Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services; training; powers and duties of guardian; annual reports by guardians; information required. Directs the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services to develop and provide training for court-appointed guardians. The bill requires an appointed guardian and any staff employed by such guardian to perform guardianship duties to complete the initial training developed by the Department within four months of the date of the initial court order of appointment and to include certain additional information in the annual report that the guardian is required under current law to submit to the local department of social services.

Pretrial Intervention and Diversion Program. Authorizes the attorney for the Commonwealth for each judicial circuit of the Commonwealth to create and administer a Pretrial Intervention and Diversion Program for the purpose of providing an alternative to prosecuting offenders in the criminal justice system. The bill provides that entry into such program shall be at the discretion of the attorney for the Commonwealth based upon written guidelines and that no attorney for the Commonwealth shall accept any offender into such program for an offense for which punishment includes a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment.

Reckless driving; involuntary manslaughter. Increases the punishment for every person convicted of reckless driving who, when he committed the offense, caused the death of another as the sole and proximate result of his reckless driving. The bill states that such person is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, punishable as a Class 5 felony. Under current law, the punishment is a Class 6 felony provided that such person who was driving recklessly was also driving without a valid operator's license due to a suspension or revocation for a moving violation. Reckless driving; involuntary manslaughter. Increases the punishment for every person convicted of reckless driving who, when he committed the offense, caused the death of another as the sole and proximate result of his reckless driving. The bill states that such person is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, punishable as a Class 5 felony. Under current law, the punishment is a Class 6 felony provided that such person who was driving recklessly was also driving without a valid operator's license due to a suspension or revocation for a moving violation.

Minor victims of sex trafficking; services. Provides that a minor engaged in prostitution or keeping, residing in, or frequenting a bawdy place shall not be proceeded upon as delinquent and shall be referred to the local department of social services for an assessment and services.

Shared solar programs for Phase I Utilities and electric cooperatives; workgroup. Directs the State Corporation Commission to convene a stakeholder workgroup to evaluate shared solar programs for American Electric Power and requires the Commission to report on its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Commerce and Labor and the House Commerce and Energy Committees by November 30, 2022. Additionally, the bill directs the Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives and the Coalition for Community Solar Access to jointly convene a stakeholder process to evaluate shared solar programs for electric cooperatives, and requires a report on its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Commerce and Labor and the House Commerce and Energy Committees by November 30, 2022.

Personal property tax; classification; emergency. Authorizes localities to classify for rate purposes certain vehicles that, under current law, may be classified only for valuation purposes, including certain automobiles, trucks, motor vehicles for use by the handicapped, motorcycles, mopeds, all-terrain vehicles, off-road motorcycles, campers, and other recreational vehicles. The bill specifies that its provisions shall apply only to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, but before January 1, 2025.

Valluvar Way. Designates Brentwall Drive in Fairfax County as "Valluvar Way." Valluvar Way. Designates Brentwall Drive in Fairfax County as "Valluvar Way."

Probation violations; periods of probation and suspension; technical violations. Provides that the court may fix the period of probation and the period of suspension for up to the statutory maximum period for which the defendant might originally have been sentenced to be imposed for any offense; however, the court may fix the period of probation or suspension for up to two years for an offense punishable as a Class 1 or Class 2 misdemeanor if the sentence does not include any active period of incarceration. Currently, the limitation on periods of probation and periods of suspension is up to the statutory maximum period of imprisonment for any offense. The bill also specifies that a probationer's failure to maintain contact with the probation officer without reasonable excuse or justification whereby his whereabouts are no longer known to the probation officer shall not be treated as a technical violation; accordingly, if the court finds the basis of a violation is a probationer's failure to maintain such contact without reasonable excuse or justification, then the court is not subject to the limitations on sentencing and may revoke the suspension and impose or resuspend any or all of the period previously suspended.

Charter; Town of Chase City; municipal elections. Updates the charter for the Town of Chase City to reflect the upcoming shift from May to November for municipal elections.

Board of Counseling; licensure of professional counselors without examination.

Physical evidence recovery kits; victim's right to notification; storage. Provides that for a physical evidence recovery kit that (i) was collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as part of a routine death investigation and the medical examiner and the law-enforcement agency agree that analysis is not warranted, (ii) was determined by the law-enforcement agency not to be connected to a criminal offense, or (iii) is connected to an offense that occurred outside of the Commonwealth or another law-enforcement agency has taken over responsibility of the investigation and such kit is not transferred to another law-enforcement agency, the law-enforcement agency that received the physical evidence recovery kit shall store such kit for a period of 10 years or until 10 years after the victim reaches the age of majority if the victim was a minor at the time of collection, whichever is longer. The bill provides that after the mandatory retention period, the law-enforcement agency may destroy the physical evidence recovery kit, or in its discretion, may elect to retain the physical evidence recovery kit for a longer period of time. The bill also provides that when a state or local law-enforcement agency located within the Commonwealth has taken over responsibility for the investigation related to the physical evidence recovery kit, unless one of the other exceptions for submitting such kit to the Department of Forensic Science applies, the physical evidence recovery kit shall be transferred to such law-enforcement agency and such law-enforcement agency shall submit the physical evidence recovery kit to the Department of Forensic Science within 60 days of receipt from the original receiving law-enforcement agency. Physical evidence recovery kits; victim's right to notification; storage. Provides that for a physical evidence recovery kit that (i) was collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as part of a routine death investigation and the medical examiner and the law-enforcement agency agree that analysis is not warranted, (ii) was determined by the law-enforcement agency not to be connected to a criminal offense, or (iii) is connected to an offense that occurred outside of the Commonwealth or another law-enforcement agency has taken over responsibility of the investigation and such kit is not transferred to another law-enforcement agency, the law-enforcement agency that received the physical evidence recovery kit shall store such kit for a period of 10 years or until 10 years after the victim reaches the age of majority if the victim was a minor at the time of collection, whichever is longer. The bill provides that after the mandatory retention period, the law-enforcement agency may destroy the physical evidence recovery kit, or in its discretion, may elect to retain the physical evidence recovery kit for a longer period of time. The bill also provides that when a state or local law-enforcement agency located within the Commonwealth has taken over responsibility for the investigation related to the physical evidence recovery kit, unless one of the other exceptions for submitting such kit to the Department of Forensic Science applies, the physical evidence recovery kit shall be transferred to such law-enforcement agency and such law-enforcement agency shall submit the physical evidence recovery kit to the Department of Forensic Science within 60 days of receipt from the original receiving law-enforcement agency. The bill also requires the law-enforcement agency to inform the victim, parent, guardian, or next of kin of the unique identification number assigned to the physical evidence recovery kit utilized by the health care provider and the personal identification number required to view the status of the physical evidence recovery kit and provide information regarding the Physical Evidence Recovery Kit Tracking System, unless disclosing this information would interfere with the investigation or prosecution of the offense, in which case the victim, parent, guardian, or next of kin shall be informed of the estimated date on which the information may be disclosed, if known.

Nurse practitioners; practice without a practice agreement; repeal sunset. Repeals the sunset provision on the bill passed in 2021 that reduces from five to two the number of years of full-time clinical experience a nurse practitioner must have to be eligible to practice without a written or electronic practice agreement.

Opioid Abatement Authority; Board of Directors; members. Increases from 11 to 15 the membership of the Board of Directors of the Opioid Abatement Authority by increasing from one to five the number of representatives of the addiction and recovery community.

Real property tax; exemption for the elderly and handicapped. Provides that any locality may by ordinance accept documentation establishing eligibility for the real property tax exemption for the elderly and handicapped on a rolling basis throughout the year. Current law states that localities shall accept such documentation after January 1 but before April 1 or a later date fixed by ordinance.

Commending Robert L. Dandridge, Jr. Commending Robert L. Dandridge, Jr.