Sen. Russet Perry

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; removalof Virginia residency requirement for access to certain criminal investigation files. Removes the requirement that persons to whom non-ongoing criminal investigation files shall otherwise be disclosedbe citizens of the Commonwealth. Current law limits disclosure ofpublic records to individuals who are citizens of the Commonwealthunless a clear exception applies.

School meals; availability at no cost to students. Provides that each school board shall require each public elementary and secondary school in the local school division to participate in the federal National School Lunch Program and the federal School Breakfast Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as provided in relevant law, if applicable, and to make lunch and breakfast available to any student who requests such a meal at no cost to the student, unless the student's parent has provided written permission to the school board to withhold such a meal from the student. The bill also requires the Department of Education to reimburse each public elementary and secondary school for each school breakfast and lunch served to a student, with a maximum of one breakfast and one lunch per student per school day and provides the formula for determining the state reimbursement rate for such meals. The bill contains provisions directing each school board to adopt policies and procedures aimed at maximizing access to federal funds available for the cost of participating in school breakfast and lunch programs and maximizing determinations of student eligibility for federal free or reduced cost meal reimbursements rates and participation in CEP. The bill also lowers the minimum identified student percentage for a school to be eligible to participate in CEP from 40 to 25 percent in accordance with the updated federal CEP regulations (7 C.F.R. § 245.9(f)(3)(i)). The bill also requires the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Secretary of Finance, to convene a stakeholder work group to study and make recommendations on ways to avoid or mitigate the impact of offering statewide free school breakfast and lunches on other state-funded programs and to submit a report on such findings and recommendations by January 15, 2025, to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Education. The bill also repeals provisions of law relating to the federal School Breakfast Program and to school meal debt that are rendered obsolete by the provisions of the bill.

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; provision of physical evidence recovery kits. Requires each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to either (i) staff its on-campus student health center with at least one on-campus certified sexual assault forensic examiner for the purpose of administering a physical evidence recovery kit to any student who is in need of such a kit or (ii) enter into a memorandum of understanding with a local organization or entity that is capable of providing the services of a certified sexual assault forensic examiner for the purpose of administering a physical evidence recovery kit to any student who is in need of such a kit.

Protective orders; respondent to notify court of change of address. Requires the respondent against whom a protective order has been issued to notify the court in writing within seven days of any change of residence while such order is in effect, provided that such order has been properly served upon the respondent. In a proceeding involving a preliminary protective order, the bill provides that the court may require the respondent to notify the court in writing within seven days of any change of residence while such preliminary protective order is in effect. The bill also provides that any failure of a respondent to make such required notification shall be punishable by contempt.

Maximum number of judges in each judicial district and circuit. Increases by one the maximum number of authorized juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the Twentieth and Thirty-first Judicial Districts. The bill also increases by one the maximum number of authorized circuit court judges in the First, Ninth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuits. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill incorporates SB 686 and is identical to HB 310.

Behavioral Health Commission; behavioral health and crisis response services; civil admissions laws and processes; work group; report. Directs the Behavioral Health Commission to convene a work group to study how to effectively align current civil admissions laws and processes with new behavioral health and crisis response services and resources in the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Behavioral Health Commission to make recommendations for any statutory, regulatory, licensing, training, and reimbursement changes related to Virginia's current civil admissions process and to report such recommendations by July 1, 2025.

Carnal knowledge and sexual battery; persons detained or arrested by a law-enforcement officer; confidential informants, pretrial defendants or posttrial offenders; penalty. Provides that an accused is guilty of carnal knowledge of a person serving as a confidential informant, defined in the bill, if he (i) is a law-enforcement officer; (ii) knows that such person is serving as a confidential informant for the law-enforcement agency where such officer is employed; and (iii) carnally knows, without use of force, threat, or intimidation, such confidential informant while such person is serving as a confidential informant or is expected to testify in a criminal case for which the confidential informant assisted the law-enforcement agency with its investigation. The bill provides that such offense is a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that an accused is guilty of sexual battery if he sexually abuses (a) a person detained or arrested by a law-enforcement officer and the accused is a law-enforcement officer, (b) a pretrial defendant or posttrial offender and the accused is an owner or employee of the bail company that posted the pretrial defendant's or posttrial offender's bond, or (c) a person serving as a confidential informant and the accused is a law-enforcement officer. Current law provides that sexual battery is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 6 felony for a third or subsequent offense.

Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman; created. Creates, within the Office of the State Inspector General, the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office) headed by an Ombudsman who is selected by a Corrections Oversight Committee (the Committee), also created by the bill. The bill provides that the Committee is made up of eight members of the General Assembly and 11 nonlegislative citizen members who monitor the activities of the Ombudsman and the Department of Corrections (the Department). The bill provides the Office with authority to conduct inspections at least once every three years and more often when warranted of Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facilities and requires the Office to establish a confidential telephone hotline and paper and electronic forms for the submission of concerns, complaints, and inquiries by inmates, their family members and friends, and advocates. In addition, the bill requires the Committee to hold at least one public hearing per year and requires the Office to submit an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice, the House Committee on Public Safety, the Committee, and the Director of the Department.

Campaign finance; independent expenditure reports, electronic filing required. Requires independent expenditure reports to be filed electronically. Current law allows such reports to be filed either electronically or in writing. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2025. This bill is identical to HB 730.

Production, publication, sale, financing, etc., of child pornography; penalty. Amends the definition of "child pornography" to include sexually explicit visual material that depicts a minor in a state of nudity or engaged in sexual conduct where such depiction is obscene and specifies that such minor does not have to actually exist.