Rep. Don Scott

Free use of toll facilities; teachers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel. Authorizes any teacher employed by a public school district, firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel to use all toll bridges, toll ferries, toll tunnels, and toll roads in the Commonwealth without the payment of toll while traveling between his place of residence and his place of employment.

Conditional release of geriatric prisoners.Provides that any person serving a sentence imposed upon a convictionfor a felony offense, other than a Class 1 felony, (i) who has reachedthe age of 65 or older and who has served at least five years ofthe sentence imposed or (ii) who has reached the age of 60 or olderand who has served at least 10 years of the sentence imposed shallbe granted conditional release. Under current law, such persons maypetition the Parole Board for conditional release, which may be grantedor denied.

Study; JLARC; teacher salaries and benefits in the Commonwealth; regional competitiveness of such salaries and benefits; report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study teacher salaries and benefits in the Commonwealth, including the regional competitiveness of such salaries and benefits, by analyzing the relationship between (i) salaries and benefits provided to teachers in the Commonwealth, states adjoining the Commonwealth, and the District of Columbia and (ii) the recruitment and retention of teachers in each such state and the District of Columbia.

Department of Transportation; Elizabeth RiverCrossings. Directs the Virginia Department of Transportationto terminate the contract with Elizabeth River Crossings relatedto the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels across the Elizabeth River forcause due to the defective tube in the Midtown Tunnel or, if unableto terminate for cause, for convenience.

Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; thelow use of geriatric parole; report. Directs the Virginia StateCrime Commission to study the low use of geriatric parole and theappropriate structure for increasing the use of geriatric parole.

Court appearance of a person not free on bail.Makes various changes to provisions regarding bail hearings, including(i) the appointment of counsel for the accused, (ii) the informationprovided to accused's counsel, (iii) a requirement that counsel forthe accused be provided with adequate time to confer with the accusedprior to any bail hearing, and (iv) the compensation of counsel forthe accused. Effective in due course, the bill provides that thechief judge in each circuit shall create a plan to be completed byOctober 1, 2020, that establishes the means by which the jurisdictionwill meet these requirements. The remainder of the bill has a delayedeffective date of January 1, 2021.

Study; JLARC; reduction or elimination of tollson Midtown and Downtown Tunnels in Hampton Roads; report. Directsthe Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to study the feasibilityof reducing or eliminating tolls on the Midtown and Downtown Tunnelsin Hampton Roads.

Virginia National Guard; state active duty for emergency response; pay and allowances for members. Establishes rates of pay and allowances for members of the Virginia National Guard and Virginia Defense Force.

War memorials for veterans. Removes a prohibition on (i) disturbing or interfering with any war monument or memorial erected by a locality or (ii) preventing citizens from maintaining such monument or memorial. The bill authorizes a locality to remove, relocate, or alter any such monument or memorial on the locality's public property upon the affirmative vote of its governing body, regardless of when the monument or memorial was erected, and removes certain criminal and civil penalties for such removal, relocation, or alteration. The bill also restricts bringing a cause of action pursuant to such penalties to the attorney for the locality in which the memorial or monument is located. Current law authorizes any person having an interest in the matter to bring such action if no action is brought within 60 days of the violation. The bill repeals an 1890 act of assembly related to the placement of a statue in the City of Alexandria. This bill was incorporated into HB 1537.

Virginia State Justice Commission; purpose; membership. Renames the Virginia State Crime Commission as the Virginia State Justice Commission. The bill also expands the purpose of the Commission to include studying, reporting, and making recommendations in the areas of diversion, rehabilitation, reentry, collateral consequences of conviction, and equity and fairness in the criminal legal system. The bill reduces from six to three the number of House of Delegates members and adds to the Commission the executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission or his designee, the Superintendent of State Police or his designee, and one nonlegislative citizen member to be appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security with an expertise in offender rehabilitation, reform, and reentry.