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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.
2008 SESSION
Reynolds (Chairman), Saslaw, Stolle, Norment, Howell, McDougle, Hurt
Clerk: Angi Murphy
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, D. Cotter
Date of Meeting: February 5, 2008
Time and Place: 1/2 hr. after adjournment, 3rd Fl. EAST Conf. Room, G.A. Bldg.
Patron: Lucas
Expungement of marijuana charges. Provides that anyone who has had a charge of possession of marijuana discharged and dismissed in accordance with the provisions of § 18.2-251, more than 10 years prior to his petition for expungement, may file a petition setting forth the relevant facts and requesting expungement of the police records and the court records relating to the charge. The bill adds that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall maintain a record of an expungement of a dismissal under § 18.2-251 for the purpose of a second prosecution under § 18.2-250 or 18.2-250.1.
Patron: McDougle
Driving without a license; penalty. Requires the court to suspend the driving privileges of a person convicted of driving without a license for a period not to exceed 90 days.
Patron: McDougle
Traffic lights; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for running a red light, if running the red light is the sole and proximate cause of the death of another.
Patron: McDougle
Driver's license and registration; failure to carry. Imposes a fine of between $50 and $250 for failing to carry a driver's license and vehicle registration card. The current fine is $10. The existing provision that the summons will be dismissed if the person produces a license that was issued to him before the summons was issued or a registration card remains unchanged.
Patron: Lucas
School employees; criminal acts. Requires (i) notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the division superintendent of the conviction of any individual holding 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 include 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.
Patron: Reynolds
Database breach notification. Requires that an individual or a commercial entity that conducts business in Virginia and that owns or licenses data that includes personal information about a resident of Virginia shall, when it becomes aware of a breach of the security of the system, (i) conduct in good faith a reasonable and prompt investigation to determine the likelihood that personal information has been or will be misused and (ii) notify the Office of the Attorney General that a breach has occurred. A breach of the security of the system is defined as the unauthorized acquisition and access of unencrypted or unredacted data that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by an individual or a commercial entity. Types of notification meeting the requirements of this bill are listed, but not required if, after a reasonable investigation, the person or commercial entity determines that there is no reasonable likelihood of harm to affected Virginia residents. The Attorney General may bring an action in law to address violations and ensure proper compliance with this section. Nothing in this section shall limit an individual from recovering direct economic damages resulting from a violation of this section.
Patron: Vogel
Crimes; violence against women; testing of certain persons for human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis B or C viruses. Eliminates the procedure for a probable cause hearing to obtain a court order to require a defendant to undergo HIV testing when he has been charged with a defined violent offense against a child or woman and has initially refused an HIV test.
Patron: Petersen
Diversion Center Incarceration Program. Allows a probation and parole officer to place a defendant who scores Incarceration on the probation violation guidelines with the Department of Corrections to determine suitability to participate in the Diversion Center Incarceration Program.
Patron: McDougle
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.
Patron: McDougle
Punishment for underage drinking and driving; penalty. Provides that "zero tolerance" (0.02% blood alcohol concentration) 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 not less than six months or more than a year from the date of conviction and either a mandatory minimum 50 hours of community service or a mandatory minimum fine of $500.
Patron: Obenshain
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."
Patron: Hurt
Criminal appeals. Provides that in order to appeal a circuit court conviction of a traffic infraction or a crime the defense counsel or the trial judge must certify that there is a legitimate issue for appeal.
Patron: Hurt
Multijurisdictional grand juries. Adds crimes related to identity theft and credit card fraud to the matters that a multijurisdictional grand jury may investigate .
Patron: Hurt
Appointment of counsel; indigent defendants. Maintains the current provision, due to expire on July 1, 2008, that if there is no attorney reasonably available who is on the list maintained by the Indigent Defense Commission, the court may appoint an appropriately trained and experienced attorney not on the list and must notify the Commission of the appointment. The bill also clarifies that when the public defender is unable to represent the defendant due to a conflict of interest or the court finds that the appointment of other counsel is necessary to attain the ends of justice, the appointment shall be from the list maintained by the Commission.
Patron: Saslaw
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 reproduce, counterfeit, or colorably imitate a registered mark and apply it to patches, fabric, stickers, badges, emblems, medallions, charms, boxes, containers, cans, cases, handbags, documentation, packaging, or other components intended to be used on or in connection with goods or services. The penalties for violations are increased. Violations are punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor unless the offense involves 100 or more items bearing a counterfeit mark or items with a counterfeit mark with a retail value of more than $200, in which case it is a Class 6 felony. Convictions where the offender maliciously causes or attempts to cause bodily injury of another is a Class 3 felony. If bodily injury is done unlawfully but not maliciously, it is a Class 6 felony. In addition, counterfeit articles are subject to forfeiture and violators are subject to a fine of up to three times the retail value of the goods.
Patron: Norment
Alcoholic beverages; underage possession. Changes the penalty for possession of alcoholic beverages by a person under age 21 to a Class 2 misdemeanor (confinement in jail for not more than six months and a fine of not more than $1000, either or both) from a Class 1 misdemeanor (confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both).
Patron: Stolle
Detention Center Incarceration Program. Allows a probation and parole officer to place a defendant who scores Incarceration on the probation violation guidelines with the Department of Corrections to have the defendant's suitability to participate in the Detention Center Incarceration Program determined.
Patron: Stolle
Petit larceny; substance abuse. Provides that a person who is convicted for the second time of petit larceny must undergo substance abuse screening as part of the sentence if the sentence includes probation supervision by a community-based probation services agency.
Patron: Ticer
Notification of service of protective order. Provides that persons who have obtained a protective order shall receive notice of the service of such order by the local police department, sheriff's office, or other law-enforcement agency that served the order on the person subject to the order. The notification may be made through the Virginia Statewide VINE (Virginia Information and Notification Everyday) System.
Patron: Hurt
Extradition. Clarifies that a sheriff or police chief of a locality may hire a private entity to perform extraditions on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Patron: Hurt
Bail. Allows the court to bar a person from returning to a workplace, or temporarily suspend a person from an office of public trust as a condition of bail.
Patron: Hurt
Prosecution of identity theft; statute of limitations. Allows prosecutions for misdemeanor identity theft to be commenced within the same limits as computer crimes. Those limits are the earlier of (i) five years after the commission of the last illegal act or (ii) one year after the existence of the illegal act and the identity of the offender are discovered.
Patron: Deeds
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.