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2008 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice

Chairman: Henry L. Marsh III

Clerk: Angi Murphy
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, D. Cotter
Date of Meeting: February 13, 2008
Time and Place: 2:00 PM, Senate Room A, General Assembly Bldg.

H.B. 80

Patron: Marshall, R.G.

Lis pendens; zoning ordinance violation. Provides that in actions to enforce a zoning ordinance, no lis pendens or attachment shall affect a bona fide purchaser of real or personal estate unless the memorandum of lis pendens recorded in the clerk's office contains a description of the alleged zoning violation. The bill also provides that a memorandum of lis pendens admitted to record in an action to enforce a zoning ordinance shall expire after 180 days.

H.B. 93

Patron: Moran

Supplementing compensation of public defenders. Permits counties or cities that have public defender offices to supplement, payable from their own funds, the compensation of the public defender or his deputies or employees in excess of the compensation fixed by the executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission.

H.B. 218

Patron: Kilgore

Notaries Public. Clarifies provisions relating to the adoption of electronic notarization and transitioning to the required seal application on notarized documents. The bill also clarifies the validity of documents notarized within and without the Commonwealth, and when documents are conclusively presumed to be in proper form following recordation. The bill removes the requirement that a notary must be recommended by a public official for appointment.

H.B. 221

Patron: Kilgore

Landlord and managing agent immunity for mold claims.  Provides immunity for landlords and managing agents if a mold condition was caused by the negligence of the tenant.  Also states that there is a presumption against the existence of mold if the move-in inspection report reflects no visible evidence of mold and the bill provides that the landlord or managing agent shall remedy the mold condition.

 

H.B. 282

Patron: Toscano

Parentage proceedings; jurisdiction. Clarifies that circuit courts and juvenile and domestic relations district courts have concurrent original jurisdiction over proceedings to determine parentage. Such concurrent jurisdiction is already provided for in Chapter 3.1 (proceedings to determine parentage) of Title 20. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council.

H.B. 388

Patron: Bulova

Conveyance of easements by state agencies. Clarifies the process for conveying easements by state agencies. Such conveyances must be deemed to be in the public interest and subject to guidelines adopted by the Department of General Services.

H.B. 412

Patron: Griffith

Decedents' estates; priority of debts. Increases from $2,000 to $5,000 the amount available from the estate to pay funeral expenses when there are insufficient assets for the satisfaction of all demands against the estate.

H.B. 501

Patron: Hamilton

Medical malpractice; professional services. Defines the term "professional services in nursing homes" in the context of medical malpractice actions as services provided to a patient by a health care provider, including psycho-social services, personal hygiene, hydration, nutrition, fall assessments or interventions, patient monitoring, prevention and treatment of medical conditions, diagnosis or therapy. This bill is in response to the Supreme Court decision in Alcoy v. Valley Nursing Homes, Inc., 272 Va. 37, 630 S.E.2d 301 (2006).

H.B. 529

Patron: Pogge

Concealed handgun permits; renewal and replacement permits.  States that when a new five-year permit is issued while there is an existing valid permit, the new permit becomes effective upon the expiration of the existing permit, so long as the application is received by the court at least 90 days but no more than 180 days prior to the expiration of the existing permit. The bill also allows a person with a concealed handgun permit who moves from one residence to another in Virginia to receive, for a fee not to exceed $10, a replacement permit indicating the new address. The permittee would receive the replacement permit from the clerk of the circuit court that issued the original permit.

H.B. 715

Patron: Janis

Resetting of bail, amending bail set upon arrest. When the court having jurisdiction of a bail proceeding believes the amount of bond or security set by a judicial officer at initial arrest to be inadequate or excessive, it may change the amount of such bond or security, require new and additional sureties, or set other terms of bail as are appropriate to the case, including, but not limited to, drug and alcohol monitoring. Currently, the court is limited to increasing the initial bail and may not impose additional bail requirements such as alcohol and drug monitoring.

H.B. 753

Patron: Peace

Protective orders; expiration; Virginia Criminal Information Network. Provides that when a protective order is issued, a court shall immediately enter and transfer information to the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) system. A copy of such order shall also be delivered immediately to the primary law-enforcement agency responsible for service and entry of such orders for service on the person who is the subject of the order. The bill also establishes the precise time when protective orders expire so that they can automatically be cleared from VCIN. The bill also requires that clerks make electronic reports of certain proceedings or adjudications to the Central Criminal Records Exchange and defines the term "electronic report."

H.B. 820

Patron: Albo

Alien status of jail and correctional facility inmates.  Requires an officer in charge of a jail or correctional facility to inquire of a person in his custody as to whether the person was born in or is a citizen of the United States and to make an immigration alien query to the Law Enforcement Support Center of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for any person who was born in or is a citizen of another country, or if the answers to these questions are unknown. The jail officer shall communicate the results of this immigration alien query to the Local Inmate Data System of the State Compensation Board. The State Compensation Board shall communicate, on a monthly basis, the results of any query confirming that a person is illegally present in the United States to the Central Criminal Records Exchange.  This bill incorporates HB 368 (Carrico), HB 1029 (Frederick), and House Bills 441, 444, 763, and 764 (Rust).

H.B. 842

Patron: Sherwood

Concealed weapons; retired Capitol Police. Exempts retired Capitol Police officers from the concealed weapons permit requirements.

H.B. 844

Patron: Sherwood

Crimes Against Minors and Sex Offender Registry. Allows the State Police to provide the Statewide Automated Victim Notification (SAVIN) system with Registry data in an electronic format to the Compensation Board for verification of registrant status and notification of victims and law enforcement.

EMERGENCY

H.B. 873

Patron: Johnson

Concealed handgun permits; proof of competency with a handgun. Provides that once an applicant for a concealed handgun permit presents proof of competency such demonstrated competency will never expire.

H.B. 917

Patron: Joannou

Preservation of papers in clerk's office.  Requires that originals of all papers in the clerk's office be retained, even if reproduced electronically, and shall be destroyed only in accordance with § 17.1-213 or as otherwise permitted by law.

H.B. 933

Patron: Gilbert

Elimination of the triggerman rule.  Eliminates the "triggerman rule," which provides that only the actual perpetrator of a capital murder is eligible for the death penalty and that accessories and principals in the second degree can only be punished with first degree murder.

H.B. 941

Patron: Gilbert

Search warrants; affidavits, etc. Allows an affidavit in support of a search warrant to be delivered by facsimile after it is certified and provides that the certifying officer's designee or agent may deliver the affidavit. The bill adds a requirement that a copy of the affidavit be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court in the county or city where the warrant is issued if different than the county or city where the search is to be made. The inventory of seized property will go to the circuit court of the county or city where the search was conducted. The bill specifies that the officer or his designee or agent may deliver the warrant, inventory, and accompanying affidavit in person, by certified mail or by facsimile.

H.B. 945

Patron: Iaquinto

Court of Appeals; en banc hearings. Clarifies that when there is a dissent in a panel opinion and an aggrieved party requests an en banc hearing, at least four judges of the court must vote in favor of the hearing. The bill makes it clear that the voting judges must be active and would not include retired judges sitting by designation.

H.B. 982

Patron: Nutter

Concealed handgun permits; access to permittee information.  Protects from public disclosure permittee names and descriptive information held by the Department of State Police for purposes of entry into the Virginia Criminal Information Network. However, the information would still be available to law-enforcement agencies, officers, and agents in the course of law-enforcement duties, and non-identifying statistical information would be available to the general public. The bill also prohibits a clerk of court from disseminating any personal identifiable information, such as address, phone, number, or social security number, but allows the clerk, in his discretion, to make avaiable the names of persons issued concealed handgun permits by the court.

H.B. 1106

Patron: Kilgore

Circuit Court clerks; electronic filing and recording; digital reproduction; recordation of judgments; secure remote access; deed cover sheets; fees collected by clerks. Clarifies a number of issues for circuit court clerks including: use of the last four digits of a social security number on judgments (filer is responsible); that the clerk may provide information from a locality to remote access users; filer is responsible for cover sheet accuracy; allowing the clerk to rely on the cover sheet to index; the difference between e-filing of court records and e-recording of land records. The bill also provides standard definitions of subscriber, secure remote access, public access, and electronic recording of land records. The bill also establishes a $5 per document fee for e-recording of a land record and provides for a $50 per month subscription rate for remote access to land, civil, and criminal records.

H.B. 1147

Patron: Phillips

Controlled substances; nonresident pharmacies; penalties. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to manufacture, sell, give, distribute or possess with intent to manufacture, sell, give or distribute a Schedule VI controlled substance or imitation controlled substance in violation of the Drug Control Act. The bill requires a nonresident pharmacy to designate a Virginia-licensed pharmacist to be responsible for compliance with all provisions of the Drug Control Act. A nonresident pharmacy that dispenses more than 50 percent of its total prescription volume pursuant to an original prescription order received as a result of solicitation on the Internet, must disclose to the Pharmacy Board that it has received certain certifications. The bill also allows controlled substances that are illegally shipped to be sized by law-enforcement or by an agent of the Board of Pharmacy.

H.B. 1220

Patron: Bowling

Carrying concealed handguns; law-enforcement officers on long-term leave.  Allows a law-enforcement officer on long-term leave due to a service-related injury to carry a concealed handgun without a permit, so long as such officer receives written proof of consultation and favorable review to carry a concealed handgun from the law-enforcement agency that employs the officer. The proof of consultation would only be valid until the officer returns to work or terminates his employment with the agency.

H.B. 1382

Patron: Iaquinto

Department of Social Services; petitions.  Authorizes nonattorney employees of the Department of Social Services to complete, sign and file petitions in Department cases and provides that any orders entered prior to the effective date of this bill are not deemed void or voidable solely because the petitions and motions were signed by nonattorney employees.

H.B. 1426

Patron: Griffith

Recording courtroom proceedings; juvenile and domestic relations district court.  Provides that proceedings in juvenile and domestic relations district courts may be recorded verbatim by a court reporter or by mechanical or electronic devices.

H.B. 1469

Patron: Byron

Database breach notification. Requires an individual or entity that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information to disclose any breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach to any resident of the Commonwealth whose unencrypted and unredacted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been accessed and acquired by an unauthorized person. A breach is defined as the unauthorized access and acquisition of unencrypted and unredacted computerized data that compromises the security or confidentiality of personal information maintained by an individual or entity as part of a database of personal information regarding multiple individuals and that causes, or the individual or entity reasonably believes has caused, or will cause, identity theft or other fraud to any resident of the Commonwealth. Violations by a state-charted or licensed financial institution shall be enforceable exclusively by the financial institution's primary state regulator. Violations by an entity regulated by the State Corporation Commission shall be enforceable exclusively by the Commission. All other violations shall be enforced by the Office of the Attorney General, which may obtain either actual damages or a civil penalty not to exceed $150,000 per breach or series of breaches of a similar nature that are discovered in a single investigation. This bill incorporates HB 390 (Delegate Bulova), HB 971 (Delegate Shannon), HB 1052 (Delegate Plum), and HB 1504 (Delegate Nixon).

H.B. 1542

Patron: Janis

Salary of district court clerk's office employees; supplements.  Allows localities with populations of 200,000 or more to supplement the salary of district court clerk's office employees.