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APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR

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HB2105 Local correctional facilities; investigation of acts of violence; designated local law-enforcement agency.
Introduced by Hillary Pugh Kent [D]

View the bill here.
Requires the sheriff, jail superintendent or other jail administrator, or other person in charge of a local correctional facility to designate a local law-enforcement agency to have the duty and authority to investigate any act of violence that occurs within a local correctional facility. The bill requires the sheriff, jail superintendent or other jail administrator, or other person in charge of a local correctional facility to enter into a memorandum of understanding with such designated local law-enforcement agency setting forth the procedures for the investigation of such acts of violence and the respective roles and responsibilities of the sheriff, jail superintendent or other jail administrator, or other person in charge of a local correctional facility and the local law-enforcement agency.
The bill also requires the State Board of Local and Regional Jails to establish policies and procedures for sheriffs, jail superintendents or other jail administrators, or other persons in charge of a local correctional facility to designate such local law-enforcement agencies and enter into such memorandums of understanding.
01/14/2025 Assigned PS sub: Public Safety
01/16/2025 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (4-Y 2-N)
01/17/2025 Reported from Public Safety with substitute (21-Y 1-N)
01/20/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2105)      
01/22/2025 Public Safety Substitute agreed to    
01/23/2025 Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N) 
01/24/2025 Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
01/24/2025 Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services

02/14/2025 Senate: Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute (14-Y 0-N)

02/18/2025 Senate: Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute rejected    
02/18/2025 Senate: Senator Favola, Barbara A. Substitute agreed to    
02/18/2025 Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N)    
02/19/2025 Senate substitute agreed to by House (95-Y 0-N)  03/19/2025 Approved by Governor-Chapter 159 (Effective 07/01/25 )    
03/19/2025 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0159)

 

HB2221 Prisoners; Department of Corrections-issued and jailer-issued identification, report.
Introduced by  Rae Cousins [D]

View the bill here
Requires the Department of Corrections, in conjunction with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Registrar of Vital Records, and any other relevant government agency to provide to a prisoner who has been confined for at least 90 days and does not possess a government-issued identification card, birth certificate, and social security card with a certified copy of such prisoner's birth certificate, his social security card, and a government-issued identification card, prior to such prisoner's release or discharge. The bill also specifies what identifying information must be included on a prisoner's Department of Corrections Offender Identification form provided to a prisoner who is unable to obtain a government-issued identification card prior to his release or discharge and provides that such form shall satisfy certain requirements for the purposes of obtaining a government-issued identification card for the 120 days immediately following the release or discharge of the prisoner identified on such form, etc.
01/21/2025 Assigned to Public Safety01/30/2025 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
01/31/2025 Reported from Public Safety with substitute (21-Y 0-N)   
02/03/2025 Public Safety Substitute agreed to    
02/04/2025 Passed House (99-Y 0-N) 
2/05/2025 Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services 
02/7/2025 Senate: Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)   
02/12/2025 Senate: Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendments (10-Y 5-N)

02/14/2025 Senate: Finance and Appropriations Amendment agreed to    
02/14/2025 Senate: Passed Senate with amendments (20-Y 15-N)

02/20/2025 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2221ER)

03/05/2025 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025
03/24/2025 Governor's recommendation received by House    
03/24/2025 House:  Governor's substitute printed (HB2221H2)

04/02/2025  Governor's recommendation adopted    
04/02/2025 Enacted, Chapter 656 (Effective 07/01/26)    
04/02/2025 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0656)

SB770 Correctional facilities, local, regional, and community; reviews of deaths of inmates, report.

Introduced by Barbara A. Favola [D]

View the bill here.
Consolidates reports made by the State Board of Local and Regional Jails related to the Board's reviews of the deaths of inmates that occur in any local, regional, or community correctional facility into one annual report to be published on the Board's website on or before July 1, 2025, and each July 1 thereafter and submitted to the Governor, the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the House Committee for Courts of Justice, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. The annual report shall include (i) a summary of the reviews of the deaths of inmates that occur in any local, regional, or community correctional facility conducted in the prior year, including any trends or similarities identified by such reviews; (ii) any recommendations for policy changes to reduce the number of inmate deaths; and (iii) any recommendations for changes to the policies and procedures for conducting reviews of the deaths of inmates to improve the operations, safety, and security of local, regional, or community correctional facilities.
12/19/2024 Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
01/17/2025 Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (15-Y 0-N)

01/20/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB770)       
01/22/2025  Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)

02/04/2025 House: Assigned PS sub: Public Safety    
02/06/2025 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N) 
02/07/2025 House: Reported from Public Safety (21-Y 0-N) 
02/12/2025 Passed House (97-Y 0-N) 
02/17/2025 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB770ER)    

02/20/2025 Senate: Signed by President    
02/20/2025 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 20, 2025  

02/20/2025 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025    
03/21/2025 Approved by Governor-Chapter 350 (Effective 07/01/25)

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SB1283 Correctional facilities, state and regional; private management prohibited.

Introduced by Adam P. Ebbin [D]

View the bill here.

Removes the authority of the Director of the Department of Corrections, pursuant to the Corrections Private Management Act (the Act), or a regional jail authority to enter into contracts with contractors for the operation of prison facilities or regional jails, including management, custody of inmates, and provision of security, unless approved by the General Assembly. The bill does not affect the Director's authority pursuant to the Act, renamed by the bill as the Corrections Private Services Act, or a regional jail authority's ability to enter into private contracts for other correctional services, including those related to food service, medical care, transportation, sanitation, information systems, education and training programs, recreational or religious activities, financing, construction, or maintenance. The bill also removes provisions stating that (i) a site proposed by a contractor for the construction of a prison facility shall not be subject to certain approval procedures and (ii) no construction and operation of a private correctional facility shall be entered into nor shall any funds be expended for the contract unless the local governing body consent to the siting and construction of such facility within the bounds of the locality.

01/08/2025 Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services  

01/20/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget

01/24/2025 Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)  

01/29/2025 Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 0-N)   

02/03/2025 Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)  

02/06/2025 House: Referred to Committee on Public Safety  

02/11/2025 House: Assigned PS sub: Public Safety  

02/13/2025 House: Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N)  

02/14/2025 House: Reported from Public Safety (21-Y 0-N)  

02/19/2025 Passed House (97-Y 0-N)

03/21/2025 Approved by Governor-Chapter 337 (Effective 07/01/25)

FAILED/VETOED BILLS

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HB1894 State correctional facilities; cell conditions; temperature monitoring.

Status: Pending Governor's Communication

Introduced by: Holly M. Seibold [D]

View the bill here.
Requires the Department of Corrections to require that heat and air conditioning be provided in all state correctional facilities so that a temperature of not less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit or more than 80 degrees Fahrenheit is maintained in each facility. The bill specifies that the Department shall require the temperature inside all state correctional facilities to be monitored and recorded on an ongoing basis by measuring the temperature inside individual cells where inmates are housed. The bill requires that if the temperature falls below 65 degrees Fahrenheit in any cell, the state correctional facility shall provide additional heating measures, such as individual heaters, and if the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit in any cell, the state correctional facility shall supply an electric fan to provide air circulation for every cell where an inmate is housed.   
01/29/2025 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
01/29/2025 Reported from Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 7-N)
02/03/2025 Appropriations Substitute agreed to    
02/04/2025 Read third time and passed House (54-Y 43-N 1-A)   
02/07/2025 Senate: Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (9-Y 6-N)
02/12/2025 Passed Senate (22-Y 16-N)

02/17/2025 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1894ER)

02/20/2025 Senate: Signed by President

03/03/2025 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025

03/24/2025 Vetoed by Governor

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HB2296 Illegal fentanyl; reckless exposure to certain persons, penalty

Introduced by Mark L. Earley, Jr. [R]

Status: Failed

View the bill here.
Provides that any person who unlawfully possesses fentanyl, including its isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, and recklessly exposes a law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, jail officer, firefighter, search and rescue personnel, or emergency medical services personnel, as those terms are defined in relevant law, to such fentanyl and causes severe bodily injury or an overdose to such officer, firefighter, or personnel is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill also provides that no individual incarcerated in a local, regional, or state correctional facility shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for such offense if such individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself or another individual experiencing an overdose or is experiencing an overdose and another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him.
01/16/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget 

01/28/2025 House: Assigned Courts sub: Criminal

02/04/2025 House: Left in Courts of Justice

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HB2363 Department of Corrections; designated employees with same power as sheriff or law-enforcement officer.
Introduced by Tony O. Wilt [R]

Status: Failed

View the bill here.
Allows the Department of Corrections to designate employees to have the same power as a sheriff or a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of enforcing the criminal laws of the Commonwealth. Under current law, the Department can designate such employees with internal investigations authority to have such law-enforcement powers in the investigations of allegations of criminal behavior affecting the operations of the Department etc.
01/21/2025 Assigned to Public Safety ​

01/30/2025 Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (4-Y 2-N)
01/31/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2363)

02/05/2025    House: Left in Public Safety

 

HB2467 State Board of Local and Regional Jails; oversight of local and regional jails; powers and duties.

Introduced by: Rozia A. Henson, Jr.[ D]

Status: Failed

View the bill here.
Increases from 11 to 19 the membership of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails (the Board) by requiring the appointment of (i) two members of the Senate and two members of the House of Delegates and (ii) four additional nonlegislative citizen members, including (a) one representative of a nonprofit organization that provides training or rehabilitation programs for incarcerated inmates; (b) one male citizen and one female citizen who were formerly incarcerated within the Commonwealth; and (c) one person who is a grandparent, parent, child, sibling, or spouse or domestic partner of a person currently incarcerated within the Commonwealth.
The bill also adds numerous additional duties for the Board, such as to (1) provide information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, and local, regional, and community correctional facility employees and contractors and others regarding the rights of inmates; (2) establish policies for a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received in or about local, regional, and community correctional facilities; (3) monitor, document, review, and report on the operation of stores and commissaries in local correctional facilities and systems for providing electronic visitation and messaging and telephone calls; and (4) review, monitor, and report and make recommendations on policies related to (A) attorney access to clients for calls and visitation; (B) access to voting for incarcerated individuals who are eligible to vote; and (C) the collection of data on suicides, suicide attempts, and self-harm in custody. The bill also specifies additional information to be included in the Board's currently required annual report to the General Assembly and the Governor and requires such report be made available to the public online.
The bill enumerates certain items for assessment that may be included in the Board's annual inspection of each local correctional facility, as required by current law, and also specifies the Board's authority and right to access such facilities, interview persons, and access certain information and documents. Upon completion of an inspection, the bill requires the Board to produce a report, including information enumerated in the bill, to be made available to the public online and to be delivered to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the sheriff in charge of the local correctional facility or superintendent of the regional correctional facility.
Finally, the bill allows the Board to initiate and attempt to resolve an investigation upon its own initiative, or upon receipt of a complaint from an inmate, a family member or representative of an inmate, or a local, regional, or community correctional facility employee or contractor, or others, regarding various concerns as enumerated in the bill.1/21/2025    House    Assigned PS sub: Public Safety   01/23/2025 Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (4-Y 2-N)  
01/24/2025 Reported from Public Safety with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations (12-Y 10-N) 
01/25/2025 Assigned Approps sub: Transportation & Public Safety

01/29/2025 Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 3-N)
01/29/2025 Reported from Appropriations (12-Y 9-N) 
01/31/2025 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2467)    
02/03/2025 Public Safety Amendment agreed to    
02/04/2025 Read third time and passed House 55-Y 44-N 0-A)  
02/05/2025 Senate: Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services
02/07/2025    Senate: Passed by indefinitely in Rehabilitation and Social Services with letter (15-Y 0-N)
 
SB378 State correctional facilities; DOC to provide telephone calls and communication services.
Status: Failed
Introduced by Jennifer B. Boysko [D]
State correctional facilities; telephone calls and communication services. Requires the Department of Corrections to provide telephone systems and web-based or electronic communications systems free of charge to any person, whether such person is initiating or receiving the communication. The bill also requires that a minimum ratio of one telephone per every 10 inmates be available within each housing unit at each correctional facility and that the maximum number of telephone numbers permitted on an approved call list must be no fewer than 20. 
01/31/2024 Continued to 2025 in Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) 
11/19/2024 Left in Finance and Appropriations