Department of Corrections; Department of Workforce Development and Advancement; post-release job search assistance services. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall work with the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to provide post-release job search assistance services to assist individuals in finding employment upon release from incarceration and refer such individuals to case management services where eligible from such funds as are available. The bill also requires the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to coordinate implementation and delivery of such post-release job search assistance services with Virginia Workforce System partners, including local workforce development boards. This bill is identical to SB 877.

Medical Debt Protection Act; prohibited practices; penalties. Creates the Medical Debt Protection Act to prohibit a large health care facility or medical debt buyer, as those terms are defined in the bill, from using certain extraordinary collection actions to collect medical debt or from charging interest or late fees on medical debt until 90 days following the due date applicable to the final invoice. The bill specifies that no such interest or late fees shall exceed three percent of the amount of such medical debt per annum. The bill provides that a violation of its provisions constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Petitions for relief of care and custody of a child; investigation by local department of social services; Office of the Children's Ombudsman work group; report. Requires a local department of social services, as a part of its investigation after the referral of a request for a petition for relief of the care and custody of a child, to (i) refer the parent to the local family assessment and planning team and (ii) create a written report. The bill directs the Department of Social Services, in coordination with the Virginia League of Social Services Executives, to create a template for and provide guidance on what should be included in such written report. The bill also directs the Office of the Children's Ombudsman to convene a work group composed of relevant stakeholders to (a) determine the factors a court should consider when determining whether there is good cause shown for a petitioner's desire to be relieved of the care and custody of a child and (b) explore the potential benefits and considerations of raising the standard of evidence for granting temporary relief of custody from the current standard of preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence. The bill directs the work group to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and the Virginia Commission on Youth by November 1, 2025. Certain provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2026. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to SB 1372.

Mail theft; penalty. Creates the offense of mail theft, punishable as a Class 6 felony, for any person who (i) knowingly, willfully, and with the intent to deprive, injure, damage, or defraud another (a) takes, destroys, hides, or embezzles mail or (b) obtains any mail by fraud or deception; (ii) buys, receives, conceals, or possesses (a) mail and knows or reasonably should know that the mail was unlawfully taken or obtained; (b) any key he knows or reasonably should know is suited to any lock adopted by the United States Postal Service that provides access to any mail receptacle located in a cluster mailbox unit or other mailbox panel used for the purpose of centralized mail in any neighborhood, including any condominium or apartment complex; or (c) a counterfeit device or key designed to provide access to any lock described in clause (b); or (iii) knowingly, willfully, and with the intent to steal any mail inside damages, opens, removes, injures, vandalizes, or destroys any mail receptacle. This bill is identical to SB 939.

Virginia Parole Board; investigation of cases for executive clemency. Requires all public bodies engaged in criminal law-enforcement activities to provide, to the extent permitted by law, copies of certain specified records upon request by the Virginia Parole Board related to cases in which executive clemency is sought or the Virginia Parole Board believes action on the part of the Governor is proper or in the best interest of the Commonwealth. The bill specifies that records of any general district court, juvenile and domestic relations district court, or circuit court and the Department of Forensic Science shall be subject to such provisions and that any records requested shall be provided to the Virginia Parole Board at no cost. The bill requires any requested records be provided within 30 working days of receiving the request. Additionally, the bill specifies that records obtained pursuant to such request shall be excluded from mandatory public disclosure in the same manner as the correspondence and working papers of the Office of the Governor under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Fishing with trawl nets and drag nets; shrimp and horseshoe crab; license fee; penalty. Allows the Marine Resources Commission to issue licenses or permits to any person to take or catch fish, shellfish, or marine organisms with a trawl net, drag net, or similar device within the three-mile limit of the Virginia Atlantic shoreline for the shrimp and horseshoe crab fisheries. The bill specifies that such license or permit shall be accompanied by a fee of $100 or as subsequently revised by the Commission for each boat so employed. Current law allows any person to fish with trawl nets and drag nets for fish, shellfish, or marine organisms, provided such person has a license issued by the Commission to trawl within the three-mile limit from Cape Charles north to the Maryland line, except during September and October and from 36° 40' north latitude south to the North Carolina line at any time, and from Cape Henry south to 36° 40' north latitude between October 1 and May 1. This bill is identical to SB 933.

Charter; City of Norfolk. Amends the charter for the City of Norfolk to exempt the position of deputy fire chief from the classified service. This bill is identical to SB 987.

Civil actions; liability of employer for personal injury or death by wrongful act. Provides that in an action for personal injury or death by wrongful act brought by a vulnerable victim, defined in the bill, against an employee, a finding that the employee's employer is vicariously liable for such employee's conduct shall be based on several factors, including the likelihood of the employee coming into contact with such vulnerable victim and the employer's failure to exercise reasonable care over the employee.

Retail sales and use tax; exemption for prescription medicine and drugs purchased by veterinarians; sunset. Extends to July 1, 2028, the exemption from sales and use tax available for the purchase by veterinarians of prescription medicines and drugs that are administered or dispensed to patients within a veterinarian-client-patient relationship that is currently set to expire on July 1, 2025. This bill is identical to SB 1369.

Claims; Gilbert Merritt III; compensation for wrongful incarceration. Grants relief in an amount to be appropriated to Gilbert Merritt III, who was wrongly convicted of and subsequently incarcerated for first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Improper driving as a lesser included offense of reckless driving. Permits a jury to find an accused, where the degree of culpability is slight, not guilty of reckless driving but guilty of improper driving. Current law only permits the trial court to do so or the attorney for the Commonwealth to reduce a charge of reckless driving to improper driving at any time prior to the court's decision.

Driver training schools; operation and licensure. Amends various provisions related to the operation and licensure of driver training schools. The bill grants the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles increased oversight authority over such operations.

Board of Social Work; Board of Counseling; master's social worker; scope of practice; regulations. Expands the scope of practice of master's social workers to allow the provision of clinical services under the supervision of a licensed clinical social worker. The bill also directs the Board of Social Work to promulgate regulations to allow master's social workers to engage in clinical services under the supervision of a licensed clinical social worker and directs the Board of Counseling to amend its regulations to state that a licensed baccalaureate social worker shall not be required to (i) register with the Board of Counseling or (ii) fulfill any additional training or education requirements in order to serve as a qualified mental health professional-trainee. The bill directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to amend their regulations to deem the services provided by a licensed baccalaureate social worker to be equivalent to the services provided by a qualified mental health professional-trainee and reimbursed at a comparable rate, and directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to seek all necessary federal authority to enact such changes.

Virginia retirement system; enhanced retirement benefits; animal control officers. Adds full-time animal control officers to the list of local employees eligible to receive enhanced retirement benefits for hazardous duty service for service earned in such positions on or after July 1, 2026. Under current law, localities may provide such benefits to first responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians, and certain other hazardous duty positions. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026.

Marine Resources Commission; encroachment on subaqueous beds; permitting requirements. Increases the maximum total value of projects eligible for a permit to trespass upon or over or encroach upon a subaqueous bed belonging to the Commonwealth from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The bill requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to update the total project value every five years using the Consumer Price Index and publish such increase or decrease on the Marine Resource Commission's website. This bill is identical to SB 1169.