HB 1261 — Law-enforcement agencies; use of certain technology & interrogation practices; forensic laboratory.
VA 20261 session
Law-enforcement agencies; use of certain technologies and interrogation practices; forensic laboratory accreditation. Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services (the Department) to establish a comprehensive framework for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, machine learning systems, audiovisual surveillance technologies, and custodial and noncustodial interrogations of adults and juveniles by law-enforcement agencies, which shall include (i) developing policies and procedures and publishing model policies for the use of generative AI, machine learning systems, and audiovisual surveillance technologies and interrogation practices and (ii) establishing compulsory minimum training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers in the use of generative AI, machine learning systems, and audiovisual surveillance technologies and in conducting interrogations. The bill provides that the Department shall establish and publish such model policies by January 1, 2027, and that all law-enforcement agencies shall adopt policies consistent with such model policies by July 1, 2027. The bill requires any person employed as a law-enforcement officer prior to July 1, 2026, to complete the training required by the bill by January 1, 2030. The bill also provides that no local law-enforcement agency or campus police department shall operate a forensic laboratory, defined in the bill, unless such forensic laboratory is accredited by an accrediting body that requires conformance to forensic-specific requirements and that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement with a scope of accreditation that covers the testing being performed. The bill also prohibits local law-enforcement agencies and campus police departments from purchasing any equipment or instrument that is intended to be used in forensic laboratory analysis or any breath test device, presumptive chemical test, or presumptive mobile instrument unless such equipment, instrument, device, or test has been approved by the Department of Forensic Science or the Forensic Science Board. Such provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2030.
Latest action: — Continued
Sponsors (1)
- Jackie H. Glass (D, VA) — sponsor
Action timeline (4)
- · house · H4020 —
- · house · H2101 —
- · house · H8500 —
- · house · H2140 —
Text versions (0)
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Bill text (extracted)
Amendments
Congressional Research Service briefs (0)
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Connected on the graph
1 typed relationship in the influence graph — 0 inbound, 1 outbound, grouped by type.
referred to committee (1)
| date | dir | entity | amount | role | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | → | Communications, Technology and Innovation | — | va-leg |
Who matters on this bill
Who matters
Members ranked by combined influence on this bill: role (sponsor 5 / cosponsor 1), capped speech count from the Congressional Record, and recorded-vote engagement.
| # | Member | Role | Speeches | Voted | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackie H. Glass (D, state_lower VA) | sponsor | 0 | — | 5 |
Stance (positions taken)
Predicted vote
Aggregated from: actual roll-call votes (when present) → sponsor → cosponsor → party median (predicts YES when ≥25% of the caucus sponsored/cosponsored). Each row labels its confidence tier so you can see why a position was predicted.
0 predicted yes (0%) · 543 predicted no (100%) · 0 unknown (0%)
By party: · R: 0 yes / 277 no · D: 0 yes / 263 no · I: 0 yes / 3 no
Timeline
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- 2026-05-24 · was referred to Communications, Technology and Innovation · va-leg