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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: January 23, 2008
Time and Place: 2:00 p.m., Senate Room A, General Assembly Building

S.B. 26 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act; adds organized dogfighting as qualifying offense.

Patron: Reynolds

RICO; dogfighting.  Adds organized dogfighting as a qualifying offense under the Virginia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.  

S.B. 37 Anti-child exploitation; funding for law enforcement efforts.

Patron: Deeds

Appropriations; funding for anti-child-exploitation law enforcement.  Provides both one-time and ongoing appropriations to fund anti-child-exploitation law-enforcement efforts including the creation of two additional regional Internet Crimes Against Children task forces, one in Southeastern Virginia and one in Richmond/Central Virginia.

S.B. 109 Criminal history record information; required for transfer of firearms.

Patron: Marsh

Transfer of firearms; criminal records check; penalties.  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. The bill also adds a definition of "promoter" and requires that the promoter of a gun show provide vendors with access to licensed dealers who will conduct the criminal background check.

S.B. 112 District court employees; local salary supplements.

Patron: McDougle

Local salary supplements for district court employees.  Removes the restriction on local salary supplements paid to local district court employees.

S.B. 114 Sex offenders; application of prohibitions & school proximity prohibition to out-of-state violators.

Patron: McDougle

Application of sex offender prohibitions and school proximity prohibitions to out-of-state violators.  Clarifies that all offenses, for which sex offender registration is required and for which other prohibitions apply, include any similar such offenses under the laws of any foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, the United States or any political subdivision thereof, or any such offenses for which registration in a sex offender and crimes against minors registry is required under the laws of the jurisdiction where the offender was convicted.

S.B. 164 Sex offense victims; use of polygraph examination.

Patron: Lucas

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.

S.B. 221 Reckless driving; penalty for person convicted.

Patron: McDougle

Felony reckless driving; penalty. Provides that every person convicted of reckless driving who knowingly operates a motor vehicle in a manner so gross, wanton, or culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life and thereby causes serious bodily injury to another resulting in permanent and significant physical impairment is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

S.B. 310 Restricted driver's licenses; court to provide during period of suspension.

Patron: Reynolds

Restricted driver’s licenses. Authorizes a court to provide a restricted permit to operate a motor vehicle during the period of suspension of a permit to operate a motor vehicle.

S.B. 312 Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund; physical evidence recovery kit reimbursements.

Patrons: Puller, Reynolds

Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund; PERK reimbursements. Allows the Fund to directly reimburse a health care provider for the costs of performing the physical evidence recovery kit (PERK) examinations used in cases of sexual assault.

S.B. 340 Hospitals and health care providers; reducing medical fraud.

Patron: Cuccinelli

Fraud against hospitals and health care providers; penalties.  Provides that it shall be unlawful for any person, with the intent to cheat or defraud a hospital or health care provider, to give a false name, address, or social security number or other form of identification in order to avoid payment for medical services. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony, if the value of service obtained is $1,000 or more, or guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, if the value is less than $1,000. Also this bill requires hospitals to post signs stating that anyone convicted of this crime will be prosecuted and allows hospitals to fingerprint anyone who does not have health insurance, is not eligible for Medicaid, and cannot otherwise show an ability to pay.

S.B. 350 Embezzlement of public funds; misuse or misappropriation of public assets.

Patron: Reynolds

Crimes; embezzlement of public funds.  Provides that embezzlement of public funds can result from the misuse or misappropriation of public assets. The term "public assets" is defined to include, but not be limited to, accounts, documents, resources, equipment, records, materials, vouchers, property, personnel resources, services, money, or anything of value belonging or owed to the Commonwealth, to any city, town or county, or to any other political subdivision.

S.B. 351 Grand larceny; threshold amount. 

Patron: Reynolds

Grand larceny; threshold amount. Increases from $200 to $500 the threshold amount of money or the value of the goods or chattel that the defendant must take before the crime rises from petit larceny to grand larceny.

S.B. 368 Disregarding signal to stop; endangerment of operation of law-enforcement vehicle, etc., penalty.

Patron: Watkins

Eluding police; penalties. Provides that if a person is killed, whether as the direct or indirect result of the actions of a driver who has disregarded a law-enforcement officer's signal to stop his motor vehicle and who operates his motor vehicle in a willful and wanton disregard of such signal so as to interfere with or endanger the operation of the law-enforcement vehicle or endanger a person, the driver is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill also raises from Class 3 to Class 1 the misdemeanor penalty for eluding police. The bill does not change the existing Class 6 felony imposed when the eluding endangers a person or interferes with or endangers the operation of the law-enforcement vehicle.

S.B. 372 Sex offender registry; placement of certain juveniles required.

Patron: Stuart

Placement of juveniles on the sex offender registry.  Provides that juveniles adjudicated delinquent for an offense for which registration on the sex offender registry is required and who are 12 years of age or older at the time of the offense shall be required to register.

S.B. 391 DUI Court; establishing in City of Colonial Heights and Chesterfield County.

Patron: Martin

DUI Court. Allows Chesterfield and Colonial Heights General District Courts to use a special docket to run a driving under the influence court based on the state drug court model. Participants will be those who violate ASAP program requirements, but participation will not result in a reduction of charges.

S.B. 504 Assault and battery; penalty when against magistrates, attorneys, jurors, and witnesses.

Patron: Stuart

Assault and battery; penalties.  Adds magistrates, attorneys for the Commonwealth, criminal-case jurors, and criminal-case witnesses who are engaged in their duties to the persons for whom there is an enhanced penalty if the person committing the assault knows or has reason to know the other person's status. The current penalty is a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum confinement of six months. This bill raises the penalty to a Class 4 felony with a mandatory minimum confinement of six months, for the added persons and those covered under current law which includes: judges, law-enforcement officers, certain Department of Corrections employees, firefighters, and rescue squad personnel.

S.B. 522 ABC agent; assault and battery against, penalty.

Patron: Locke

Assault and battery; ABC agent, penalty.  Adds special agents of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to the definition of law-enforcement officer, which means that the punishment for committing an assault and battery on a special agent engaged in the performance of his public duties is elevated from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony with a six-month mandatory minimum term of confinement.

S.B. 544 Master Settlement Agreement; makes several changes to enhance criminal enforcement activities.

Patron: Hurt

Master Settlement Agreement; criminal enforcement activities; penalty.  Makes several changes to enhance criminal enforcement activities. The bill provides that any tobacco product manufacturer, stamping agent, or importer of cigarettes, or any officer, employee, or agent of any such entity, who knowingly makes any materially false statement in reports, documents, and tax returns required to be filed or kept under the Master Settlement Agreement or other substantive law shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony. The Attorney General is authorized to prosecute such cases. The bill also requires persons to file cigarette delivery sales information with the Attorney General in addition to the current requirement that such information be filed with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The bill adds criminal penalties for failure to file the required information, under current law all penalties are civil. The Attorney General is authorized to assess the civil penalties and prosecute criminal violations. In addition, the bill includes within the definition of "racketeering activity" the filing of false reports under the Tobacco Product Manufacturers Act, of false reports of cigarette delivery sales, and of false tobacco tax reports. The effective date of the bill is contingent on the appropriation of funds in the 2008 or a subsequent general appropriation act.

S.B. 545 Master Settlement Agreement; regulation of cigarette manufacturers.

Patron: Hurt

Master Settlement Agreement; regulation of cigarette manufacturers.  Makes several changes to enhance the regulation of cigarette manufacturers and stamping agents and enforcement provisions. Changes include (i) establishing a bonding requirement for newly qualified and elevated risk nonparticipating tobacco manufacturers, (ii) authorizing the Attorney General to conduct audits and investigations for compliance with the requirements of the Master Settlement Agreement, (iii) requiring nonparticipating manufacturers located outside of the United States to appoint an agent in the state, and (iv) providing for the joint and several liability of nonparticipating manufacturers whose cigarettes are sold in Virginia and their importers for the deposit of required escrow payments.  Under the bill, tobacco product manufacturers that are poor compliance risks or are not in compliance with the requirements of the Master Settlement Agreement may not be listed on the Virginia Tobacco Directory.  The bill also exempts from FOIA records of the Office of the Attorney General acting pursuant to its enforcement authority under the Master Settlement Agreement, to the extent that such records contain reports, affidavits, correspondence, or other information submitted by a private business entity or principal thereof to the Office of the Attorney General.

S.B. 562 Methamphetamine; manufacturing, selling, giving, and distributing thereof, penalty.

Patron: Obenshain

Manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing of methamphetamine; penalty.  Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who manufactures, sells, gives, distributes, or possesses with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute 28 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $500,000 and imprisonment for not less than five nor more than 40 years, three years of which shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment to be served consecutively with any other sentence. The bill also provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who manufactures, sells, gives, distributes, or possesses with intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute 227 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,000 and imprisonment for not less than five years nor more than life, five years of which shall be a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment to be served consecutively with any other sentence.

S.B. 590 Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry; makes various amendments thereto.

Patron: Howell

Sex offenders; registration; penalty. Makes various amendments addressing the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry including what crimes require registration, the effect of a failure to register or reregister, the effect of providing false information or failing to provide registration information, and the procedures to petition for removal of a name from the Registry to ensure that Virginia law complies with the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. § 16901 et seq.).

S.B. 598 ABC agent; assault and battery against, penalty.

Patron: Norment

Assault and battery; ABC agent, penalty.  Adds special agents of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to the definition of law-enforcement officer, which means that the punishment for committing an assault and battery on a special agent engaged in the performance of his public duties is elevated from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony with a six-month mandatory minimum term of confinement.

S.B. 602 Medical malpractice; defines term professional services in context thereof.

Patron: Norment

Medical malpractice; professional services. Defines the term "professional services" in the context of medical malpractice actions as services provided to a patient by a health care provider pursuant to federal or state statutes or regulations. The bill also provides that the definition of "health care" includes professional services provided during a patient's residency at a nursing home. 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).

S.B. 608 Crimes; effect of subsequent marriage to child over 14 years of age.

Patron: Stolle

Crimes; effect of subsequent marriage to child over 14 years of age. Repeals the code section that provides a defense to carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old female when there is a subsequent marriage of the victim and the perpetrator.

S.B. 620 Mentally retarded; replaces term with intellectually disabled.

Patron: Ticer

Replacing "mentally retarded" with "intellectually disabled." Replaces the term "mentally retarded" with the term "intellectually disabled" and replaces the term "mental retardation" with the term "intellectual disability" throughout the Code of Virginia.