Virginia HB 161: Individuals experiencing or reporting overdoses while incarcerated; disciplinary procedures.

Bill Text

2024SESSION
ENROLLED
1 VIRGINIAACTSOFASSEMBLY––CHAPTER
2 An Act to amend and reenact § 18.2-251.03 of the Code of Virginia, relating to arrest, prosecution, and
3 disciplinary or administrative procedures and penalties for individuals experiencing or reporting
4 overdoses while incarcerated.
5 [H161]
6 Approved
7 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
8 1. That §18.2-251.03 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
9 § 18.2-251.03. Arrest, prosecution, and disciplinary or administrative procedures and penalties
10 when experiencing or reporting overdoses.
11 A. For purposes of this section, "overdose" means a life-threatening condition resulting from the
12 consumption or use of a controlled substance, alcohol, or any combination of such substances.
13 B. No Except as otherwise provided in subsection C, no individual shall be subject to arrest or
14 prosecution for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol pursuant to § 4.1-305,
15 unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of marijuana pursuant to § 4.1-1105.1, possession of a
16 controlled substance pursuant to § 18.2-250, intoxication in public pursuant to § 18.2-388, or possession
17 of controlled paraphernalia pursuant to §54.1-3466 if:
18 1. Such individual (i) in good faith, seeks or obtains emergency medical attention (a) for himself, if
19 he is experiencing an overdose, or (b) for another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an
20 overdose; (ii) is experiencing an overdose and another individual, in good faith, seeks or obtains
21 emergency medical attention for such individual, by contemporaneously reporting such overdose to a
22 firefighter, as defined in § 65.2-102, emergency medical services personnel, as defined in § 32.1-111.1, a
23 law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, or an emergency 911 system; or (iii) in good faith,
24 renders emergency care or assistance, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or the
25 administration of naloxone or other opioid antagonist for overdose reversal, to an individual experiencing
26 an overdose while another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention in accordance with
27 this subdivision;
28 2. Such individual remains at the scene of the overdose or at any alternative location to which he or
29 the person requiring emergency medical attention has been transported until a law-enforcement officer
30 responds to the report of an overdose. If no law-enforcement officer is present at the scene of the
31 overdose or at the alternative location, then such individual shall cooperate with law enforcement as
32 otherwise set forth herein;
33 3. Such individual identifies himself to the law-enforcement officer who responds to the report of the
34 overdose; and
35 4. The evidence for the prosecution of an offense enumerated in this subsection was obtained as a
36 result of the individual seeking or obtaining emergency medical attention or rendering emergency care or
37 assistance.
38 C. No individual incarcerated in a local, regional, or state correctional facility shall be subject to
39 arrest, prosecution, or disciplinary or administrative procedures or penalties for the unlawful purchase,
40 possession, or consumption of alcohol pursuant to § 4.1-305, unlawful purchase, possession, or
41 consumption of marijuana pursuant to § 4.1-1105.1, possession of a controlled substance pursuant to
42 § 18.2-250, procurement, sale, secretion, or possession of any chemical compound that he has not
43 lawfully received pursuant to subdivision 5 of § 53.1-203, procurement, sale, secretion, or possession of
44 a controlled substance classified in Schedule III of the Drug Control Act (§ 54.1-3400 et seq.) or
45 marijuana pursuant to subdivision 6 of § 53.1-203, intoxication in public pursuant to § 18.2-388, or
46 possession of controlled paraphernalia pursuant to § 54.1-3466 if such individual (i) in good faith, seeks
47 or obtains emergency medical attention (a) for himself, if he is experiencing an overdose, or (b) for
48 another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an overdose; (ii) is experiencing an overdose
49 and another individual, in good faith, seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for such individual,
50 by contemporaneously reporting such overdose to an employee or volunteer of a local, regional, or state
51 correctional facility; or (iii) in good faith, renders emergency care or assistance, including
52 cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), to an individual experiencing an overdose while another
53 individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention in accordance with this subsection.
54 D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person who seeks or obtains emergency
55 medical attention for himself or another individual, to a person experiencing an overdose when another
56 individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him, or to a person who renders emergency
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