Summary: Child abuse or neglect; findings of local departmentof social services; appeal. Provides that in cases in which ateacher licensed by the Board of Education and employed by a localschool board is found by a local department of social services tohave committed child abuse or neglect, the teacher may, after exhaustingall options for review by the local department and Commissioner ofSocial Services, petition the circuit court for a de novo reviewof such finding. Under current law, such persons may obtain reviewof the decision only in accordance with the Administrative ProcessAct.

Summary: Statute of limitations; medical debt. Providesthat the statute of limitations for an action on any contract, writtenor unwritten, to collect medical debt, including actions broughtby the Commonwealth, is three years from the original date of a healthcare service unless the contract with a hospital or health care provideris for a payment plan that allows for a longer period of time forthe collection of debt by the hospital or health care provider.

Summary: Prohibited sales and loans of materials deemedharmful to juveniles; exceptions; repeal. Repeals the exceptionsto application of the penalties for unlawfully selling, renting,or loaning to a juvenile or knowingly displaying for commercial purpose certain material that depicts sexually explicit nudity, sexualconduct, or sadomasochistic abuse and that is harmful to juvenileswhere such exceptions are provided in current law for (i) the purchase,distribution, exhibition, or loan of any work of art, book, magazine,or other printed or manuscript material by an accredited museum,library, school, or institution of higher education and (ii) theexhibition or performance of any play, drama, tableau, or motionpicture by any theatre, museum, school, or institution of higher education, either supported by public appropriation or which is anaccredited institution supported by private funds. Anylocality that adopted an ordinance pursuant to § 15.2-926.2 thatprovided exceptions provided in § 18.2-391.1, repealed by the bill,would have to amend such ordinance to reflect no exceptions or repealsuch ordinance.

Summary: Guardianship or conservatorship; primary carephysician of respondent. Requires the name, location, and postoffice address of a respondent's primary care physician, if any,to be included in the petition for guardianship or conservatorship.Under current law, a copy of the notice of a hearing to appoint aguardian or conservator, together with a copy of the accompany appointmentpetition, must be mailed by the petitioner before such hearing toall individuals and to all entities whose names and post office addressesappear in the petition. The bill further requires the guardian adlitem appointed to represent the interests of the respondent in aguardianship or conservatorship case to personally consult with suchrespondent's primary care physician.

Summary: Juvenile and domestic relations district courts;notice of appeal to the circuit court. Requires an appealingparty or his counsel to serve a copy of the notice of appeal to thecircuit court upon the other party and his counsel within 10 days from the entry of a final judgment, order, or conviction in a juvenileand domestic relations district court.

Summary: Summons for Unlawful Detainer form; report.Requires the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Courtto review Form DC 421, Summons for Unlawful Detainer (Civil Claimfor Eviction) and (i) evaluate ways to simplify such form for prose parties and (ii) develop recommendations to (a) clarify the stepspro se defendants shall take in order to ensure a timely responseto the filing of such form and proper actions such party shall taketo respond to such a filing and (b) ensure that the form is made availablein a manner that is accessible to individuals with limited Englishproficiency through the provision of language access services, includingoral interpretation and written translations. The bill requires theOffice of the Executive Secretary to submit a report of its evaluationsand recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee for Courtsof Justice and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary by November1, 2023.

Summary: Guardianship; duties of guardian; visitationrequirements. Requires a guardian to visit an incapacitated personat least four times per year and at least once every 90 days. Thebill requires at least two of the four visits to be in-person visitsbut allows a guardian to utilize a person who is directly employedand supervised by the guardian or the services of a care managerwho is a trained professional who specializes in the field of life-caremanagement, geriatrics, older adults and aging, or adults with disabilitiesfor one of such in-person visits. The bill requires a person who visits the incapacitated person in lieu of the guardian to providea written report to the guardian regarding any such visit. The bill allows the remaining two visits to be conducted by the guardian viavirtual conference or video call.

Summary: Appointment of guardian ad litem; requested information, records, or reports from individual or entity. Requires any individual or entity with information, records, or reports relevant to a guardianship or conservatorship proceeding, including any local department of social services, criminal justice agency, financial institution, investment advisor, or other financial services provider, to provide, upon request from the appointed guardian ad litem, such information, records, or reports to the appointed guardian ad litem. The bill also specifies that the individual or entity who provides such information, records, or reports shall do so within five days of the request from the guardian ad litem and shall provide the information, records, or reports at no cost but may attach a statement of expenses or invoice to the requested information, records, or reports to be considered by the court in its determination of the award of costs in a proceeding. Under current law, health care providers and local school divisions are required to provide such information, records, or reports to guardians ad litem upon request. The bill also requires certain financial institutions, in cooperation with an investigation of alleged abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult, to make available any financial records or information relevant to such investigation upon request from any guardian ad litem who has been appointed by the court to represent such adult. The bill immunizes such financial institutions from civil or criminal liability for providing such financial records or information, provided that such financial institutions did not engage in gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Summary: Magistrates; appointment and supervision.Gives supervisory control over the magistrate system to the chiefcircuit court judge and the Committee on District Courts and abolishesmagisterial regions. Under current law, the Executive Secretary ofthe Supreme Court of Virginia exercises such authority with a provisionfor consultation with the chief judges of the circuit courts in theregion where the appointment is made.

Summary: Judgment or child support order for pregnancyand delivery expenses. Authorizes a court, in a judgment or orderestablishing parentage or in a child support order, to direct thelegal father to pay at least 50 percent of the mother's unpaid pregnancyand delivery expenses, as defined in the bill, and (i) in the caseof a live birth, at least 50 percent of the mother's equivalent paid maternity leave, as defined in the bill, or (ii) in the case ofa nonviable pregnancy or stillbirth, at least 50 percent of the mother'sequivalent bereavement leave, as defined in the bill. The bill providesthat the court is authorized to deviate from these amounts for goodcause shown or by agreement of the parties.

Summary: Infants left in newborn safety devices or leftwith hospital or emergency medical services agency personnel; placementprotocol. Establishes protocols for the placement of infantswho are left in newborn safety devices or who are left with any personnelof a hospital or emergency medical services agency. Under the bill,a hospital or emergency medical services agency who receives an infantleft in a newborn safety device or left with any personnel of a hospitalor emergency medical services agency shall immediately transport theinfant to a hospital for a physical examination and contact the localboard of social services to inform it that an infant has been leftat a hospital or emergency medical services agency and of the locationof the hospital to which the infant was transported. The bill directslocal boards of social services to contact licensed child-placingagencies from a rotating list maintained by the local board to takecustody of the infant. Under the bill, the hospital or emergency medical services agency that receives the infant shall complete the Commonwealth'sprogram of medical assistance services application process on behalfof the infant. The bill also describes the requirements for licensedchild-placing agencies to be placed on the rotating list maintainedby the local board of social services.