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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
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2010 SESSION
Chairman: Henry L. Marsh III
Clerk: Angi Murphy
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: March 1, 2010
Time and Place: 9:00 a.m., Senate Room A
Patron: Loupassi
Unsolicited commercial electronic mail (spam); penalty. Narrows the scope of the existing spam statute to cover only those emails that constitute unsolicited commercial electronic mail (spam). Commercial electronic mail is defined in the bill as electronic mail, the primary purpose of which is the advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service. Spam is defined as a subset of commercial mail that is unsolicited. The definition of spam excludes emails that are transmitted by a sender to a person with whom the sender has an existing business or personal relationship.
Any person who (i) falsifies or forges the transmission or routing information of spam or (ii) knowingly sells, gives, or distributes software designed to facilitate the transmission of spam is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The penalty for sending spam rises to a Class 6 felony if the person sends a certain volume of spam in a given time period or generates a certain amount of revenue from a spam transmission.
This bill corrects a constitutional infirmity identified in the ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court in Jaynes v. Commonwealth, 276 Va. 443 (2008). In its opinion the Supreme Court held that Virginia Code § 18.2-152.3:1 (anti-spam statute) is unconstitutionally overbroad on its face because it prohibits the anonymous transmission of all unsolicited bulk emails, including those containing political, religious, or other speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Patron: Marshall, R.G.
Availability of presentence reports to counsel for convicted person. Provides that counsel representing a person who has been convicted of a crime for which a presentence report was prepared by a probation officer may be provided a copy of the report, without a court order, when the convicted person is pursuing a post-conviction remedy.
Patron: Orrock
Criminal nonsupport. Under current law a parent is not subject to prosecution for criminal nonsupport if the child receives aid under a federal or state program for aid to the permanently and totally disabled. This bill clarifies that such a parent is subject to prosecution for desertion and nonsupport of a spouse and of any children who are not receiving such aid.
Patron: Marshall, R.G.
Foreign search warrants to be honored. Provides that a Virginia corporation or other entity that provides electronic communication services or remote computing services to the general public, when properly served with a warrant and affidavit in support of the warrant, issued by a judicial officer or court of another state with jurisdiction over the matter, to produce a record or other information pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service or the contents of electronic communications, or both, shall produce the record or other information as if that warrant had been issued by a Virginia court. This provision applies only to records relating to certain violent or sexual criminal offenses.
Patron: Kilgore
Uninsured motorist insurance coverage. Permits a liability insurer to be relieved of the costs of defending the owner or operator in a claim involving property damage or bodily injury, including death, incurred after the liability insurer makes an irrevocable written offer to pay the limits of its policy and notifies any insurer providing underinsured motorist coverage with respect to the claim. The insurer or insurers providing underinsured motorist coverage shall reimburse the liability insurer or insurers for the costs of defending the underinsured motor vehicle owner or operator. The liability insurer retains the duty to defend its insured. If underinsured motorist coverage is provided by more than one insurer, the cost to defend shall be assumed in the same order of priority as applies to payments of underinsured benefits.
Patron: Loupassi
Restricted driving privilege for out-of-state drivers. Provides that when the driver of any motor vehicle not licensed to drive in Virginia, but who has a valid driver's license from another jurisdiction, is convicted of any violation for which license suspension and issuance of a restricted license is authorized, the court may issue a restricted driving privilege in Virginia upon the same conditions as if the person held a valid Virginia license.
Patron: Loupassi
Appeal bonds; unlawful detainer; indigents. Adds unlawful detainer cases against a former owner based upon a foreclosure against that owner to the list of actions for which an indigent must post an appeal bond. In cases of unlawful detainer against a former owner based upon a foreclosure against that owner, a person who has been determined to be indigent shall post an appeal bond within 30 days from the date of judgment.
Patron: Loupassi
Security for appeal; modification. Provides that a court may impose additional requirements to security posted for an appeal in addition to altering the amount of the security. Any changes may be made to such security by a court for good cause shown. The bill also provides that the surety on any bond shall be an insurance company that is authorized to write such bonds in the Commonwealth and is rated A plus or better by Best's Insurance Reports. The bill also clarifies that motions for and objections to any modification of security may be made either to the appellate court or the court whose decision is being appealed until such time as the appellate court acts. The bill also provides that individual judges of the Supreme Court, instead of a panel, may make determinations on issues regarding security for appeal. Currently, only individual judges of the Court of Appeals are permitted to make such determinations. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
Patron: Janis
Retired judges under temporary recall. Requires that the General Assembly approve retired judges for service under temporary recall.
Patron: Janis
Judicial vacancies. Removes the requirement that the Committee on District Courts and the Supreme Court certify vacancies in the judiciary prior to the legislature filling those vacancies.
Patron: Kilgore
Involuntary commitment, certification, and mandatory outpatient treatment orders; appeals. Reduces from 30 to 10 days the length of time for a person to appeal to circuit court an order for involuntarily commitment, mandatory outpatient treatment, or certification for admission to a training center. The bill also provides that an appeal does not operate to suspend any such order unless so ordered by a judge or special justice. The bill further provides that an order of the circuit court shall not extend the duration of involuntary admission or mandatory outpatient treatment set forth in the order appealed from. The bill also clarifies that the appeal shall be heard in accordance with the same provisions applicable to the original order, except that the court in its discretion may rely upon the evaluation report in the commitment hearing from which the appeal is taken instead of requiring a new evaluation. The bill also clarifies the role of the attorney for the Commonwealth in the appeal of such an order.
Patron: Kilgore
Psychiatric treatment of minors. Revises the Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act in order to create a stand alone juvenile commitment act that will be titled the Psychiatric Treatment of Minors Act and to eliminate various cross references to the adult commitment statutes in Title 37.2. The bill incorporates various provisions from the adult commitment statutes, including provisions regarding the transportation of persons in the commitment process, the preparation of preadmission screening reports, and the process for emergency custody and temporary detention orders, into the Act. The bill also revises the appeals process, reducing the time to note an appeal from 30 to 10 days, which is consistent with other appeals from the juvenile and domestic relations district court.
Patron: Albo
Electronic filing of civil actions. Provides that the general district courts shall accept case data in an electronic format for any civil action filed. The use of the electronic transfer shall be at the option of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney, and if electronic transfer is utilized, the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney shall comply with the security and data configuration standards established by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court.
Patron: Griffith
Administration of the circuit court system; authority of circuit court judges. Clarifies that the executive secretary's responsibility as administrator of the circuit court system does not supersede the authority of the circuit court judges over running the court itself (e.g., setting terms of court, dockets, control of the courtroom, etc.).
Patron: Watts
Small Estate Act; revision. Revises the Small Estate Act by repealing related provisions in the Title 6.1 (Banking and Finance), Title 51.1 (Pensions, Benefits, and Retirement), and Title 64.1 (Wills and Decedents' Estates) and consolidating them in the Act. The bill also allows that a person holding a small asset belonging to a decedent may pay or deliver the asset to a designated successor if he presents an affidavit on behalf of the other known successors if the value of the asset does not exceed $50,000 and other conditions are met. The person holding the asset may pay or deliver it without being presented with an affidavit if the value of the asset does not exceed $15,000. A designated successor who received an asset has a fiduciary duty to other successors to safeguard the asset and pay or deliver it to other successors as required by law. The bill also provides that a person holding a small asset may pay or deliver up to $3,500 of the asset for the handling of the funeral of the decedent.
Patron: Lewis
Equitable distribution; monetary award; enforcement. Clarifies that a monetary award made in a divorce case is enforceable in the same manner as any other money judgment.
Patron: Lingamfelter
Impeding hunting. Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person to knowingly and intentionally encourage or enable a violation of the baiting law by putting out bait or salt in a place used or occupied by hunters.
Patron: Lingamfelter
Civil immunity for local government officers, etc.; notarial acts. Provides that an officer, employee, or volunteer of a local government who is a commissioned notary public and is required to perform notarial acts for actions of the locality, without compensation, as a condition of his service with the local government, shall not be liable for civil damages for acts or omissions resulting from the performance of such act provided that such acts do not constitute gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Patron: Nixon
Electronic notary public; evidence of identity; requirements. Allows, in the case of an electronic notarization, for satisfactory evidence of the identity of a signer to be based on (i) video and audio conference technology that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act, and confirmation of identity of the principal by use of biometric data or (ii) video and audio conference technology that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act, and a Personal Identity Verification card issued in accordance with standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. An electronic notarization may be made even though the signer is not in the presence of the notary if the notary relies on such evidence. The bill also eliminates the requirement that electronic notaries submit with their registration various specific information regarding the device used to create an electronic signature. The bill also clarifies that a person commissioned as an electronic notary need not first be commissioned as a notary.
Patron: Iaquinto
Notice to Commonwealth of expert testimony in sentencing phase of capital murder trial. Provides that in any case in which a defendant charged with capital murder intends, in the event of conviction, to present testimony of an expert witness to support a claim in mitigation relating to the defendant's history, character or mental condition, he or his attorney shall give notice in writing to the attorney for the Commonwealth, at least 60 days (currently 21 days) before trial, of his intention to present such testimony.
Patron: Landes
Information entered into VCIN. Provides that within 72 hours following the receipt of a written statement issued by a parole officer authorizing the arrest of a person who has violated the provisions of his post-release supervision or probation, the person's name and other appropriate information required by the Department of State Police shall be entered into the information systems known as the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN). The information will be deemed a warrant authorizing the arrest of the person anywhere in the Commonwealth.
Patron: Armstrong
Use of commissioners in eminent domain cases. Reinstates the option of the landowner to choose between commissioners and juries to hear an eminent domain case. The option to choose commissioners was eliminated by Chapter 586 of the 2006 Acts of Assembly. The provisions of this bill apply only to actions filed after July 1, 2010.
Patron: Armstrong
Eminent domain; just compensation; restricted access. Provides that any restriction, change, or loss of access to or from property taken under the power of eminent domain shall be considered as an element in assessing the damages to the residue for the purposes of determining just compensation. The bill states that an emergency exists and that the bill is effective upon passage.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Miller, J.H.
Gang-free zones; penalties. Expands current "gang-free school zones" to the broader "gang-free zones" and includes any publicly owned or operated community center or recreational center. Engaging in criminal street gang activity in a gang-free zone is a Class 5 or 6 felony and may include a two-year mandatory minimum sentence, depending upon other aggravators.
Patron: Miller, J.H.
Using transportation district trains without a valid ticket. Rewrites the code section that punishes unlawfully riding on a transportation district train. The bill punishes failure or refusal to pay the posted fare, or failure to properly validate a train ticket, as a $100 civil penalty. The bill punishes use of a validated ticket outside of the zone of the ticketed ride as a $100 civil penalty. The bill punishes use of a fraudulent or counterfeit ticket as a Class 2 misdemeanor. The bill limits the amount of recoverable costs to the same amount as the maximum fine.
Patron: Peace
Foreclosure sales; trustee to pay taxes. Clarifies that, in the event of a foreclosure sale, the trustee shall cause the proceeds of the sale to be applied to the payment of taxes on the property. The bill also eliminates a redundancy in the Code pertaining to the duties of a trustee in a foreclosure sale.
Patron: Peace
Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA). Establishes in the Code of Virginia the Uniform Act that was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 2006. The UPOAA consists of default rules that can be modified if the principal desires. Powers of attorney will be durable unless drafted to expire upon a specified date or event. The UPOAA addresses creation and use, good faith reliance, limitations of agent's powers, refusal to recognize, judicial review, notification of resignation, and other matters. The UPOAA contains an optional statutory form that may be used by an agent to certify facts concerning a power of attorney.
Patron: Albo
Mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment. Allows a court to enter an order for mandatory outpatient treatment following involuntary inpatient treatment, which orders a person to involuntary inpatient treatment and authorizes the person's treating physician to discharge the patient from inpatient treatment subject to mandatory outpatient treatment. To be eligible for such an order, the person must meet the criteria for involuntary inpatient treatment as well as demonstrate (i) a lack of compliance with treatment for mental illness, (ii) the need for outpatient treatment to prevent a relapse or deterioration that would likely result in his meeting the criteria for inpatient treatment, (iii) that the person is not likely to obtain outpatient treatment unless the court enters the order, and (iv) that the person is likely to benefit from outpatient treatment. Additionally, services must actually be available in the community and providers of services must have actually agreed to deliver the services. The bill also sets forth how orders for mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment will be enforced, reviewed, continued, and rescinded.
Patron: Cleaveland
Impoundment of vehicle for driving while license suspended. Includes a violation of § 18.2-272 (Class 1 misdemeanor to drive on a suspended license when suspended for driving for DUI or a DUI-related crime) in the section of the code (§ 46.2-301) that provides that a motor vehicle impounded or immobilized by the police following an arrest for driving on a suspended license, when suspended for DUI or a DUI-related crime, may be impounded or immobilized for an additional 90 days by the court upon conviction of that offense.
Patron: Toscano
Stepparent and close relative adoption; appointment of guardian ad litem not required. Allows a court to waive appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child in cases of stepparent or close relative adoption.
Patron: Cleaveland
Consecutive license suspensions for DUI. Provides that any suspension of driving privilege for driving while intoxicated shall run consecutively with any other court-ordered period of suspension for driving while intoxicated or for underage driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 percent or more. Currently, suspensions ordered for failure to submit to a blood or breath test run consecutively with the DUI suspension.
Patron: Cline
Courts not of record; delinquent children; loss of driving privileges for alcohol, firearm, and drug offenses; truancy. Eliminates the authority of the court to give a restricted driver's permit, for travel to and from school when school-provided transportation is available, to a child who has lost his driving privilege for an alcohol, firearm, or drug offense, or truancy.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Exception to confidentiality of juvenile records; fugitives and escapees. Allows for the release of identifying information of a juvenile who is a fugitive from justice or an escapee. Currently, only juveniles charged with or convicted of certain serious offenses (e.g., murder, rape, robbery) may have identifying information released once they become a fugitive or escapee.
Patron: Jones
Schedule II, Schedule III, Schedule IV, and Schedule V drugs. Adds tapentadol to Schedule II; boldione, desoxymethyltestosterone (madol), and 19-nor-4,9(10)-androstadeienedione (estra-4,9(10)-diene-3,17-dione) to Schedule III; fospropofol to Schedule IV, and lacosamide to Schedule V of the drug control act.
Patron: Nutter
Driving under the influence; persons under age 21. Provides that it is unlawful for any person under the age of 21 to operate any motor vehicle when the person's blood alcohol content is 0.02 percent or more. Currently such conduct is unlawful only if the person illegally consumed the alcohol.
Patron: Gilbert
Juvenile records; gang information; exceptions to confidentiality. Places an affirmative duty on the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide information to law-enforcement that may aid in initiating or furthering an investigation of a criminal street gang. The bill also requires, rather than allows, the Department or locally operated court services unit to release to law enforcement information on a juvenile's criminal street gang involvement and the criminal street gang-related activity of others and to include the identity of or identifying information of the juvenile. Locally designated gang coordinators and task forces are added as authorized recipients of such information. The bill incorporates HB 254 and HB 255.
Patron: Griffith
Executive secretary as administrator of circuit court system. Allows the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to employ staff from state funds specifically appropriated to him for that purpose.
Patron: Albo
Computer trespass; penalty. Expands the crime of computer trespass to include the use of video and image capture software or hardware (screenshots) in addition to keystroke loggers. The provision does not apply to certain Internet, software, and hardware providers that provide network and data security services, technical assistance, or network management.
Patron: Greason
Electronic communication service providers; obtaining records. Authorizes the disclosure of the records of providers of electronic communication service or remote computing service if the court orders disclosure for an investigation of a missing child, senior adult or incapacitated person. Under current law the court may order disclosure only if the records are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation.
Patron: Tyler
Property conveyance. Authorizes the conveyance of certain real property in the Town of Lawrenceville owned by the Commonwealth (declared surplus by the Department of Corrections) to Roanoke River Rails-to-Trails, Inc. to maintain and operate a trail for public park purposes.
Patron: Morgan
Littering; cigarette butts. Prohibits disposal of cigarettes or any portion thereof on public property. Any person convicted of violation shall be subject to a civil penalty of $75. However, in lieu of appearing in court, the violator may mail or personally deliver payment of $75 to the clerk of the court.
Patron: Janis
Interpreters for non-English-speaking persons; court costs. Provides that the costs of an interpreter for non-English speaking persons will be assessed as court costs if the defendant is found guilty. Under current law the court has discretion in assessing costs and may do so only under certain limited conditions.
Patron: Bell, Robert B.
Public disclosure of personal information; law-enforcement officers. Prohibits a state or local agency from publicly posting or displaying on the Internet the home address or personal telephone numbers of a law-enforcement officer if the officer has made a written demand that such information not be disclosed. The written demand must include a copy of a court order authorizing the state or locality to remove the information.