Virginia Law

A. For purposes of this article, a serious or habitual juvenile offender is a minor who has been (i) adjudicated delinquent or convicted of murder or attempted murder, armed robbery, any felony sexual assault or malicious wounding, or a felony violation of a gang-related crime pursuant to Article 2.1 (§ 18.2-46.1 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, or (ii) convicted at least three times for offenses which would be felonies or Class 1 misdemeanors if committed by an adult. Qualifying convictions or adjudications shall include only those for offenses occurring after July 1, 1993. However, any Serious or Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program (SHOCAP) in existence on July 1, 1993, shall be deemed to have been established pursuant to this article and, notwithstanding the limitations of this subsection, may continue to supervise persons who were being supervised on July 1, 1993. Juvenile offenders under SHOCAP supervision at the time of their eighteenth birthday who have been committed to state care pursuant to subdivision A 14 of § 16.1-278.8 or § 16.1-285.1 may continue to be supervised by SHOCAP until their twenty-first birthday.

B. The Serious or Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program (SHOCAP) is a multidisciplinary interagency case management and information sharing system which enables the juvenile and criminal justice system, schools, and social service agencies to make more informed decisions regarding juveniles who repeatedly commit serious criminal and delinquent acts. Each SHOCAP shall supervise serious or habitual juvenile offenders in the community as well as those under probation or parole supervision and enhance current conduct control, supervision and treatment efforts to provide a more coordinated public safety approach to serious juvenile crime, increase the opportunity for success with juvenile offenders and assist in the development of early intervention strategies.

C. Any county or city in the Commonwealth may by action of its governing body establish a SHOCAP committee. The committee shall consist of representatives from local law enforcement, schools, attorneys for the Commonwealth, juvenile court services, juvenile detention centers or group homes, mental and medical health agencies, state and local children and family service agencies, and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Any county or city which establishes a SHOCAP committee shall, within 45 days of such action, notify the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The Department shall issue statewide SHOCAP guidelines and provide technical assistance to local jurisdictions on implementation of SHOCAP.

D. Each SHOCAP committee shall share among its members and with other SHOCAP committees otherwise confidential information on identified serious or habitual juvenile offenders. Every person, including members of the SHOCAP committee, who is to receive confidential information pursuant to this article shall maintain the confidentiality of that information.

All records and reports concerning serious or habitual juvenile offenders made available to members of a SHOCAP committee and all records and reports identifying an individual offender which are generated by the committee from such reports shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed, except as specifically authorized by this article or other applicable law. Disclosure of the information may be made to other staff from member agencies as authorized by the SHOCAP committee for the furtherance of case management, community supervision, conduct control and locating of the offender for the application and coordination of appropriate services. Staff from the member agencies who receive such information will be governed by the confidentiality provisions of this article. The staff from the member agencies who will qualify to have access to the SHOCAP information shall be limited to those individuals who provide direct services to the offender or who provide community conduct control and supervision to the offender.

The provisions of this article authorizing information sharing between and among SHOCAP committees shall take precedence over the provisions of (i) Article 12 (§ 16.1-299 et seq.) of Chapter 11 of this title governing dissemination of court and law-enforcement records concerning juveniles, (ii) Article 5 (§ 22.1-287 et seq.) of Chapter 14 of Title 22.1 governing access to pupil records, (iii) Title 37.2 and any regulations enacted pursuant thereto governing access to juvenile mental health records, and (iv) Title 63.2 and any regulations enacted pursuant thereto governing access to records concerning treatments or services provided to a juvenile.

E. It shall be unlawful for any staff person from a member agency to disclose or to knowingly permit, assist or encourage the unauthorized release of any identifying information contained in any reports or records received or generated by a SHOCAP committee. A violation of this subsection shall be punishable as a Class 3 misdemeanor.

1993, cc. 465, 927; 1996, c. 293; 1999, c. 508; 2004, c. 418.