Del. Sam Rasoul

Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office). The bill enumerates the duties and powers of the Office, which include (i) providing information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, Department of Corrections (the Department) employees and contractors, and others regarding the rights of inmates; (ii) monitoring conditions of confinement and assessing compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules, regulations, policies, and best practices as related to the health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of inmates; (iii) providing technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy; (iv) providing technical assistance to local governments in the creation of correctional facility oversight bodies, as requested; (v) establishing a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the Department and data related to (a) deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody; (b) physical and sexual assaults in custody; (c) the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement; (d) the number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24 hours; (e) the number of staff vacancies at each facility; (f) the inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility; (g) staff tenure and turnover; and (h) the number of in-person visits to inmates that were made and denied at each facility; (vi) establishing procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities, which must include, at a minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of and Office response to public comment; (vii) inspecting each state correctional facility at least once every three years and at least once every year for any maximum security facility and any facility where the Office has found cause for more frequent inspection or monitoring; and (viii) issuing publicly periodic facility inspection reports and an annual report with recommendations on the state correctional facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising from any complaints investigated and resolved.The bill also establishes a Corrections Oversight Committee, which is responsible for selecting the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. The bill additionally outlines the Office's authority to conduct inspections of each Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facility and requires the submission of an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the Director of the Department.

Study; JLARC; effects of gun violence on communities;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the social, physical, emotional, and economic effects ofgun violence on communities across the Commonwealth.

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum);qualifications of voters and the right to vote; persons not entitledto vote. Provides for a referendum at the November 8, 2022, generalelection to approve or reject an amendment that would provide forthe fundamental right to vote in the Commonwealth, revise the qualificationsof voters so that a person convicted of a felony is not entitledto vote during his period of incarceration but is automatically investedwith the right to vote upon release from incarceration, and updatethe existing prohibition on voting by persons found to be mentallyincompetent to instead apply to persons who have been found to lackthe capacity to understand the act of voting.

Agrippa Hull Day. Designates May 21, in2022 and in each succeeding year, as Agrippa Hull Day in Virginia.

Electric cooperatives; board of directors; accessto meetings; required disclosures. Requires that each Virginiaelectric cooperative hold direct elections for its board of directors,either in person or by mail, or by electronic communication meansif authorized by its articles of incorporation, and prohibits proxyvoting. The bill requires that meetings of the board of directorsbe open to members of the cooperative, viewable both in person andthrough online streaming, and that recordings of the meetings beposted on an official website for viewing by members of the cooperative,with certain exceptions for confidential matters. Thebill also requires the board of directors of an electric cooperativeto make certain disclosures to its members annually. These disclosuresmust include the cooperative's position on legislative and regulatoryissues, the amount of money spent on lobbying by the cooperative,and the names of lobbying organizations that the cooperative supportsand be posted online or distributed through a member publication.

Public schools; English language learners. Requires state funding to be provided to support new divisionwide ratiosof English learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions, as follows: (i) for each English language learner identified as proficiency level one, one position per 25students; (ii) for each English language learner identified as proficiencylevel two, one position per 30 students; (iii) for each English languagelearner identified as proficiency level three, one position per 40 students; and (iv) for all other English language learners, one positionper 50 students.

Study; Department of Transportation; transitequity and engagement opportunities for people with disabilities;report. Requests the Department of Transportation to study transitequity and modernization in the Commonwealth, with an emphasis ontransit services and engagement opportunities for people with disabilities.

Unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit visual material to another; penalty. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who knowingly transmits sexually explicit visual material by computer or other electronic means to another person 18 years of age or older when such other person has not requested or consented to the transmittal of such material or has expressly forbidden the transmittal of such material is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $250 for a first offense and not more than $500 for a second or subsequent offense.

Civil action for the deprivation of rights;duties and liabilities of certain employers. Creates a civilcause of action for the deprivation of any rights, privileges, orimmunities pursuant to the constitutions and laws of the United Statesand the Commonwealth due to the acts or omissions of either a publicemployer or its employee and provides that a plaintiff may maintainan action to establish liability and recover compensatory damages,punitive damages, and equitable relief against the public employerand its employee. The bill provides that sovereign immunity is nota defense to such an action. The bill further provides that publicemployers owe a duty of reasonable care to third parties in the hiring,supervision, training, retention, and use of their employees andthat a person who claims to have suffered injury or sustained damagescaused, in whole or in part, by a breach of this duty may maintainan action to establish liability and recover compensatory damages,punitive damages, and equitable relief against such public employer.

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use ofcampaign funds; complaints, hearings, civil penalty, and advisoryopinions. Prohibits any person from converting contributionsto a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee for their personal use. Current law only prohibits such conversion of contributionswith regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution ofa campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contributionis considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution,in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation,or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking,holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personaluse" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning foror holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds topay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as adirect result of campaign activity. Any person subject to the personaluse ban may request an advisory opinion from the State Board of Electionson such matters. The bill directs the State Board of Elections toadopt emergency regulations similar to those promulgated by the FederalElection Commission to implement the provisions of the bill and toprovide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgatedby the State Board of Elections.