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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2004 SESSION
Chairman: Kenneth W. Stolle
Clerk: Larry M. Girvin
Staff: Jescey French, Mary K. Felch
Date of Meeting: January 26, 2004
Time and Place: Monday, 9:00 A. M., Senate Room A
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.
Impact Statements
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.
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.
Impact Statements
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.
Patron: Reynolds
Refusal of DUI breath or blood tests; procedures. Removes the requirement that the magistrate reaffirm to a DUI arrestee his liability for refusal to submit to a preliminary blood or breath test after the arresting officer has already informed the arrestee.
Patron: Quayle
Real estate appraisers; lien for performance of appraisal. Provides that every real estate appraiser who performs an appraisal on any land, building, structure, or improved-upon land, under a written contract with the owner or his agent, shall have a lien upon the land, building, structure or improvement to the extent of the agreed contract price or a reasonable price for those services. Under the bill, a lien does not attach to the land, building, structure, or improvement unless it is recorded in the appropriate clerk's office. The bill also provides that the recorded lien shall be enforced in the same manner as a mechanic's or contractor's lien.
Patron: Edwards
Assessment for courthouse and courtroom security. Broadens the use of the $5 fee collected by the courts for assessment for courthouse and courtroom security to funding all courthouse security, not just security personnel.
Patron: Marsh
Issuance of writ of actual innocence for nonbiological evidence. Establishes a procedure for a convicted felon to petition the Court of Appeals for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological evidence that was previously unknown or unavailable. The Court of Appeals may summarily dismiss the petition but if it determines that a resolution of the case requires further development of the facts, it may order the circuit court to conduct a hearing to certify findings of fact on certain issues. After considering the petition and the Commonwealth's response, the previous records of the case and the record of any hearing, the Court may dismiss the case or grant relief. A petitioner whose writ is not summarily dismissed by the Court of Appeals is entitled to court-appointed counsel in the same manner as an indigent defendant in a criminal case. The bill establishes a process similar to the one that already exists in the Code for previously unknown or untested biological evidence.
Patron: Norment
Domestic violence; sexual assault. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish training standards and a model policy for law-enforcement personnel in handling sexual assault and stalking cases and to establish training standards and model policy and protocols for local and regional sexual assault response teams. Provides that temporary (no more than 90 days) child support may be one of the conditions imposed on a respondent in a family abuse protective order. The bill requires that as of January 1, 2005, the treatment or education program that a court may refer the defendant to in a family abuse criminal case must be one approved by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The bill requires the state police and local law-enforcement agencies to have policies that provide guidance to officers on domestic violence incidents involving law-enforcement officers and repeat offenders. The Department of Social Services is required to establish minimum training requirements on family abuse and domestic violence for child protective services workers and supervisors.
The bill also provides that a respondent to a protective order who violates the protective order by furtively entering the home of any protected party while the party is present or entering and remaining in the home of the protected party until the protected party arrives is guilty of a Class 6 felony. In addition, if the respondent to a protective order commits an assault and battery upon any party protected by the protective order resulting in bodily injury to the party, he is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Upon conviction of a third or subsequent offense of violation of a protective order the person is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Impact Statements
Patron: Norment
Virginia Domestic Violence Victim Fund. Creates the Virginia Domestic Violence Victim Fund. The Fund is to be administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, and the resources used to support the prosecution of domestic violence cases and victim services. The Fund shall be supported by dedication of a portion of court fees and a set-aside of $10 from the $20 tax on marriage licenses.
Patron: Norment
Transmission of prisoner orders. Provides that the certified copies of the orders that the clerk of court must transmit to the Department of Corrections when a person is convicted of a felony shall be transmitted by facsimile or by electronic mail. Under current law the method of transmission is not specified. The bill also clarifies that the 30 days in which the transmission must occur runs from the date the judge enters the final order.
Patron: Norment
Technology Trust Fund Fee. Increases the fee from $3 to $5 and allows the use of the Trust Fund for developing and updating land records automation plans for individual clerks' offices; modernizing land records in individual clerks' offices and providing remote access to land records statewide; obtaining and updating office automation and information technology equipment; preserving, maintaining and enhancing court records, including, but not limited to, the costs of repairs, maintenance, service contracts and system upgrades; and improving public access to court records. The bill allows the clerk to use the Trust Fund for technology improvements in the law and chancery and criminal divisions after implementation of automation of land records with statewide remote access.
Patron: Edwards
Crimes; regulation of dance halls; penalty. Increases from a Class 3 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor the maximum penalty that a locality may impose for violating an ordinance regulating public dance halls.
Impact Statements
Patron: Deeds
Interception of wire, electronic or oral communications. Provides that it shall not be a criminal offense for a person to intercept a wire, electronic or oral communication, where such person is a party to the communication and where all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception. The offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Currently, there is no crime if the person intercepting is a party or if one of the parties consents.
Patron: Devolites
Computer trespass. Provides that adding or altering information without authority is computer trespass. Adds to the aggravating factors for which computer trespass is elevated to a Class 6 felony using a computer in a way that involves a computer virus or similar computer program and obtaining the ability to use three or more computers or computer networks without notice to or knowledge of and express or implied permission of, the owners of those computers or computer networks, or a prior existing personal, business or contractual relationship with the owner.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stolle
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. Creates a RICO act for Virginia under which various violations of the alcoholic beverage, banking, and criminal law become racketeering if conducted by persons in concert for the purpose of racketeering.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stolle
Crimes by gangs; definitions; recruitment; three strikes; forfeiture; obstruction of justice; penalties. Includes within the definition of "criminal street gang" the current definition of "pattern of criminal gang activity." The bill eliminates the definition of "act of violence" and expands the scope of the act by amending the definition of "predicate criminal act" to include all felonies and additional misdemeanors such as assault and battery by mob, hazing of a student on school property, reckless handling of firearms, allowing access to firearms by children, oral threats to school employees, stalking, petit larceny, distribution of certain drugs to minors, willful discharge of a firearm in a public place, brandishing a firearm in a public place, carrying a loaded firearm, carrying certain concealed weapons, possession of certain weapons on school property, participation in a riot, unlawful assembly, and disorderly conduct. The bill creates a Class 1 misdemeanor to recruit a person into a criminal street gang and also creates a Class 6 felony for forcing a person to become a gang member through the use or threat of force against that person or another person. The same crime against a juvenile is a Class 5 felony. The bill makes a third or subsequent conviction of sections prohibiting criminal street gang participation and recruitment a Class 3 felony (five to 20 years) with a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years. The bill allows for the forfeiture of any property, real or personal, used in connection with street gang activity. Finally, the bill increases from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony the act of obstructing a judge, magistrate, justice, juror, witness, or any law-enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the discharge of his duty and the act of obstructing, by threats or force, such person lawfully engaged in the discharge of his duty. The bill also makes it a Class 5 felony to obstruct, by threats of bodily harm or force, such person lawfully engaged in the discharge of his duty, or to obstruct or impede the administration of justice in any court relating to a violation of or conspiracy to violate the prohibition against participating in a criminal street gang or the prohibition against recruiting juveniles to participate in a criminal street gang.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stolle
Counterfeit drugs; the Drug Control Act; penalty. Renders it unlawful to knowingly manufacture, sell, possess, distribute, dispense or facilitate the distribution or dispensing of any counterfeit drug. "Counterfeit drug" is defined as "a controlled substance that, without authorization, bears, is packaged in a container or wrapper that bears, or is otherwise labeled to bear, the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint or device or any likeness thereof, of a drug manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor other than the manufacturer, processor, packer, or distributor who did in fact so manufacture, process, pack or distribute such drug." Counterfeit drugs and all fixtures, equipment, materials, and personal property used in connection with the manufacture, sale, possession, distribution, or dispensing or facilitating of distribution or dispensing of such counterfeit drugs will be subject to seizure, forfeiture, and destruction in accordance with applicable provisions in Title 18.2, the Drug Control Act, and the regulations of the Board of Pharmacy. Any person who knowingly manufactures, sells, possesses, distributes, dispenses or facilitates the distribution or dispensing of any counterfeit drug shall be, upon conviction, guilty of the penalty provided in Title 18.2 that would be applied for the comparable activities relating to the controlled substance that the counterfeit drug purports to be.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stolle
DUI. Creates a rebuttable presumption that bail shall be denied to a person arrested for DUI, DUI manslaughter, DUI maiming or commercial DUI if he has previously been convicted of one of those offenses. The bill also extends the seven-day administrative suspension for a DUI arrest until the trial of the matter is completed if the person has previously been convicted of a DUI related offense. In addition, the sentence of a person convicted of DUI while driving on a revoked license who has previously been convicted of DUI is to run concurrently with any other sentence. The bill also includes DUI as a reportable offense to CCRE by law-enforcement officers upon arrest. Currently, it is specifically excluded.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stolle
Issuance of writ of actual innocence for nonbiological evidence. Establishes a procedure for a convicted felon to petition the Court of Appeals for a writ of actual innocence based on nonbiological newly discovered evidence. The Court of Appeals may summarily dismiss the petition but if it determines that a resolution of the case requires further development of the facts, it may order the circuit court to conduct a hearing to certify findings of fact on certain issues. After considering the petition and the Commonwealth's response, the previous records of the case and the record of any hearing, the Court may dismiss the case or grant relief. A petitioner whose writ is not summarily dismissed by the Court of Appeals is entitled to court-appointed counsel in the same manner as an indigent defendant in a criminal case. The bill establishes a process similar to the one that already exists in the Code for previously unknown or untested biological evidence.
Patron: Stolle
Bail enforcement agents. Provides for the licensure and regulation of bail enforcement agents by the Board and Department of Criminal Justice Services. The regulatory scheme is effective October 1, 2005, but a provision that a felon may not engage in bail recovery is effective July 1, 2004. The bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Impact Statements
Patron: Edwards
Dispositions for delinquent juveniles. Allows a juvenile 11 years of age or older to be committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for a violation of § 18.2-308.7 (possession or transportation of certain firearms by persons under the age of 18), which is a Class 1 misdemeanor, if the liberty of the juvenile constitutes a clear and substantial threat to the person or property of others or to such juvenile's health. Under current law a juvenile cannot be committed for a Class 1 misdemeanor unless he has three previous Class 1 misdemeanors or a previous felony.
Impact Statements
Patron: Norment
Enhanced punishment for third DUI, etc. Provides that a person charged with third offense DUI is rebuttably presumed ineligible for bail. The bill removes the 10-year limit on third DUI enhanced penalties and provides that whenever any person is convicted of DUI, the court shall dismiss any reckless driving charge. Currently, when a person is charged with both and is convicted of one or the other, the remaining charge is dismissed.
Impact Statements
Patron: Wagner
Sex crimes against children. Provides that carnal knowledge of a child who is 13 years of age or older by an adult in a custodial or supervisory relationship is a Class 3 felony. The penalty for carnal knowledge of a committed or detained child 15 years of age or older by a person providing services to juveniles under the purview of the juvenile court or committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice is increased to a Class 4 felony from a Class 6 felony. The penalty for indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial or supervisory relationship is increased to a Class 4 felony from a Class 6 felony.
Impact Statements
Patron: Rerras
Admission to bail: DUI. Creates a rebuttable presumption that bail shall be denied to a person arrested for DUI if he has two previous convictions for any of the following: DUI, DUI manslaughter and DUI maiming.
Patron: Rerras
DUI; penalty. Provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 180 days (six months) for a third DUI conviction in 10 years. Under current law the mandatory minimum sentence is 10 days for a third offense within 10 years and 30 days for a third offense within five years. The offense will remain a Class 6 felony, which carries a penalty of one to five years confinement.
Impact Statements
Patron: Mims
Driving under the influence; penalty. Changes the wording of the penalty provisions for a third (or fourth) offense by stating that the enhanced penalties apply if a person is convicted "three or more times" rather than if a person is "convicted of a third offense."
Impact Statements
Patron: Mims
Mandatory minimum jail term for DUI based on blood alcohol content. Imposes a mandatory minimum jail term of five days upon conviction for DUI (10 days for second offense) for a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent as opposed to the current 0.20 percent.
Patron: Mims
Penalties for driving while intoxicated. Removes sanctions for multiple DUI offenses occurring within five years and raises sanctions for multiple DUI offenses occurring within 10 years to include a mandatory minimum sentence of one year for a third offense committed within 10 years. The bill increases additional punishments predicated on blood alcohol levels registered at the time of the offense. The bill punishes a refusal to submit to a blood test as a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year if the defendant has two prior DUI convictions.
Impact Statements
Patron: Mims
Dismissal of one of dual charges for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving upon conviction of other charge. Provides that when any person charged with DUI or any similar ordinance of any county, city, or town and reckless driving or any ordinance of any county, city or town incorporating the reckless driving statute growing out of the same act, is tried simultaneously for both charges or acts, and is convicted of one of these charges, the court shall dismiss the remaining charge.
Patron: Puckett
Theft of timber; penalty. Provides treble damages plus reforestation costs against any person who cuts, removes, or severs any timber from the land of another without legal right or permission, and establishes criminal penalties for the theft of timber.
Impact Statements
Patron: Howell
Family abuse. Changes the term primary physical aggressor to predominate physical aggressor in section that requires arrest in most family abuse cases when the law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that family assault or violation of a protective order occurred. The officer is required to arrest and take into custody the person he has probable cause to believe, based on the totality of the circumstances, was the primary (now predominant) physical aggressor (unless there are special circumstances that would dictate a course of action other than an arrest). The bill sets standards for determining who is the predominate physical aggressor. This bill is a recommendation of the Family Violence Subcommittee of the Virginia State Crime Commission.
Patron: Howell
Court service units; duties; distribution of protective order information. Requires each court service unit to provide to each person who is issued a protective order by the juvenile court a written statement of the conditions imposed by the order and procedures and time limits applicable to further proceedings on protective orders.