An Act to amend and reenact § 19.2-387.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Substantial Risk Order Reporting System established.
HB1096 amends Virginia law governing the Substantial Risk Order Registry by requiring the Department of State Police to maintain a computerized registry of orders issued under the state’s substantial risk order statutes. The registry is to be made available to criminal justice agencies, including local law enforcement, through the Virginia Criminal Information Network, and may also be shared with institutions of higher education and other research organizations in Virginia, so long as personal identifying information is removed before release.
The bill also creates a new Substantial Risk Order Reporting System. Under this system, the Department of State Police must track and report, by locality, the number of substantial risk orders entered under the relevant statutes. These locality-based reports must be published monthly and made available to the public online, with names and other identifying information removed before publication. The bill further provides immunity from liability for law-enforcement officials who, in good faith, disseminate or fail to disseminate information under the section, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
HB1096 expands the administrative and public-reporting framework for substantial risk orders in Virginia. It does not change the underlying standards for issuing such orders, but it does require the State Police to maintain a registry, share de-identified data with criminal justice and research entities, and publish monthly locality-level statistics online. The bill affects the Department of State Police, local law-enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, higher education institutions, researchers, and members of the public who will have access to aggregated reporting.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no direct evidence of debate or partisan division in the materials provided. The bill’s enactment as Chapter 935 suggests it advanced successfully through the legislative process and was approved by the Governor. Based on the text alone, the measure appears to have been framed as an administrative transparency and data-sharing bill rather than a substantive change to the underlying substantial risk order law.
The main potential points of contention are privacy and public transparency. Supporters would likely favor the monthly public reporting and improved access to de-identified data for criminal justice and research purposes, while opponents could be concerned about the handling of sensitive information, the risk of indirect identification in smaller localities, or the broader use of registry data. The bill addresses some of those concerns by requiring removal of names and other personal identifying information before release and by limiting use of registry information to criminal justice purposes, except as specifically authorized.