                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REPORTING OF ACTS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (§ 23.1-806)

A. For purposes of this section:
			&#8220;Campus&#8221; means (i) any building or property owned or controlled
by an institution of higher education within the same reasonably contiguous
geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support
of, or in a manner relating to, the institution&#8217;s educational purposes,
including residence halls, and (ii) any building or property that is within or
reasonably contiguous to the area described in clause (i) that is owned by the
institution but controlled by another person, is frequently used by students,
and supports institutional purposes, such as a food or other retail vendor.
			&#8220;Noncampus building or property&#8221; means (i) any building or
property owned or controlled by a student organization officially recognized by
an institution of higher education or (ii) any building or property owned or
controlled by an institution of higher education that is used in direct support
of, or in relation to, the institution&#8217;s educational purposes, is
frequently used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous
geographic area of the institution.
			&#8220;Public property&#8221; means all public property, including
thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities, that is within the
campus, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus.
			&#8220;Responsible employee&#8221; means a person employed by a public
institution of higher education or nonprofit private institution of higher
education who has the authority to take action to redress sexual violence, who
has been given the duty of reporting acts of sexual violence or any other
misconduct by students to the Title IX coordinator or other appropriate
institution designee, or whom a student could reasonably believe has this
authority or duty.
			&#8220;Sexual violence&#8221; means physical sexual acts perpetrated against
a person&#8217;s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent.
			&#8220;Title IX coordinator&#8221; means an employee designated by a public
institution of higher education or nonprofit private institution of higher
education to coordinate the institution&#8217;s efforts to comply with and carry
out the institution&#8217;s responsibilities under Title IX (20 U.S.C. &#xA7;
1681 et seq.). If no such employee has been designated by the institution, the
institution shall designate an employee who will be responsible for receiving
information of alleged acts of sexual violence from responsible employees in
accordance with subsection B.

B. Any responsible employee who in the course of his employment obtains
information that an act of sexual violence may have been committed against a
student attending the institution or may have occurred on campus, in or on a
noncampus building or property, or on public property shall report such
information to the Title IX coordinator as soon as practicable after addressing
the immediate needs of the victim.

C. Upon receipt of information pursuant to subsection B, the Title IX
coordinator or his designee shall promptly report the information, including any
personally identifiable information, to a review committee established pursuant
to subsection D. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Title IX coordinator
or any other responsible employee from providing any information to law
enforcement with the consent of the victim.

D. Each public institution of higher education and nonprofit private institution
of higher education shall establish a review committee for the purposes of
reviewing information relating to acts of sexual violence, including information
reported pursuant to subsection C. Such review committee shall consist of three
or more persons and shall include the Title IX coordinator or his designee, a
representative of law enforcement, and a student affairs representative. If the
institution has established a campus police department pursuant to Article 3
(&#xA7; 23.1-809 et seq.), the representative of law enforcement shall be a
member of such department; otherwise, the representative of law enforcement
shall be a representative of campus security. The review committee may be the
threat assessment team established under &#xA7; 23.1-805 or a separate body. The
review committee may obtain law-enforcement records, criminal history record
information as provided in &#xA7;&#xA7; 19.2-389 and 19.2-389.1, health records
as provided in &#xA7; 32.1-127.1:03, available institutional conduct or
personnel records, and known facts and circumstances of the information reported
pursuant to subsection C or information or evidence known to the institution or
to law enforcement. The review committee shall be considered to be a threat
assessment team established pursuant to &#xA7; 23.1-805 for purposes of (i)
obtaining criminal history record information and health records and (ii) the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et seq.). The review
committee shall conduct its review in compliance with federal privacy law.

E. Upon receipt of information of an alleged act of sexual violence reported
pursuant to subsection C, the review committee shall meet within 72 hours to
review the information and shall meet again as necessary as new information
becomes available.

F. If, based on consideration of all factors, the review committee, or if the
committee cannot reach a consensus, the representative of law enforcement on the
review committee, determines that the disclosure of the information, including
personally identifiable information, is necessary to protect the health or
safety of the student or other individuals as set forth in 34 C.F.R. &#xA7;
99.36, the representative of law enforcement on the review committee shall
immediately disclose such information to the law-enforcement agency that would
be responsible for investigating the alleged act of sexual violence. Such
disclosure shall be for the purposes of investigation and other actions by law
enforcement. Upon such disclosure, the Title IX coordinator or his designee
shall notify the victim that such disclosure is being made. The provisions of
this subsection shall not apply if the law-enforcement agency responsible for
investigating the alleged act of sexual violence is located outside the United
States.

G. In cases in which the alleged act of sexual violence would constitute a
felony violation of Article 7 (&#xA7; 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title
18.2, the representative of law enforcement on the review committee shall inform
the other members of the review committee and shall within 24 hours consult with
the attorney for the Commonwealth or other prosecutor responsible for
prosecuting the alleged act of sexual violence and provide to him the
information received by the review committee without disclosing personally
identifiable information, unless such information was disclosed pursuant to
subsection F. In addition, if such consultation does not occur and any other
member of the review committee individually concludes that the alleged act of
sexual violence would constitute a felony violation of Article 7 (&#xA7; 18.2-61
et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, that member shall within 24 hours consult
with the attorney for the Commonwealth or other prosecutor responsible for
prosecuting the alleged act of sexual violence and provide to him the
information received by the review committee without disclosing personally
identifiable information, unless such information was disclosed pursuant to
subsection F.

H. At the conclusion of the review, the Title IX coordinator and the
law-enforcement representative shall each retain (i) the authority to proceed
with any further investigation or adjudication allowed under state or federal
law and (ii) independent records of the review team&#8217;s considerations,
which shall be maintained under applicable state and federal law.

I. No responsible employee shall be required to make a report pursuant to
subsection B if:

   1. The responsible employee obtained the information through any communication
   considered privileged under state or federal law or the responsible employee
   obtained the information in the course of providing services as a licensed
   health care professional, an employee providing administrative support for
   such health care professionals, a professional counselor, an accredited rape
   crisis or domestic violence counselor, a campus victim support personnel, a
   member of clergy, or an attorney; or

   2. The responsible employee has actual knowledge that the same matter has
   already been reported to the Title IX coordinator or to the attorney for the
   Commonwealth or the law-enforcement agency responsible for investigating the
   alleged act of sexual violence.

J. Any responsible employee who makes a report required by this section or
testifies in a judicial or administrative proceeding as a result of such report
is immune from any civil liability alleged to have resulted therefrom unless
such person acted in bad faith or with malicious intent.

K. The provisions of this section shall not require a person who is the victim
of an alleged act of sexual violence to report such violation.

L. The institution shall ensure that a victim of an alleged act of sexual
violence is informed of (i) the available law-enforcement options for
investigation and prosecution; (ii) the importance of collection and
preservation of evidence; (iii) the available options for a protective order;
(iv) the available campus options for investigation and adjudication under the
institution&#8217;s policies; (v) the victim&#8217;s rights to participate or
decline to participate in any investigation to the extent permitted under state
or federal law; (vi) the applicable federal or state confidentiality provisions
that govern information provided by a victim; (vii) the available on-campus
resources and any unaffiliated community resources, including sexual assault
crisis centers, domestic violence crisis centers, or other victim support
services; and (viii) the importance of seeking appropriate medical attention.

HISTORY: 2015, cc. 737, 745, § 23-9.2:15; 2016, c. 588.