicle that was suspended prior to July 1, 2019, solely pursuant to § 46.2-395 of the Code of Virginia and shall waive all fees relating to reinstating such person's driving privileges. Nothing in this act shall require the Commissioner to reinstate a person's driving privileges if such privileges have been otherwise lawfully suspended or revoked or if such person is otherwise ineligible for a driver's license. This bill incorporates HB 17.