Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Subcommittee tables bills to extend assault/threat protections to social‑services workers after scope concerns
Summary
The House Courts, Criminal Law Subcommittee heard testimony supporting statutory protections for frontline social‑services employees but tabled HB1286 and HB1159 after members raised questions about scope, enforcement and whether existing statutes already cover many threats.
Chair Watts opened the subcommittee and introduced two related measures aimed at expanding criminal penalties and protections for employees of state and local departments of social services (HB1286 carried by Delegate Walker; HB1159 carried by Delegate Cherry). Delegate Walker described a Lynchburg case in which a social‑services worker was shot during a home visit and argued that DSS employees face unpredictable, sometimes violent encounters during legally required home visits and should be placed in the same protected statutory category…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
