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2010 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice
Subcommittee Civil

Edwards (Chairman), Quayle, Lucas, Puller, Obenshain, Saslaw, Petersen

Clerk: Angi Murphy
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: February 25, 2010
Time and Place: 4:00 p.m., Senate Room A
UPDATED 2/24/10

H.B. 99

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.

H.B. 105

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.

H.B. 241

Patron: Janis

Retired judges under temporary recall.  Requires that the General Assembly approve retired judges for service under temporary recall.

H.B. 242

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.

H.B. 247

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.

H.B. 248

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.

H.B. 283

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.

H.B. 293

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.).

H.B. 346

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.

H.B. 377

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.

H.B. 494

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.

H.B. 651

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.

H.B. 652

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

H.B. 714

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.

H.B. 729

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.

H.B. 747

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.

H.B. 750

Patron: Toscano

Post-adoption contact and communication agreements. Provides that in any case of adoption, adoptive parents may enter into post-adoption contact and communication agreements, and that the court may consider the appropriateness of any post-adoption contact and communication agreement at a permanency hearing for any child in foster care.

H.B. 1193

Patron: Griffith

Actions or suits involving fiduciaries; style of the case; amendment of pleading.  Provides that in any action or suit required to be prosecuted or defended by or in the name of a fiduciary, the style of the case in regard to the fiduciary must be substantially in the following form: "(Name of the subject of the fiduciary relationship) through (Name of fiduciary), (type of fiduciary relationship)." Failure to comply with this form does not affect the validity of any judgment or pleading, and pleadings that are not in the proper form shall be amended on the motion of any party or on the court's own motion. The provisions of the bill apply to any action or suit pending as of the effective date of the bill.

H.B. 1196

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.

H.B. 1302

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.