Authority: Title 2.2, Chapter 2, Article 8, and § 2.2-201, Code of Virginia.
A. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall present revised six-year state and local juvenile and state and local responsibility adult offender population forecasts to the Governor, the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees, and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Courts of Justice Committees by October 15 of each year. The secretary shall ensure that the revised forecast for state-responsible adult offenders shall include an estimate of the number of probation violators included each year within the overall population forecast who may be appropriate for alternative sanctions.
B. The secretary shall continue to work with other secretaries to (i) develop services intended to improve the re-entry of offenders from prisons and jails to general society and (ii) enhance the coordination of service delivery to those offenders by all state agencies. The secretary shall provide a status report on actions taken to improve offender transitional and reentry services, as provided in § 2.2-221.1, Code of Virginia, including improvements to the preparation and provision for employment, treatment, and housing opportunities for those being released from incarceration. The report shall be provided to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees no later than November 15 of each year.
C. Included in the appropriation for this item is $500,000 the first year and $500,000 the second year from the general fund for the Commonwealth's nonfederal cost match requirement to accomplish the United States Corps of Engineers Regional Reconnaissance Flood Control Study for both the Hampton Roads and Northern Neck regions as authorized by the U.S. Congress. Any balances not needed to complete these studies may be used to conduct a comparable study in the Northern Virginia region.
D. The Secretary shall report on the requirements of Item 381 H. of Chapter 854, 2019 Acts of Assembly, by November 15, 2020.
E.1. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall continue the expanded work group established in Item 381 of Chapter 854, 2019 Acts of Assembly. The expanded work group shall examine the workload impact, as well as other fiscal and policy impacts, on the Commonwealth's public safety and judicial agencies as a whole. The Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court shall submit the recommendations of the working group to the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees by November 15, 2020. All state agencies and local subdivisions shall provide assistance as requested by the working group.
2. The expanded workgroup shall include representatives of the Supreme Court, the State Compensation Board, staff of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees, Department of Criminal Justice Services, Commonwealth's Attorneys, local governments, and other stakeholders deemed appropriate by the Secretary.
3. Prior to the preparation of the November 15, 2020 report, each Commonwealth's Attorney's office in a locality that employs body worn cameras, in conjunction with the law enforcement agency using body worn cameras, shall report to the Compensation Board and the workgroup the following information on a quarterly basis, in a format prescribed by the Board:
a. The number of hours of body worn camera video footage received from their law enforcement agencies. The number of hours should additionally be broken down into corresponding categories of felonies, misdemeanors and traffic offenses. Any recorded event that results in charges for two or more of the above categories shall be reported in the most serious category;
b. The number of hours spent in the course of redacting videos; and
c. Any other data determined relevant and necessary by the workgroup for this analysis.
F. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall establish an E-911 Border Response Workgroup. The Workgroup shall assess the deficiencies related to the timely routing of Emergency 911 (E911) calls to the appropriate public-safety answering point (PSAP) across either state or county borders. At a minimum, the workgroup should work with stakeholders to collect information on problems with the current system and processes; review mitigation solutions already implemented by localities and citizen groups; determine best practices; and provide inputs and recommendations to the General Assembly on technology, training, and compensation that would be necessary to address the identified deficiencies. The Secretary shall provide the recommendations of the Workgroup to the Governor and General Assembly no later than April 1, 2021.