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2004 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice

Chairman: Kenneth W. Stolle

Clerk: Larry M. Girvin

Staff: Jessey French

Date of Meeting: January 14, 2004

Time and Place:

S.B. 15

Patron: Edwards

Persons who may perform marriage rites. Allows circuit court judges to appoint persons who are residents of the circuit in which the judge sits to perform marriages anywhere in the Commonwealth. 2003 legislation limited the area to the jurisdiction in which the person resides. Prior to the 2003 legislation, a judge could appoint a person who resided in the jurisdiction for which the court was held to perform a marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth.

S.B. 19

Patron: Puller

Conservatorship. Eliminates the authority of a conservator for an incapacitated person to seek a divorce without prior court authorization. Guardians of incapacitated persons are prohibited from seeking a change in a person's marital status without prior court approval.

S.B. 23

Patron: Marsh

Prepayment of traffic infractions. Conforms this section to previous enactments allowing for waiver of appearance and prepayment of traffic fines for infractions resulting in accidents.

S.B. 24

Patron: Marsh

Interpreters in mental commitment proceedings. Provides for an interpreter for a non-English-speaking person who is the subject of or a witness in a mental commitment proceeding.

S.B. 25

Patron: Marsh

Temporary detention orders. Corrects an incorrect cross reference to appeals of temporary detention orders.

S.B. 26

Patron: Marsh

Use of summons in juvenile court; littering. Adds littering to the list of offenses for which a summons may be used to bring a proceeding in juvenile court instead of instituting a petition.

S.B. 38

Patron: Stolle

Jury service of certain legislative employees. Exempts employees of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates, the Office of the Clerk of the Senate, the Division of Legislative Services, and the Division of Legislative Automated Systems from jury service (i) during the period beginning 60 days prior to the day any regular session commences and ending 30 days after the day of adjournment of such session and (ii) during a period beginning seven days prior to the day any reconvened or special session commences and ending seven days after the day of adjournment of such session.

S.B. 40

Patron: Howell

Crimes; profane swearing and intoxication in public; penalty. Provides that a locality may provide by ordinance that a person found guilty of a second or subsequent offense of public intoxication in that locality shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Currently, such person would be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

S.B. 47

Patron: Marsh

Death penalty; moratorium on executions. Provides that the Commonwealth shall not conduct executions of prisoners sentenced to death. All other matters of law relating to the death penalty, such as bringing and trying capital charges, sentencing proceedings, appeals and habeas review are not affected by the bill.

S.B. 48

Patron: Marsh

Transfer of firearms; criminal records check. Adds a definition of "firearms show vendor" and requires that a criminal history record information check be performed on the prospective transferee before the vendor may transfer firearms at a gun show. Under current law, only licensed dealers must obtain such a check.

S.B. 49

Patron: Marsh

Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. Provides that cases claiming actual physical or sexual assault, rape or sexual abuse are not subject to the Act. The Act was enacted in 2002 and provides procedures for pro se civil actions brought by prisoners incarcerated in state and local correctional facilities.

S.B. 51

Patron: Puller

Divorce; property distribution. Adds the use or expenditure of marital property in anticipation of divorce or after the last separation to the factors that the court is directed to consider in determining the division or transfer of marital property, the amount of any monetary award, the apportionment of marital debts, and the method of payment.

S.B. 72

Patron: Puckett

Civil immunity. Provides civil immunity for public officials who participate in a program where persons on probation are ordered as a condition of probation to pick up litter along a section of public roadway or waterway, unless there is willful misconduct. The bill also provides that it shall not be interpreted to grant any immunity to a motorist who, by his negligence, may injure such probationer.

S.B. 96

Patron: Devolites

Appeal bond in support cases. Provides that part of a support order of a juvenile and domestic relations district court may be appealed without appealing the entire order and that no appeal bond is required if the finding of a support arrearage is not appealed and support is not suspended during the pendency of the appeal.

S.B. 99

Patron: Devolites

Concealed handgun permit. Modifies provision that exempts a retired law-enforcement officer from having to have a permit to carry a concealed handgun to provide that a retired officer who has reached 55 years of age qualifies for this provision. Under current law a retired law-enforcement officer qualifies only if he has 15 years of service or retired with a service-related disability.

S.B. 114

Patron: Williams

Protection of infants. Provides that in civil proceedings involving child abuse, neglect or abandonment based solely on the parent having left the child at a hospital or rescue squad, it is an affirmative defense that the parent safely delivered the child to a hospital that provides 24-hour emergency services or to an attended rescue squad that employs emergency medical technicians, within the first 14 days of the child's life. This is the same affirmative defense that the General Assembly made available in 2003 for parents in criminal abuse and neglect cases.

S.B. 118

Patron: Watkins

Amending pleading; notice to agent. Authorizes an amendment changing the party against whom an original claim was asserted to relate back to the date of the original filing if, among other things, an agent of a party had received notice of the institution of the original action. Under current law, the party must have received the notice.

S.B. 141

Patron: Cuccinelli

Nonsuits. Provides that a party shall not be allowed to suffer a nonsuit unless he does so on or before a date that is at least 14 days prior to the trial date. Under current law, a plaintiff may suffer one nonsuit of right at any point before the court sustains a motion to strike the evidence, before the jury retires, or before the action has been submitted to the court for decision.

S.B. 143

Patron: Cuccinelli

Concealed handgun permits; denial or revocation of permit. Clarifies that a person whose concealed handgun permit is revoked by a court has a right to an ore tenus hearing, and that notice of such hearing and the basis for the revocation must be provided to the permit holder. The bill also provides that a sheriff, chief of police, or attorney for the Commonwealth may not delegate the authority under subsection E 13 of § 18.2-308 to make a sworn written statement that an applicant for a permit is likely to use a weapon unlawfully or negligently, and if such a sworn statement is the basis for a permit denial or revocation, Part 4 of the Rules of the Supreme Court will apply at an ore tenus hearing. A person aggrieved by a decision of the Court of Appeals relating to a permit denial or revocation would be able to petition to appeal the decision the Supreme Court.