The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services requested a bill on the both the House side and the Senate side to address an issue that they claim is happening at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR), the state-operated facility for people with sex-offender related issues.
As HB 1304 (Ware) and SB 580 (Peake) were originally written, they appeared to simply grant access to email to residents in state licensed programs. But during testimony on HB 1304 two weeks ago, the Department asked to amend the bill to allow them to open residents’ mail, evaluate the contents, and then scan it and send it to the residents via email. A spokesperson for the Department said this was to address a problem at VCBR and that they intended to read the contents of mail of some residents with this statutory permission. The Department claims that residents of VCBR are receiving and sending illicit content, including drugs, via the mail.
Members of the House Committee on Health and Human Services raised alarms about this proposal, and sent the bill to the subcommittee on Behavioral Health for further work.
The disAbility Law Center of Virginia reached out to the patron in the House, who asked us to work with DBHDS to resolve our concerns. The Department was very receptive to working with us, and we finally settled on language for an amendment to the two bills that would state that the Commonwealth can not access the content of communications without seeking a waiver of the human rights regulations, and that they will develop a process for electronic delivery of mail that is consistent with the human rights regulations.
dLCV found that amendment acceptable, however we will pay close attention to the development of the “process for electronic delivery” if the bills become law.
The Behavioral Health subcommittee approved the amended HB 1304 and the House Committee on Health and Human Services did the same shortly after. It now goes to the full House for review, beginning today.
At the very same time, the Senate Committee on Education and Health heard the amended version of SB 580. dLCV was present to explain the history of the bill, which some committee members found troubling. According to a Department spokesperson, it is an “agency bill,” but the administration has no position on it.
The Senate Committee approved the amended version, and it now goes to the full Senate for review, beginning today.