Del. Josh Cole

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.

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.

Maddy summaryThis bill (SJ 101) is a ceremonial resolution honoring the late Gladys Mae West, a notable figure in mathematics and technology. It passed both the Senate and House in February 2026 and is now law. The resolution formally celebrates her life and contributions but does not create new laws, alter policies, or affect any individuals or groups. This is a non-binding commemorative measure with no legal effect.

Voter registration; regular periodic review of registration records. Requires the Department of Elections to complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the voter registration system based on evidence of ineligibility, including evidence of lack of eligible residence or evidence of noncitizenship. This restriction is not to be construed to preclude (i) the removal of names from the voter registration system at the request of the registrant or as provided by existing law by reason of criminal conviction or mental incapacity or the death of the registrant if the triggering conviction, incapacity order, or death occurred within 120 days of the election or (ii) the correction of details, such as name and address, in a voter's registration record that does not result in the removal of a voter from the voter registration system. Under current law, such restriction only applies to federal primaries and federal general elections. The bill also provides a process for confirming a voter's citizenship status prior to cancellation based on a report of non-citizen status and extends (a) the period of time registrars have to cancel registrations from 30 days to 60 days after notification of the need to cancel by the Department of Elections and (b) the period of time a registered voter has to respond to a notice of cancellation related to citizenship status from 14 days to 28 days.

Study; Judicial Council of Virginia; boundary of the 15th Judicial Circuit; report. Requests the Judicial Council of Virginia to study the current boundary of the 15th Judicial Circuit and determine if the City of Fredericksburg and Stafford and Spotsylvania Counties should be removed from the current judicial circuit boundary lines and a new judicial circuit composed of those localities established.

Virginia Human Rights Act; equal credit opportunities; Virginia Fair Housing Law; nondiscrimination by automated decision systems. Provides that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person to deploy, use, or rely on an automated decision system to make a decision pursuant to the Virginia Human Rights Act, provisions related to equal credit opportunities, or the Virginia Fair Housing Law that results in discrimination or an unlawful disparate impact or that intentionally or knowingly uses variables or data fields that serve as close proxies for protected characteristics. The bill requires a person that deploys, uses, or relies on such a system to (i) disclose the use of such system to any individual who is the subject of such decision; (ii) annually assess such system for bias, disparate impact, and discriminatory outcomes; and (iii) maintain for no fewer than two years from the date a decision is made certain documentation relating to such system.

Memorializing Congress; National Infrastructure Bank. Urges the Congress of the United States to create a National Infrastructure Bank to finance urgently needed infrastructure projects.

Display of license plate; only rear plate required; exception. Permits every registered motor vehicle to display a single license plate issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles on the rear of the vehicle, except for tractor trucks, which shall display such license plate on the front of the vehicle. Current law requires license plates displayed on the front and rear of most such vehicles.

Commonwealth Food Security and Coordination Act established. Establishes the Commonwealth Food Security and Coordination Act to coordinate state-level food security responses during federal nutrition benefit interruptions, natural disasters, and other emergencies affecting household food access. Under the bill, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Department of Emergency Management are directed to work together to coordinate the provisions of the Act.

Virginia Consumer Protection Act; prohibited practices; kratom products. Prohibits the selling or offering for sale of (i) any kratom product containing any synthesized material, semi-synthetic alkaloid, or synthetic kratom-like compound; (ii) any kratom product containing 7-hydroxymitragynine in an alkaloid fraction exceeding two percent of total alkaloids in the container or providing more than one milligram of 7-hydroxymitragynine per serving; (iii) any kratom product adulterated with any dangerous, poisonous, or otherwise deleterious non-kratom ingredient, including any substance listed as a controlled substance under state or federal law; (iv) any kratom product that is combustible or intended for vaporization or injection; (v) any kratom product that is manufactured, packaged, or marketed in a manner attractive to children; or (vi) any kratom extract product containing residual solvent levels exceeding applicable statutory or pharmacopeial limits.