High school interscholastic athletic competition; High school interscholastic athletic competition; prevention of hate speech and ethnically or racially insensitive expressions. Requires the organization governing high school athletics and academic activities for public and approved nonboarding nonpublic high schools (the organization), with such funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to develop (i) rules and standards for the prevention of inequities involving the use of hate speech or ethnically or racially insensitive expressions during athletic and academic competitions sponsored by the organization's member schools, (ii) procedures for the enforcement of and penalties for the violation of such rules and standards, and (iii) training materials on such rules and standards. The bill requires each member school of the organization to abide by and implement such rules, standards, procedures, and penalties and ensure that each student who will participate in high school interscholastic athletic or academic competition, the parent of each such student, and each individual, whether paid or unpaid, who coaches a team that will participate in high school interscholastic athletic or academic competition receives and reviews such training materials. The bill requires the organization to make part of the process to become a registered official in good standing for any association offering services to the organization an education and training requirement that is consistent with the training materials developed by the organization. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.

Fire insurance; appraisers and umpires; citizenship requirements. Removes a requirement that appraisers and umpires who make appraisals for loss or damage to property under the provisions of a fire insurance policy are citizens and residents of the Commonwealth.

Absentee voting; unsolicited absentee ballot applications; required information. Requires any individual or organization sending an application for an absentee ballot to a registered voter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voter to include with the application instructions on completing the application and submitting it to the appropriate general registrar. The bill requires a statement that the application is not being sent by any state or local government official or agency on the envelope containing the application or on the first page of any enclosed materials. Such individuals and organizations are required to use the information provided in the list of registered voters acquired by such individual or organization from the Department of Elections pursuant to law, and a violation of this requirement is a Class 4 misdemeanor. The bill requires the Department of Elections to ensure, when providing the list of registered voters to such individual or organization for purposes of sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications, that no voter is included on the list provided if such voter has applied for an absentee ballot on or before the date the list is requested. The bill also provides that no absentee ballot sent to a registered voter that was not solicited or requested by the registered voter may be pre-populated with information the applicant is required to provide.

Use of canines in correctional facilities; prohibited acts. Prohibits any correctional officer, jail officer, or other employee of a state, local, or juvenile correctional facility from using a canine to extract a prisoner or juvenile from his cell unless there is a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the prisoner or juvenile, other prisoners or juveniles, or any officer or employee of the facility.

Coal refuse energy and reclamation tax credit. Creates a nonrefundable individual and corporate income tax credit for taxable years 2023 through 2027 equal to $4 per ton of qualified coal refuse used to generate electricity at an eligible facility, defined in the bill, in the Commonwealth by an eligible taxpayer, defined in the bill, during the taxable year. The amount of credits that may be claimed for a single eligible facility shall not exceed $1,665,000 in taxable year 2023, $2,220,000 in taxable year 2024, and $4,440,000 in taxable years 2025, 2026, and 2027. The aggregate credits in each taxable year are capped at $7.5 million in taxable year 2023, $10 million in taxable year 2024, and $20 million in taxable years 2025, 2026, and 2027. The credit may be carried forward for five taxable years. The credit shall be administered by Department of Taxation, who shall compile and submit an annual report by November 1 of each taxable year with the number of eligible taxpayers applying for and utilizing the credit, the amount of credits approved, and data on the benefits to the Commonwealth of the use of qualified coal refuse to generate electricity at an eligible facility to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Finance, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations.

Liability for sale of alcohol to an impaired customer; injury to another person due to operation of vehicle while intoxicated. Creates a cause of action against an alcoholic beverage control retail licensee who sells alcohol to a customer who subsequently injures another by driving while impaired if the consumption of the alcohol caused or contributed to an injury to person or property while the customer operated a motor vehicle. Liability for sale of alcohol to an impaired customer; injury to another person due to operation of vehicle while intoxicated. Creates a cause of action against an alcoholic beverage control retail licensee who sells alcohol to a customer who subsequently injures another by driving while impaired if the consumption of the alcohol caused or contributed to an injury to person or property while the customer operated a motor vehicle.

Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord's noncompliance as defense to action for possession for nonpayment of rent. Removes the requirement that a tenant, if in possession of a dwelling unit, must pay for the court to hold the amount of rent found to be due and unpaid pending the issuance of an order pursuant to an action by the landlord for possession based upon nonpayment of rent where the tenant has asserted a defense that there exists upon the leased premises a condition that constitutes, or will constitute, a fire hazard or a serious threat to the life, health, or safety of the occupant of the dwelling unit. The bill provides that (i) a tenant may assert such a defense if, prior to the commencement of the action for rent or possession, the landlord or his agent had notice of the condition, was given a reasonable opportunity to remedy the condition, and failed to do so and (ii) while the period of time that is deemed to be a unreasonable delay is left to the court, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a period in excess of 14 days, changed from 30 days in current law, from receipt of the notification by the landlord is reasonable. Finally, the bill clarifies that not only may the court issue an order that reduces rent by an equitable amount in consideration of the existence of an allowable condition asserted by the tenant, but the court may also refer any matter before it to the proper state or local agency for investigation and report and continue the action or complaint pending completion of such investigation and receipt of the report. Current law allows the court to terminate the rental agreement or order the surrender of the premises to the landlord or require the tenant to deposit with the court any rents that will become due during the period of continuance while the state or local agency investigates. Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord's noncompliance as defense to action for possession for nonpayment of rent. Removes the requirement that a tenant, if in possession of a dwelling unit, must pay for the court to hold the amount of rent found to be due and unpaid pending the issuance of an order pursuant to an action by the landlord for possession based upon nonpayment of rent where the tenant has asserted a defense that there exists upon the leased premises a condition that constitutes, or will constitute, a fire hazard or a serious threat to the life, health, or safety of the occupant of the dwelling unit. The bill provides that (i) a tenant may assert such a defense if, prior to the commencement of the action for rent or possession, the landlord or his agent had notice of the condition, was given a reasonable opportunity to remedy the condition, and failed to do so and (ii) while the period of time that is deemed to be a unreasonable delay is left to the court, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that a period in excess of 14 days, changed from 30 days in current law, from receipt of the notification by the landlord is reasonable. Finally, the bill clarifies that not only may the court issue an order that reduces rent by an equitable amount in consideration of the existence of an allowable condition asserted by the tenant, but the court may also refer any matter before it to the proper state or local agency for investigation and report and continue the action or complaint pending completion of such investigation and receipt of the report. Current law allows the court to terminate the rental agreement or order the surrender of the premises to the landlord or require the tenant to deposit with the court any rents that will become due during the period of continuance while the state or local agency investigates.

Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office). The bill enumerates the duties and powers of the Office, which include (i) providing information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, Department of Corrections (the Department) employees and contractors, and others regarding the rights of inmates; (ii) monitoring conditions of confinement and assessing compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules, regulations, policies, and best practices as related to the health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of inmates; (iii) providing technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy; (iv) providing technical assistance to local governments in the creation of correctional facility oversight bodies, as requested; (v) establishing a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the Department and data related to (a) deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody; (b) physical and sexual assaults in custody; (c) the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement; (d) the number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24 hours; (e) the number of staff vacancies at each facility; (f) the inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility; (g) staff tenure and turnover; and (h) the number of in-person visits to inmates that were made and denied at each facility; (vi) establishing procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities, which must include, at a minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of and Office response to public comment; (vii) inspecting each state correctional facility at least once every three years and at least once every year for any maximum security facility and any facility where the Office has found cause for more frequent inspection or monitoring; and (viii) issuing publicly periodic facility inspection reports and an annual report with recommendations on the state correctional facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising from any complaints investigated and resolved. Creation of Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. Creates the Office of the Department of Corrections Ombudsman (the Office). The bill enumerates the duties and powers of the Office, which include (i) providing information, as appropriate, to inmates, family members, representatives of inmates, Department of Corrections (the Department) employees and contractors, and others regarding the rights of inmates; (ii) monitoring conditions of confinement and assessing compliance with applicable federal, state, and local rules, regulations, policies, and best practices as related to the health, safety, welfare, and rehabilitation of inmates; (iii) providing technical assistance to support inmate participation in self-advocacy; (iv) providing technical assistance to local governments in the creation of correctional facility oversight bodies, as requested; (v) establishing a statewide uniform reporting system to collect and analyze data related to complaints received by the Department and data related to (a) deaths, suicides, and suicide attempts in custody; (b) physical and sexual assaults in custody; (c) the number of inmates placed in solitary confinement; (d) the number of facility lockdowns lasting longer than 24 hours; (e) the number of staff vacancies at each facility; (f) the inmate-to-staff ratios at each facility; (g) staff tenure and turnover; and (h) the number of in-person visits to inmates that were made and denied at each facility; (vi) establishing procedures to gather stakeholder input into the Office's activities and priorities, which must include, at a minimum, an annual 30-day period for receipt of and Office response to public comment; (vii) inspecting each state correctional facility at least once every three years and at least once every year for any maximum security facility and any facility where the Office has found cause for more frequent inspection or monitoring; and (viii) issuing publicly periodic facility inspection reports and an annual report with recommendations on the state correctional facilities and a summary of data and recommendations arising from any complaints investigated and resolved. The bill also establishes a Corrections Oversight Committee, which is responsible for selecting the Department of Corrections Ombudsman. The bill additionally outlines the Office's authority to conduct inspections of each Department or Board of Local and Regional Jails facility and requires the submission of an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Public Safety, and the Director of the Department.

Language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing; assessment resources for parents and educators; advisory committee; report. Requires the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to (i) select, with input from an advisory committee that the bill establishes, language developmental milestones and include such milestones in a resource for use by parents of a child from birth to age five who is identified as deaf or hard of hearing to monitor and track their child's expressive and receptive language acquisition and developmental stages toward English literacy; (ii) disseminate such resource to such parents; (iii) select existing tools or assessments for educators for use in assessing the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf or hard of hearing; (iv) disseminate such tools or assessments to local educational agencies and provide materials and training on their use; and (v) annually produce a report that compares the language and literacy development of children from birth to age five who are deaf or hard of hearing with the language and literacy development of their peers who are not deaf or hard of hearing and make such report available to the public on its website. The bill states that the advisory committee function shall terminate effective June 30, 2023.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; closed meetings; privacy of witnesses in law-enforcement administrative investigations. Provides that a public body may hold a closed meeting to protect the privacy of an individual in administrative or disciplinary hearings related to allegations of wrongdoing by employees of a law-enforcement agency where such individual is a complainant, witness, or the subject of the hearing.

Mandated reporters of suspected abuse. Adds practitioners of behavior analysis to the list of individuals required to report suspected adult or child abuse or neglect.

Abortion; born alive human infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every physician licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of a human infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A physician who fails to comply with the requirements of this act is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of a human infant who has been born alive following performance of an abortion and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.

Arrest and summons quotas; prohibition. Prohibits (i) any agency of the Commonwealth or director or chief executive of any agency or department employing law-enforcement officers, (ii) any sheriff, (iii) any police force, or (iv) the Department of State Police from establishing a formal or informal quota that requires a law-enforcement officer to make a specific number of arrests or issue a specific number of summonses within a designated period of time. The bill also provides that the number of arrests made or summonses issued by a law-enforcement officer shall not be used as the sole criterion for evaluating the law-enforcement officer's job performance.

Vehicle registration; personal property tax relief. Requires the application for vehicle registration to include any additional information necessary to determine if a vehicle is a qualifying vehicle for the purpose of personal property tax relief. The bill requires vehicles held in a trust to be evaluated in the same manner as vehicles owned by a natural person.

Local and regional libraries; Botetourt County. Adds Botetourt County to the list of localities that are not required to establish a library board.