                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LOCAL AND REGIONAL OVERDOSE FATALITY REVIEW TEAMS ESTABLISHED; MEMBERSHIP;
AUTHORITY; CONFIDENTIALITY; IMMUNITY (§ 32.1-283.7)

A. Any county or city, or combination of counties, cities, or counties and
cities, may establish a local or regional overdose fatality review team for the
purpose of (i) conducting contemporaneous reviews of local overdose deaths, (ii)
promoting cooperation and coordination among agencies involved in investigations
of overdose deaths or in providing services to surviving family members, (iii)
developing an understanding of the causes and incidence of overdose deaths in
the locality, (iv) developing plans for and recommending changes within the
agencies represented on the local team to prevent overdose deaths, and (v)
advising the Department and other relevant state agencies on changes to law,
policy, or practice to prevent overdose deaths.

B. A local or regional team may review the death of any person who resides in
the Commonwealth and whose death was or is suspected to be due to overdose. Each
team shall establish rules and procedures to govern the review process. Agencies
may share information but shall be bound by confidentiality and execute a sworn
statement to honor the confidentiality of the information they share. A
violation of this subsection is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor. The Office
of the Chief Medical Examiner may develop a model protocol for the development
and implementation of local or regional overdose fatality review teams, and such
model protocol may include relevant procedures for conducting reviews of
overdose fatalities.

C. Local and regional teams may be composed of the following persons from the
localities represented on a particular board or their designees: a medical
examiner appointed pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-282, a local social services
official, a director of the relevant local or district health department, a
chief law-enforcement officer, an attorney for the Commonwealth, an executive
director of the local community services board or other local mental health
agency, a local judge, the local school division superintendent, a
representative of a local jail or detention center, and such additional persons
as may be appointed to serve by the chair of the local or regional team. The
chair shall be elected from among the designated membership. The additional
members appointed by the chair may include representatives of local human
services agencies, local health care professionals who specialize in the
prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders, local emergency medical
services personnel, a representative of a hospital, experts in forensic medicine
and pathology, local funeral services providers, and representatives of the
local bar.

D. Each local or regional team shall establish operating procedures to govern
the review process prior to conducting the first overdose fatality review. The
review of a death shall be delayed until any criminal investigations connected
with the death are completed or the Commonwealth consents to the commencement of
such review prior to the completion of the criminal investigation.

E. All information and records obtained or created regarding a review of a
fatality shall be confidential and shall be excluded from the Virginia Freedom
of Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et seq.) pursuant to subdivision 7 of &#xA7;
2.2-3705.5. All such information and records shall be used by the team only in
the exercise of its proper purpose and function and shall not be disclosed. Such
information and records shall not be subject to subpoena, subpoena duces tecum,
discovery, or introduction into evidence when obtained through such other
sources solely because the information and records were presented to the team
during the fatality review. No person who participated in the review and no
member of the team shall be required to make any statement as to what transpired
during the review or what information was collected during the review. Upon the
conclusion of the fatality review, all information and records concerning the
victim and family shall be returned to the originating agency or destroyed.
However, the findings of the team may be disclosed or published in statistical
or other form that does not identify any individuals. The portions of meetings
in which individual cases are discussed by the team shall be closed pursuant to
subdivision A 21 of &#xA7; 2.2-3711. All team members, persons attending closed
team meetings, and persons presenting information and records on specific
fatalities to the team during closed meetings shall execute a sworn statement to
honor the confidentiality of the information, records, discussions, and opinions
disclosed during any closed meeting to review a specific death. A violation of
this subsection is punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.

F. Members of teams, as well as their agents and employees, shall be immune from
civil liability for any act or omission made in connection with participation in
an overdose fatality review team review, unless such act or omission was the
result of gross negligence or willful misconduct. Any organization, institution,
or person furnishing information, data, testimony, reports, or records to
overdose fatality review teams as part of such review shall be immune from civil
liability for any act or omission in furnishing such information, unless such
act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct.

HISTORY: 2018, c. 600.