Sen. Mark Obenshain

Creates the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Fund. Any revenues deposited in the Fund would be allocated for improvements to the Interstate 81 Corridor. The bill also directs the Commonwealth Transportation Board (Board) would develop and update, in consultation with an Interstate 81 Committee (Committee) established by the bill, to develop an Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Program. The Committee is also directed to review the Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Plan adopted by the Board in December, 2018, as it relates to funding options and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding funding recommendations and prioritization of projects.

Permits the clerk of a circuit court to destroy a will that has been lodged in his office for safekeeping for 100 years or more.

Prohibits a person who has been convicted of a felony offense of (a) fraud or misrepresentation or (b) robbery, extortion, burglary, larceny, embezzlement, fraudulent conversion, perjury, bribery, treason, or racketeering from qualifying to be a notary, regardless of whether his civil rights have been restored.

Requires the Central Criminal Records Exchange (Exchange) to review offenses containing unapplied criminal history record information, defined in the bill, and make reasonable efforts to ensure that such information is applied to criminal history records. The bill requires the Exchange to submit periodic reports to the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the clerk of each circuit court and district court, attorneys for the Commonwealth, and law-enforcement agencies containing (i) a list of offenses with unapplied criminal history record information and (ii) for each offense, if known, the name and any other identifying information of the defendant, any identifying court case information, the date of submission to the Exchange, and the reason the offense could not be applied to the criminal history record. The bill also requires the Exchange to submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly on the status of unapplied criminal history record information and any updates to fingerprinting policies and procedures.

Requires all local elected officials to take training on the provisions of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act at least once every two years. The bill requires such officials in office on July 1, 2019, to complete such training no later than December 31, 2019. The Council may provide such training by online means. The bill also requires the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council (the Council) to offer guidance to any person who contacts the Council with an inquiry regarding ethics, conflicts issues, or a person's duties under the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act, the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act, or lobbying laws. Current law requires the Council to offer guidance on such Acts and lobbying laws to state and local government agencies and to those individuals to whom the Acts and lobbying laws apply.