Summary: Virginia Law Enforcement Professional StandardsCommission Accreditation Grant Fund and Program. Establishesthe Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission AccreditationGrant Fund (the Fund) and the Virginia Law Enforcement ProfessionalStandards Commission Accreditation Grant Program (the Program). TheFund and Program shall be overseen by the Department of CriminalJustice Services. Disbursements from the Fund shall be made to law-enforcementagencies to pursue accreditation from the Virginia Law EnforcementProfessional Standards Commission.

Summary: Department of Criminal Justice Services; powersand duties; creation of statewide telephone hotline for complaintsof police misconduct. Directs the Department of Criminal JusticeServices to create, maintain, and promote a statewide, toll-freetelephone hotline through which members of the public may reportincidents of police misconduct and to forward the information relatingto each incident reported through the hotline to the appropriate investigative authority for such incident.

Summary: Mandatory reporting of all offenders releasedfrom a local correctional facility or state correctional facilitybefore the completion of the offender's sentence. Requires theDepartment of Corrections and all local correctional facilities toprovide the Virginia State Crime Commission with the name, last knownaddress, criminal history information, length of sentence for whichthe offender was incarcerated, reason for early release, and remaining time on such length of sentence for each offender in the custodyof the Department of Corrections or such local correctional facility.The bill requires the Virginia State Crime Commission to publishthe names of such offenders along with the reason for early releaseon its website and provide an annual report concerning the releaseof such offenders and any future criminal charges and convictionsfor such offenders to the General Assembly by November 15 of everyyear.

Summary: Virginia Freedom of Information Act; VirginiaParole Board member votes. Provides that individual votes ofthe members of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public recordsand subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of InformationAct.

Summary: Emergency Services and Disaster Law; executiveorders; limitation on duration of executive orders declaring a stateof emergency; civil penalty. Provides that executive orders declaringa state of emergency, and any other executive orders pertaining tosuch emergency, shall not have any effect beyond 30 days after thedate of issuance, unless the General Assembly takes action to grantthe Governor additional authority to extend such an order. Undercurrent law, once issued, executive orders are effective until June30 following the next regular session of the General Assembly. Thebill also changes the penalty for a violation of certain executiveorders from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a civil penalty of no more than$100 per violation. The bill provides that in no case shall any personbe assessed a total of more than $1,000 in penalties for violationsof the same executive order.

Summary: Emergency Services and Disaster Law; limitationon duration of executive orders. Limits the duration of any executiveorder issued by the Governor pursuant to his powers under the EmergencyServices and Disaster Law to no more than 60 days from the date ofissuance. The bill provides that if the General Assembly does nottake any action on the rule, regulation, or order within the 60 daysduring which the rule, regulation, or order is effective, the Governorshall thereafter be prohibited from issuing the same or a similarrule, regulation, or order relating to the same emergency. Undercurrent law, once issued, such executive orders are effective untilJune 30 following the next regular session of the General Assembly.

Summary: Emergency Services and Disaster Law; limitationon duration of executive orders. Limits the duration of any executiveorder issued by the Governor pursuant to his powers under the EmergencyServices and Disaster Law to no more than 45 days from the date ofissuance. The bill provides that if the General Assembly does nottake any action on the rule, regulation, or order within the 45 daysduring which the rule, regulation, or order is effective, the Governormay once again issue the same rule, regulation, or order but shall thereafter be prohibited from issuing the same or a similar rule,regulation, or order relating to the same emergency. Under currentlaw, once issued, such executive orders are effective until June30 following the next regular session of the General Assembly.

Summary: Mental health awareness response and community understanding services (Marcus) alert system. Provides that theDepartment of Criminal Justice Services and the Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental Services shall support the development andestablishment of a mental health awareness response and communityunderstanding services (Marcus) alert system in localities and areasthroughout the Commonwealth. The bill provides that, by July 1, 2021, every locality shall have established, or be part of an area thathas established, a Marcus alert system that uses community care teams. An area can be a combination of one or more localities orinstitutions of higher education located therein that may have law-enforcementofficers. A "community care team" is defined in the bill as a groupof mental health service providers working with registered peer recoveryspecialists and law-enforcement officers as a team, with the mentalhealth service providers leading such team, to help stabilize individualsin crisis situations. A "mental health awareness response and communityunderstanding services (Marcus) alert system" is defined in the billas a process in which a call for service or other communication toan emergency 911 system or that is communicated with any other equivalentreporting system gets routed for the appropriate services, includingcalls for service being directed to a community care team.

Summary: Minimum standards for citizen complaints againstlaw enforcement; investigation time limits. Requires that law-enforcementagencies shall ensure, at a minimum, that in the case of all writtencitizen complaints, the time limits for conducting an investigation of such written complaints shall be consistent with the Commissionon Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.'s, standardson complaint procedures regarding investigation time limits.

Summary: Acquisition and use of military property bylaw-enforcement agencies. Provides that no state or local law-enforcementagency shall acquire, purchase, or otherwise accept on any terms (i) weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles; (ii) aircraft that are configuredfor combat or are combat-coded and have no established commercialflight application; (iii) grenades or similar explosives or grenadelaunchers; (iv) standard issue military rifles; or (v) armored multi-wheeledvehicles that are mine-resistant, ambush-protected, and configuredfor combat from a surplus program operated by the federal government.These provisions do not apply to the Virginia National Guard or VirginiaDefense Force. The bill prohibits the use of such military propertyby a law-enforcement officer unless a waiver has been granted bythe Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department). Thebill prohibits the use of "kinetic energy munitions," which includesimpact rounds and baton rounds, such as rubber batons, bean bag rounds,foam baton rounds, and plastic, wax, wood, or rubber-coated projectiles.The bill directs the Department to adopt emergency regulations toimplement the provisions of the bill.

Summary: Decertification of law-enforcement officer.Requires any sheriff, chief of police, or agency administrator tonotify the Criminal Justice Services Board in writing within 48 hoursof becoming aware that any certified law-enforcement or jail officercurrently employed by his agency has been terminated for engagingin misconduct, as set forth in the bill. The bill requires the Boardto initiate decertification proceedings against any current or formerlaw-enforcement or jail officer who has engaged in such activities. The bill also requires any sheriff, chief of police, or agency administratorto notify the Board and a civilian review panel, if one has beenestablished, if any certified law-enforcement or jail officer currently employed by his agency has received three complaints of excessiveuse of force in the previous five years, and any recommendations made by the civilian review panel concerning such complaints shallbe forwarded to the Board.

Summary: Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement civilian review panels. Requires localities, on or before July1, 2021, to establish law-enforcement civilian review panels to enhancethe accountability and transparency of local law-enforcement agenciesusing guidelines developed by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Summary: Law-enforcement officers; minimum qualifications. Changes the minimum qualifications for law-enforcement officers toprovide that all such officers who enter upon the duties of suchoffice shall not have been convicted of or pled guilty or no contestto any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, including petit larceny,within the last three years. Current law prohibits such convictionsat all for such officers who enter upon the duties of such office.

Summary: Emergency Services and Disaster Law; powersand duties of the Governor; executive orders; penalty. Providesthat a violation of an executive order declared by the Governor asthe Director of Emergency Management shall be punishable either asa civil penalty of not more than $500 or as a Class 1 misdemeanor.Under current law, the only penalty for such a violation is a Class1 misdemeanor. The bill also mandates that a violation of an executive order that is punishable as a civil penalty shall be charged by summonsand may be executed by a law-enforcement officer when such violationis observed by the officer. The proceeds of any such civil penaltythat is imposed shall be paid and collected only in lawful moneyof the United States and paid into the state treasury to the creditof the Literary Fund.

Summary: Minimum qualifications for law-enforcement officer,etc.; disclosure of information. Provides that any sheriff orchief of police, the director or chief executive of any agency ordepartment employing deputy sheriffs or law-enforcement officers,and the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services shalldisclose to a prospective law-enforcement or jail employer any information(i) related to an arrest or prosecution of a former police officer,deputy sheriff, or jail officer, including expunged information;(ii) related to a civil suit regarding a former police officer's, deputy sheriff's, or jail officer's employment or performance ofhis duties; (iii) obtained during the course of any internal investigationrelated to a former police officer's, deputy sheriff's, or jail officer'salleged criminal conduct, use of excessive force, or other officialmisconduct in violation of the state professional standards of conduct;and (iv) related to a former police officer, deputy sheriff, or jailofficer's job performance that led to dismissal, demotion, suspension,or transfer. The bill further provides that no police officer, deputysheriff, or jail officer may be employed by another law-enforcementagency or jail until the requested information is received from allprior employing agencies in the Commonwealth.

Summary: Criminal Justice Services Board; Committee onTraining; membership and responsibilities. Changes the membershipof the Criminal Justice Services Board and its Committee on Training by requiring that some members be representatives of a civil rights organization, representatives of community interests of minorities,and representatives of a mental health service provider. The billrequires that the Committee on Training include a representativefrom the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and reduces the representatives from the Virginia Sheriffs' Association and Virginia Associationof Chiefs of Police from two representatives to one representativeeach. In addition, the bill permits the Committee on Training toappoint curriculum review committees. The bill also provides thatthe Committee on Training shall serve as an advisory board to theDepartment of Criminal Justice Services for effecting the compulsory minimum training standards for law-enforcement officers, deputy sheriffs,jail and correctional officers, and dispatchers and makes the Departmentof Criminal Justice Services the policy maker responsible to the Criminal Justice Services Board for effecting such standards.

Summary: Department of Criminal Justice Services; law-enforcement officer training and qualifications. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department) to develop a uniform curriculum and lesson plans for the compulsory minimum entry-level, in-service, and advanced training standards to be employed by criminal justice training academies approved by the Department when conducting training. The bill also requires the Department to include the recognition of implicit biases in interacting with persons who have a mental illness, substance use disorder, or developmental or cognitive disability in its (i) training standards and model policies; (ii) compulsory training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers; and (iii) operating procedures, guidelines, and standards for community policing in order to ensure sensitivity to and awareness of systemic and individual racism, cultural diversity, and the potential for bias-based profiling. The bill also requires the Department to include training in de-escalation techniques and training in the lawful use of force, including the use of force only when necessary to protect the law-enforcement officer or another person in the compulsory training standards for basic training and recertification. The bill requires the Department to establish compulsory in-service training standards for law-enforcement officers that shall include (a) relevant state and federal laws; (b) awareness of cultural diversity and the potential for bias-based profiling; (c) de-escalation techniques; (d) working with individuals with disabilities, mental health needs, or substance use disorders; and (e) the lawful use of force, including the use of deadly force only when necessary to protect the law-enforcement officer or another person. In addition, the bill adds to the minimum qualifications to become a law-enforcement officer or a jail officer the requirement that such person undergo a psychological examination, subsequent to a conditional offer of employment, conducted under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or other licensed mental health professional. The bill requires the Department to establish requirements for compulsory mental health examinations for law-enforcement officers, jail officers, and correctional officers that include guidelines on the implementation of such mental health examinations. Finally, the bill requires any criminal justice training academy approved by the Department to employ such uniform curriculum and lesson plans and requires the Department to conduct annual evaluations of each criminal justice training academy's compliance with uniform curriculum and lesson plans. The bill allows approved criminal justice training academies to petition the Department to approve the use of an alternative curriculum and lesson plans developed by such academy.