VCCJA GOALS
Education & Advocacy
The VCCJA hopes to realize its vision by equipping local pretrial services and probation professionals with the evidence-based practices and skills they need to promote change and accountability for those they serve. VCCJA also works to educate stakeholders, elected officials and the public about this work and its positive impact on our communities and public safety.
One of VCCJA’s top priorities is to ensure every Virginia locality has access to comprehensive pretrial services and community-based probation services. The association’s extensive advocacy at the state level has not only resulted in substantial state funding increases for existing agencies, but has also led to the funding of new pretrial service agencies in previously unserved localities.
Stay updated on our latest education and advocacy efforts through regular updates below from our legislative committee.
Legislative Committee Update
2023 General Assembly Session Briefing
With the conclusion of the 2023 session, we have provided a summary below of bills that we tracked. This was a relatively quiet session with little perceived impact for VCCJA. As we have done in the past, we met on a weekly basis to monitor bills that may have had an impact on us.
In addition to bill tracking, several members of this committee spent February 2, 2023 at the General Assembly where they met with Senators Deeds, Marsden, Ruff, Ebbin and Edwards in support of Senator Deeds budget amendment to provide funding to expand Pretrial Services in the Roanoke area.
The budget is still pending and negotiations continue. Legislators have adopted a quick “skinny budget” and there is an agreement to continue talks and negotiating. The Governor is prepared to call a special session if it comes to that. Here is a summary of the “skinny budget” – Key Features HB 1400 2023 Session Conference Report.pdf (virginia.gov).
There were also several retirements announced in both the House and Senate.