Personal appearance by two-way electronic video and audio communication; waiver of preliminary hearing. Allows an appearance in court to be made by two-way electronic video and audio communication with the consent of the court and all parties for the purpose of waiver of a preliminary hearing.

Commending Ann Pesiri Swanson.

Board of Social Work; powers and duties. Expands the powers and duties of the Board of Social Work to require the Board to maintain a list of the names and contact information of persons approved by the Board to supervise candidates for licensure as a clinical social worker and allows supervisees pursuing licensure as a clinical social worker to change or add a supervisor from the Board's list of currently approved supervisors without prior approval from the Board. Board of Social Work; powers and duties. Expands the powers and duties of the Board of Social Work to require the Board to maintain a list of the names and contact information of persons approved by the Board to supervise candidates for licensure as a clinical social worker and allows supervisees pursuing licensure as a clinical social worker to change or add a supervisor from the Board's list of currently approved supervisors without prior approval from the Board.

Noxious weeds; invasive plant species; report. Removes the current prohibition on the movement, transportation, delivery, shipment, or offering for shipment of any noxious weed into or within the Commonwealth without a permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and grants the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services the authority to adopt regulations governing the conditions under which a permit will be required for such actions. The bill also adds requirements related to invasive plant species, including directing the Department of Conservation and Recreation to create an invasive plant species list and update it quadrennially. The bill directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group to develop industry resources and recommendations to be submitted to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Appropriations. Noxious weeds; invasive plant species; report. Removes the current prohibition on the movement, transportation, delivery, shipment, or offering for shipment of any noxious weed into or within the Commonwealth without a permit from the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services and grants the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services the authority to adopt regulations governing the conditions under which a permit will be required for such actions. The bill also adds requirements related to invasive plant species, including directing the Department of Conservation and Recreation to create an invasive plant species list and update it quadrennially. The bill directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convene the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group to develop industry resources and recommendations to be submitted to the Chairmen of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance and Appropriations and the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Appropriations.

Elections administration; requests made pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act; tolling of period for responding to certain requests. Provides that the period within which a local electoral board or general registrar is required to respond to requests made pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act shall be tolled when such request is (i) received on or after the first day on which absentee voting in person is available for an election and before the tenth day following the certification of such election and (ii) related to a previously conducted election until the deadline to request a recount pursuant to law has passed and, if any recount is pending in the locality thereafter, until it has been concluded.

Photo speed monitoring devices; locality-designated highway segments. Authorizes any locality to authorize, by ordinance, its local law-enforcement agency to place and operate photo speed monitoring devices in certain locations named in the ordinance, provided that (i) the highway has a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or greater; (ii) the ordinance identifies the locality-designated speeding offense to be enforced by the photo speed monitoring device; (iii) speeding, crash, or fatality data supports the need for stronger enforcement against speeding; and (iv) in counties and towns whose roads are subject to the control and jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, the locality-designated highway segment is in the secondary state highway system. The bill directs the locality to also identify the speeding violations that may be enforced by photo speed monitoring device. Current law authorizes the use of photo speed monitoring devices in highway work zones and school crossing zones.

Real property taxation; land and improvement classifications. Allows the City of Charlottesville to levy a tax on improvements to real property at a different rate than the tax imposed upon the land on which the improvement is located, provided that the tax rate is not zero and does not exceed the tax rate imposed on the land. Currently, only the Cities of Fairfax, Poquoson, Richmond, and Roanoke are allowed to tax an improvement to real property independently from the land on which it is situated.

Expungement and sealing of offenses resulting in a deferred and dismissed disposition or conviction by petition; defendant with a disorder or disability. Provides that a defendant with a disorder or disability, as defined in the bill, may file a petition that requests the sealing of the criminal history record information and court records of a Class 4 felony conviction or deferred and dismissed disposition. Under current law, Class 4 felony convictions or deferred and dismissed dispositions are ineligible to be sealed. The bill also provides that when a conviction or deferral and dismissal has been sealed, the defendant of such sealed record is a defendant with a disorder or disability, and the Governor granted the defendant a simple pardon for the commission of the crime or offense that was sealed, such conviction or deferral and dismissal shall be considered to be otherwise dismissed for purposes of expungement.

Prohibited sales and loans to juveniles; definition of sexual conduct. Clarifies the definition of "sexual conduct" so that it is neutral regarding sexual orientation for the purposes of crimes related to prohibited sales and loans to juveniles.

Juvenile justice; human trafficking screening. Requires the Department of Juvenile Justice to use trauma-informed screening measures to identify whether any child committed to the Department has been a victim of human trafficking and determine appropriate treatment and service options. The bill also requires that, in cases in which a juvenile and domestic relations district court or circuit court orders that a juvenile within its jurisdiction be physically examined and treated by a physician or local mental health center, such examination include trauma-informed screening measures to identify whether the juvenile has been a victim of human trafficking and determine appropriate treatment and service options.

Adult wellness screening; sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait. Requires that every adult in the Commonwealth be subjected at the time of his annual physical examination to screening tests for the disease of sickle cell anemia or the sickle cell trait. Under the bill, any adult who objects on religious grounds is not required to receive such screening tests.

Driver improvement clinics and driver training schools. Lengthens from one year to two years the validity of and increases the cost of licenses and certifications for driver training schools that are third party testers, third party examiners for Class A driver training schools, driver improvement clinics, driver training instructors, and driver training schools, including computer-based driver education providers, and provides for concurrent expirations of licenses and certifications for such schools and their instructors. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, to issue such licenses and certifications for a validity period of between one and 24 months with a fee prorated on a monthly basis to ensure the even distribution of renewals over a calendar year. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024, except that the provision of the bill authorizing the issuance of such licenses and certifications by the Commissioner is effective in due course.

Health insurance; mental health benefits; coverage for mobile crisis response services and residential crisis stabilization units. Requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for mobile crisis response services, defined in the bill, and support and stabilization services provided in a residential crisis stabilization unit, defined in the bill, to the extent that such services are covered in other settings or modalities, regardless of any difference in billing codes. The bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, to convene a stakeholder work group to examine network standards for mobile crisis response services and the current availability of mobile crisis response services in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the work group to make recommendations regarding (i) the definition and standards of care for mobile crisis response services and short-term residential crisis stabilization services as they apply to the commercial insurance market, including balance billing protections; (ii) the licensure or accreditation required for such services in the Commonwealth; and (iii) how cost-sharing and deductibles will be addressed as part of accessing such services for commercially insured individuals. The bill requires the Commission to report the findings of the work group to the Health Insurance Reform Commission and the Governor no later than September 1, 2023.

State Fire Marshal; authority. Clarifies that the State Fire Marshal, or his designee, is the authority having jurisdiction over state-owned buildings, properties, or structures for purposes of fire safety and fire prevention in accordance with the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code.

Removal by locality of unattended or immobile vehicles. Allows for the removal of certain unattended or immobile vehicles by the locality's civil code enforcement division. Current law provides that such removal must be carried out under the direction of a law-enforcement officer or other uniformed employee of the local law-enforcement agency who specifically is authorized to do so.