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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 20, 2008
Time and Place: 2:00 PM, Senate Room A, General Assembly Building

H.B. 91

Patron: Albo

Driving without a driver's license; penalties. Provides that any person charged with driving without first having obtained a valid driver's license shall be placed under arrest and shall have his fingerprints and photograph taken.

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. 172

Patron: Kilgore

Civil procedure; disclosure of insurance liability limits.  Allows an injured person, or his attorney, to obtain the liability of an insurance policy prior to filing a civil action for personal injuries resulting from a motor vehicle accident.

H.B. 223

Patron: Cosgrove

Offenses prohibiting proximity to children.  Provides that an adult other than an adult dropping off or picking up his child, who is convicted of an offense prohibiting proximity to children, shall be forever prohibited from entering upon or loitering within 100 feet of the premises of a public recreation center or community center.

H.B. 224

Patron: Cosgrove

Driving while intoxicated; elimination of requirement that intoxicant be self-administered. Eliminates the requirement that a person be under the influence of a self-administered intoxicant or drug in order to be convicted of driving while intoxicated. Instead, a person may be convicted if he operates a motor vehicle while under the influence of any self-administered narcotic drug or any other intoxicant or drug or any such substance he knows was administered to him.

H.B. 433

Patron: Miller, J.H.

Forfeiture of motor vehicle for three or more offenses of driving without a valid operator's license.  Provides that any vehicle driven in the commission of a third or subsequent offense of driving without a valid operator's license shall be subject to forfeiture.

H.B. 440

Patron: Rust

Presumption of no bail for illegal aliens charged with certain crimes. Provides that a judicial officer shall presume, subject to rebuttal, that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the person or the safety of the public if (i) the person is currently charged with an offense listed in subsection subsection C of § 17.1-805 (acts of violence), A of § 19.2-297.1 (acts of violence), Chapter 4 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Title 18.2 (crimes against the person), any felony offense under Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 (drug offenses), or any offense under Articles 2 (§ 18.2-266 et seq.), 4 (§ 18.2-279 et seq.), 5 (§ 18.2-288 et seq.), 6 (§ 18.2-299 et seq.), or 7 (§ 18.2-308 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 (crimes involving health and safety), and (ii) the court determines that the person is illegally present in the United States. This presumption shall exist unless and until notification is received from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it does not intend to detain the person. This bill also incorporates HB 762 (Rust), HB 47 (Cole), HB 929 (Gilbert), HB 779 (Kilgore), and HB 757 and HB 1435 (Poindexter).

H.B. 622

Patron: Brink

Sex offenses prohibiting residing in proximity to children; penalty. Prohibits a person convicted of certain sex offenses from living within 500 feet of a public park that is adjacent to a primary, secondary or high school. A violation is a Class 6 felony and there is an exception if the public park was established within 500 feet of the offender's residence subsequent to his conviction.

H.B. 623

Patron: Miller, J.H.

Enforcement of immigration laws; agreement with United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.  States that it is the responsibility of the Governor to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that would allow designated state and local law-enforcement officers to perform certain federal immigration law functions in the Commonwealth. Such an agreement is often referred to as an agreement under the federal 287(g) program.

H.B. 719

Patron: Janis

Punishment for underage drinking and driving; penalty.  Provides that "zero tolerance" (0.02% BAC) underage drinking and driving is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. Currently, the punishment is loss of license for six months and a fine of no more than $500. This bill provides for forfeiture of such person's license to operate a motor vehicle for a period of one year from the date of conviction and a mandatory minimum fine of $250. Punishment set forth in the bill mimics punishment for DUI.

H.B. 891

Patron: Lohr

Discretionary arrest for third offense of driving on a suspended license.  Provides that an officer may, at his discretion, arrest a person for driving on a suspended license if the person has been twice previously convicted thereof.

H.B. 926

Patron: Byron

Professions and occupations; unlawful acts; employing illegal aliens.  Authorizes the involuntary termination of the license for up to one year of a cooperation, foreign corporation, limited liability company, foreign limited liability company, business trust, or foreign business trust, upon the conviction for a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(f), as amended, for actions of its officers or directors, members or managers, or trustees or beneficial members for employing unauthorized aliens in the Commonwealth.  Such convictions must be reported to the State Corporation Commission as a part of the corporate annual report.  This bill incorporates HJR 227 (Cosgrove).

H.B. 949

Patron: Iaquinto

Slayer statute. Amends the definition of "slayer" to include a person who is acquitted of murder criminally, but who is determined, by a preponderance of the evidence, either before or after his death, by a court to have murdered the decedent. The bill also provides that transferees or assignees claiming through a slayer cannot acquire property or benefits as a result of the slaying. The bill also provides that insurance companies are not liable on life insurance policies acquired by the slayer for the decedent if (i) the policy was procured by the slayer as part of the plan to murder the decedent, and (ii) the decedent's death from the slayer's act was within two years of the date the policy was issued.  The bill also provides that the slayer statute does not serve to abrogate any common law right or remedy that prevent a slayer from profiting from his crime. The bill also makes several clarifying amendments to the slayer statute.

H.B. 952

Patron: Iaquinto

Time period for notice of insanity plea. Provides that notice of a criminal defendant's insanity plea must be given to the Commonwealth at least 60 days prior to trial, or at most 60 days following indictment when the period between indictment and trial is less than 120 days.

H.B. 965

Patron: Shannon

Victims Compensation Fund; stalking. Amends the definition of victim under the Fund to protect people who have been stalked.

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 available the names of persons issued concealed handgun permits by the court.  This bill incorporates HB 370, HB 653, and HB 843.

H.B. 990

Patron: Bell

Definition of pyramid promotional schemes; penalty.  Redefines activities described as "pyramid promotional schemes".  The bill also includes pyramid schemes among prohibited consumer practices.

H.B. 1043

Patron: Watts

Use of polygraph on sex offense victims. Provides that no complaining witness of any alleged offense involving criminal sexual activity shall be requested to submit to a polygraph examination as a condition of proceeding with an investigation of the offense.

H.B. 1044

Patron: Watts

Sex Offender Registry.  Makes it perfectly clear that persons convicted under certain Code sections that were amended by the 2007 General Assembly must register even though the sections have been rewritten. The bill requires the registration of any conviction of certain crimes involving use of a communications system to facilitate certain offenses involving children rather than current law which requires registration only when the victim is a minor or is physically helpless; because the crime exists only if the victim is a minor. The bill also revises definitions to make it clear that an out-of-state conviction for a registerable offense has the same status as a Virginia conviction.

H.B. 1174

Patron: Lingamfelter

Office of Immigrant Assistance; created.  Establishes in the Department of Social Services an Office of Immigrant Assistance, to assist persons lawfully entering the United States and the Commonwealth for the purpose of becoming citizens.  The Office shall provide (i) advice and assistance regarding the citizenship application process, and (ii) assistance with finding and securing employment, housing, and services for which such persons may be eligible.

H.B. 1181

Patron: Lingamfelter

Appointment of special conservators of the peace.  Requires that a circuit court judge appoint a special conservator of the peace upon a showing by the sheriff, chief of police, or corporation authorized to do business in the Commonwealth that there is a necessity for the security of property or of the peace, and that the person or persons to be appointed possess a valid registration with the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

H.B. 1236

Patron: Merricks

The Department of Criminal Justice Services; powers and duties. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish compulsory training standards and publish a model policy for law-enforcement personnel regarding death notifications.

H.B. 1298

Patron: Frederick

Public body contracts; illegal alien employment. Requires that all public bodies provide in every contract of more than $10,000 that the contractor does not, and shall not during the performance of the contract for goods and services in the Commonwealth, knowingly employ an unauthorized alien as defined in the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

H.B. 1362

Patron: Cline

Misuse of public assets. Provides that any officer, agent, or employee of the Commonwealth, or of any city, town, county, or any other political subdivision who, without lawful authorization, uses or permits the use of public assets for private or personal purposes when the value of such use exceeds $1,000 in any 12-month period, is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill defines public assets as any personal property or services belonging to or paid for by a public body.

H.B. 1363

Patron: Cline

Trademarks and service marks; penalties. Expands the scope of laws protecting trademarks and service marks to include such marks registered with other states and the federal government, and makes it unlawful to cause confusion or reproduce, counterfeit, or colorably imitate a registered mark. The penalties for violations are increased from a Class 2 to a Class 1 misdemeanor unless the offense involves 100 or more counterfeit marks or counterfeit items with a value of more than $200, in which case the penalty is a Class 6 felony. In addition, counterfeit articles are subject to forfeiture.

H.B. 1384

Patron: Janis

Selection of grand jurors. Clarifies that disinterest in outcome is required when a selection of grand jurors is made.

H.B. 1395

Patron: Bell

Policies for responding to crimes involving sexual assault.  Requires that the Department of State Police and local law-enforcement agencies establish written policies and procedures regarding response to incidents involving sexual assault. The Department of Criminal Justice Services is directed to provide law-enforcement agencies with technical support and assistance in developing the policies and procedures.

H.B. 1414

Patron: Scott, J.M.

Revocation of concealed handgun permits; notification of the State Police. Requires the court that issued a person a concealed handgun permit to revoke the permit upon notification by the State Police that the person has been convicted of an offense that would disqualify him from obtaining a permit or if the person is adjudicated legally incompetent, mentally incapacitated, or is involuntarily committed. The law currently requires such persons to forfeit and surrender their concealed handgun permits, but does not require the issuing court to revoke the permit.

H.B. 1439

Patron: Frederick

School employees; criminal acts. Requires (i) notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the division superintendent of the conviction of any individual committing a felony involving rape or sexual molestation of a child or involving drugs who holds a license issued by the Board of Education; (ii) local school boards to develop policies and procedures to address complaints of sexual abuse of a student by a teacher or other school board employee; (iii) the Board of Education to issue regulations including requirements for the denial, suspension, cancellation, revocation, and reinstatement of licensure in its licensure regulations; (iv) notification to the Board of Education when a licensed employee of a school board is dismissed or resigns for certain convictions of enumerated crimes; and (v) notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction when any individual holding a license is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect. There is also a technical amendment.

H.B. 1442

Patron: Iaquinto

DUI ignition interlock limitations.  Requires the implementation of ignition interlock following a first DUI conviction and raises the administrative fee from $20 to $75. The bill also provides that the offender pay a monthly fee of $30 to ASAP and that the person is prohibited from driving a school bus or a school vehicle.  The bill has an effective date of October 1, 2008.

H.B. 1510

Patron: May

Gang-related criminal information. Requires law-enforcement agencies to forward gang-related criminal information to the Department of State Police for inclusion in the annual Crime in Virginia report. This bill incorporates HB 531.