Universal certification for certain law-enforcement officers. Provides that any sworn law-enforcement officer with at least one year of experience (i) whose training qualifications meet or exceed current training standards established by the Board of Criminal Justice Services and who is compliance with the minimum qualifications, (ii) who has not had a break in service of more than 24 months, and (iii) is leaving the transferring agency in good standing with no pending investigations or disciplinary actions shall be eligible for employment at any law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions.Prior to any conditional offer of employment, the bill requires the hiring law-enforcement agency to request certain specified information from all prior law-enforcement agencies and to employ all reasonable means to obtain personnel records for law-enforcement officers transferring from an out-of-state or federal law-enforcement agency. The bill requires any out-of-state or federal law-enforcement agency that provides such information or personnel records to include a sworn declaration that the provided information or records are a true, correct, and complete response to such request. The bill provides that no law-enforcement officer shall be eligible for employment until the requested information is received by the hiring law-enforcement agency.
Sponsored bills
Parental admission of minors for inpatient treatment. Clarifies that for the purposes of admission of a minor to a willing mental health facility for inpatient treatment, the finding required to be made by a qualified evaluator that the minor appears to have a mental illness serious enough to warrant inpatient treatment may include a finding of substance abuse and such inpatient treatment may be related to such mental illness, which may include substance abuse. The bill also specifies that a temporary detention order shall not be required for a minor 14 years of age or older who objects to admission to be admitted to a willing facility upon the application of a parent. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to HB 772.
Emissions inspections; fees; agreement for servicesand interchange fees. Increases from $3,500 to $5,000 the amountthe emissions inspection program coordinator may be paid per yearfrom each motor vehicle emissions inspection station for the provisionand maintenance of each set of required equipment. The bill alsoallows such emissions inspection stations and on-road emissions inspectors to charge a credit card interchange fee that does not exceed fivepercent of the emissions inspection fee and that is not includedin the maximum amount that may be charged for the emissions inspection fee.
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.
Department of Environmental Quality; Department of Health; PFAS; identification; monitoring; PFAS Expert Advisory Council established; report. Requires, for every public water system, as defined in the bill, the Department of Health (VDH) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) by transferring to the Department quarterly all validated monitoring results available to VDH that indicate PFAS maximum containment level, as defined in the bill, exceedances. In such circumstances, the bill provides that the Department is required to develop and implement a plan to prioritize and conduct PFAS assessments for identifying significant sources of PFAS in such public water system's raw water source or sources. The bill requires any facility, if deemed by the Department to be a potentially significant source of PFAS in the public water system's raw water source, (i) to perform and promptly report the results of quarterly discharge monitoring for one year and (ii) to report to the Department, within 90 days after being directed by the Department, its manufacture or use of PFAS. The bill establishes a PFAS Expert Advisory Committee to assist the Department and VDH in its PFAS-related efforts and requires the Committee to meet at least two times per year through June 30, 2027. The bill requires the Department to annually report certain information to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1. This bill incorporates SB 462 and is identical to HB 1085.
Virginia Retirement System; plan credits and accounts. Allows members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase service credit for prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in any federally established branch of the armed services. Under current law, such purchases are restricted to prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard. The bill also provides that any funds or other property held in a Virginia Retirement System defined contribution plan, deferred compensation plan, or cash match plan remaining unclaimed for more than five years shall be presumed abandoned under the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act and may escheat to the state treasury. Under current law, the Act does not apply to any Virginia Retirement System defined benefit plan funds or other property. This bill is identical to HB 70.
Department of Forestry; Forestland and Urban Tree Canopy Conservation Plan required. Requires the Department of Forestry, in coordination with a Technical Advisory Committee composed of stakeholders, to develop a Forestland and Urban Tree Canopy Conservation Plan no later than November 1, 2026, and update such plan at least once every five years thereafter. The bill requires the Department to post and maintain on its website the most recent version of the Plan and to submit the Plan to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources no later than November 30, 2026, and following any update to such plan. This bill is identical to HB 309.
Department of Conservation and Recreation; two-yearpilot program; all-terrain power wheelchairs in state parks.Provides that the Department of Conservation and Recreation shall establish a two-year pilot program beginning October 1, 2024, andending October 30, 2026, to enhance accessibility for individualswith limited mobility in Virginia's state parks by providing all-terrainpower wheelchairs that may be used by such persons during their visits.The bill permits the Department to choose the locations for the pilotprogram and enter into a contract for the purchase of all-terrainpower wheelchairs to be used in the pilot program. The bill allowsthe Department to adopt guidelines to administer the pilot programand requires the Department to submit a report on the outcome ofthe pilot program to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture,Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Appropriations and the SenateCommittees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources andFinance and Appropriations by November 1, 2026.
Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to HB 1381.
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; electronic meetings. Amends the number of all-virtual public meetings that public bodies, with certain exceptions, may convene in a calendar year to no more than two times per calendar year or 50 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. Current law limits the number of all-virtual public meetings to no more than two times per calendar year or 25 percent of the meetings held per calendar year rounded up to the next whole number, whichever is greater. The bill also provides that with respect to all-virtual public meetings, when audio-visual technology is available, a member of a public body shall, for purposes of a quorum, be considered absent from any portion of the meeting during which visual communication with the member is voluntarily disconnected or otherwise fails or during which audio communication involuntarily fails. This bill is identical to HB 894.