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2003 SESSION

030449228
HOUSE BILL NO. 2541
Offered January 8, 2003
Prefiled January 8, 2003
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-226 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 19.2-390.01, relating to criminal justice record information and crime code references.
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Patrons-- McDonnell, Albo, Kilgore and Moran; Senators: Howell, Norment and Stolle
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 19.2-226 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 19.2-390.01, as follows:

§ 19.2-226. What defects in indictments not to vitiate them.

No indictment or other accusation shall be quashed or deemed invalid:

(1) For omitting to set forth that it is upon the oaths of the jurors or upon their oaths and affirmations;

(2) For the insertion of the words "upon their oath," instead of "upon their oaths";

(3) For not in terms alleging that the offense was committed "within the jurisdiction of the court" when the averments show that the case is one of which the court has jurisdiction;

(4) For the omission or misstatement of the title, occupation, estate, or degree of the accused or of the name or place of his residence;

(5) For omitting the words "with force and arms" or the statement of any particular kind of force and arms;

(6) For omitting to state, or stating imperfectly, the time at which the offense was committed when time is not the essence of the offense;

(7) For failing to allege the kind or value of an instrument which caused death or to allege that it was of no value;

(8) For omitting to charge the offense to be "against the form of the statute or statutes"; or

(9) For the omission or insertion of any other words of mere form or surplusage; or

(10) For omitting or stating incorrectly the Virginia crime code references for the particular offense or offenses covered.

Nor shall it be abated for any misnomer of the accused; but the court may, in case of a misnomer appearing before or in the course of a trial, forthwith cause the indictment or accusation to be amended according to the fact.

§ 19.2-390.01. Use of Virginia crime code references required.

All charging documents issued by magistrates, and all criminal warrants, criminal indictments, informations and presentments, criminal petitions, summonses for jailable misdemeanors, and the dispositional documents from criminal trials shall include the Virginia crime code references for the particular offense or offenses covered. All reports to the Central Criminal Records Exchange and to any other criminal offense or offender database maintained by the State Police, the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Virginia Parole Board, and the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall include the Virginia crime code references for the particular offense or offenses covered. The Virginia crime code references shall be maintained and administered by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission.

2. That this act shall become effective on October 1, 2004.