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2011 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice

Chairman: Henry L. Marsh III

Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: February 9, 2011
Time and Place: 02:00pm/Senate Room A

H.B. 1422

Patron: Albo

Homestead exemptions. Adds one family firearm, not to exceed $3,000 in value, to the list of items that every householder shall be entitled to hold exempt from creditor process. The bill also increases the maximum exemption for a motor vehicle from $2,000 to $6,000. This bill incorporates HB 1471, HB 1494, and HB 2428.

H.B. 1459

Patron: Albo

Remedies; limitation on recovery in certain medical malpractice actions.  Increases from $2 million to $2.05 million, on July 1, 2012, the cap on the recovery in actions against health care providers for medical malpractice. Thereafter, the cap is increased by $50,000 annually with the last increase on July 1, 2031.

H.B. 1476

Patron: Albo

Torts; sexual abuse; limitations period.  Extends the limitations period for actions for sexual abuse committed during the infancy or incapacity of the abused person from two years to eight years from the time of the removal of the infancy or incapacity or from the time the cause of action otherwise accrues.

H.B. 1565

Patron: Miller, P.J.

Secure remote access to court records. Provides that restrictions on the secure remote access to court records do not apply to secure access by attorneys in good standing with the Virginia State Bar and their authorized agents and attorneys admitted to practice pro hac vice. The bill also permits secure remote access by governmental agencies authorized by the clerk. The bill also provides that the restrictions on secure remote access do not apply to the provision of official certificates and certified records in digital form of documents maintained by the clerk.

H.B. 1585

Patron: Kilgore

Determinations of child support.  Provides that a court shall make a determination of child support and enter an order to that effect at the initial court date on any initial petition for support, provided that the court has sufficient evidence to make such a determination, if the petitioner demonstrates that he (i) has physical custody of the child for whom support is being sought and (ii) has personally served the respondent with the petition or the respondent appears in person at the initial hearing. The bill also provides that the court may, however, enter a temporary support order if it makes a written finding that continuation of the matter is proper. If the respondent contests paternity and the court cannot establish paternity at the initial hearing, the case shall be continued without the entry of a temporary support order.

H.B. 1589

Patron: Iaquinto

DUI ignition interlock limitations.  Provides that a person who is convicted of DUI is required to have an ignition interlock on the first offense as a condition of a restricted license. Currently, the requirement for an ignition interlock is imposed only upon a second or subsequent offense or when the offender's BAC is above 0.15 percent. The bill also provides that the court may authorize a restricted license for travel to and from the interlock installer. The bill also adds passenger vehicles designed to transport more than 15 passengers to the types of vehicles that cannot be operated by a person who is required to have an interlock but who is otherwise permitted to operate a vehicle owned or provided by his employer in the course of his employment.

H.B. 1590

Patron: Iaquinto

Jurisdictional limits of courts. Increases from $15,000 to $25,000 the maximum civil jurisdictional limit of general district courts. This bill incorporates HB 1446.

H.B. 1650

Patron: Cosgrove

Power of magistrates to issue felony arrest warrants. Provides that a magistrate may not issue an arrest warrant for a felony offense upon the basis of a complaint by a person other than a law-enforcement officer or an animal control officer without prior authorization from the attorney for the Commonwealth or a law-enforcement agency in his jurisdiction. Currently, the magistrate need only consult with the attorney for the Commonwealth or law-enforcement agency. The bill also requires a written complaint if the complaint is by a person other than a law-enforcement officer, currently a written complaint is required in such a situation whenever practicable

H.B. 1695

Patron: Athey

Unexecuted warrants. Clarifies that unexecuted warrants can be destroyed if dismissed under a provision enacted during the 2010 Session of the General Assembly allowing an attorney for the Commonwealth to move the court for the dismissal of an unexecuted warrant or summons issued by a magistrate. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.

H.B. 1707

Patron: Merricks

Criminal history record information; Department of Rehabilitative Services.  Authorizes the Department of Rehabilitative Services and the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired to obtain criminal history record information for the purpose of evaluating an individual's fitness for various types of employment and for the purpose of delivering comprehensive vocational rehabilitation services that will assist the individual in obtaining employment.

H.B. 1747

Patron: Watts

Possession of child pornography by law enforcement.  Provides that an employee of a law-enforcement agency may lawfully possess child pornography for a bona fide law-enforcement purpose and that the provisions of the bill are declarative of existing law.

H.B. 1780

Patron: Gilbert

Communications intercepts by the Attorney General.  Broadens the jurisdictional scope of a court issuing an order for a communications intercept sought by the Attorney General so that the order may be issued by the court in the jurisdiction where the crime occurs or where the intercept occurs. The bill also extends the timeline for submission of reports to the federal government regarding such intercepts, to accommodate intercepts not fully concluded by the end of the calendar year.

H.B. 1783

Patron: Gilbert

Juvenile records; confidentiality. Clarifies that the Department of Juvenile Justice may share confidential juvenile records with persons, agencies, and institutions having a legitimate interest regardless of the state in which they are located. The bill also allows the Department to share confidential juvenile records with a requesting party who has custody or is providing supervision for a juvenile and the release of the confidential information is in the interest of maintaining security in a secure facility in a state other than Virginia provided it meets that state's definition of "secure facility."

H.B. 1877

Patron: Filler-Corn

Immunity of officers, etc. of nonprofits; dissolution.  Provides that the immunity from civil liability the directors and other officers of tax exempt organizations enjoy for acts taken in their official capacities shall survive the dissolution or other discontinuance of the organization.

H.B. 1948

Patron: Villanueva

Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center; review of databases. Changes the requirement that data in the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center databases be reviewed every year to a requirement that it be reviewed every three years. Information that is determined to not be related to terrorist activity shall be removed from the database.

H.B. 1995

Patron: Janis

Child pornography. Provides that a defendant convicted of an offense relating to child pornography shall be ordered to pay restitution to the victim of the offense in the amount of $1,000 per offense and attorney fees and other legal costs. The Commonwealth shall make reasonable efforts to notify victims of any such offense.

H.B. 2032

Patron: May

Electronic tracking devices; penalty.  Provides that it is a Class 3 misdemeanor to place an electronic tracking device in or on a vehicle with the intent to track the vehicle without the knowledge and consent of the operator. The prohibition would not apply to law-enforcement officers, judicial officers, probation or parole officers, or employees of the Department of Corrections in the lawful performance of their duties, to the owner or lessee of the vehicle (unless subject to a protective order) or to parents or guardians of minors.  As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.

H.B. 2157

Patron: Iaquinto

Recognition of foreign adoptions.  Eliminates the requirement for re-adoption in Virginia of a child born in a foreign country who was not a citizen of the United States at birth for whom an adoption has been finalized pursuant to the laws of that foreign country. The bill also establishes a process for requesting establishment and registration of a Virginia certificate of birth for such child.

H.B. 2161

Patron: Iaquinto

Eminent domain; procedures. Provides that if a condemnor is required to provide an appraisal to the owner of property sought to be condemned, the condemnor must provide copies of all appraisals that the condemnor obtained prior to making an offer to acquire or initiating negotiations for the property. The bill also makes changes to the procedure for offering to sell condemned property back to the former owner to clarify when such an offer is required to be made and how such an offer is communicated to the former owner. The bill also provides that certain definitions in certain chapters of Title 25.1 (Eminent Domain) apply to the entire title. The provisions of the bill do not apply to the acquisition of real property by a railroad, public service corporation, municipal corporation, local governmental unit, or political subdivision of the Commonwealth, or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or a combination of two or more such entities, that is (i) the subject of a certificate recorded prior to July 1, 2011, (ii) the subject of a petition for condemnation filed prior to July 1, 2011, or (iii) required to construct a project funded by bonds approved for issuance by a locality prior to July 1, 2011.

H.B. 2162

Patron: Cleaveland

Property transfer; Department of General Services; Mennel Milling Company. Authorizes the Department of General Services to convey certain real property to the Mennel Milling Company located in Roanoke County, Virginia. The property is in exchange for three parcels of land for use by the Virginia Department of Transportation for an area maintenance headquarters to serve the southwestern portion of Roanoke County. The bill includes an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

H.B. 2213

Patron: McQuinn

Driver training standards for law-enforcement emergency calls and pursuits.  Provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall establish training standards and publish a model policy for law-enforcement personnel assigned to vehicle patrol duties that comply with best practices for responding to emergency calls and pursuits.

H.B. 2281

Patron: Cline

DNA data bank.  Modifies the entities to which the Department of Forensic Science may release information from the DNA data bank to include attorneys for the United States Department of Justice and adds that information may be released to further a prosecution, not just an investigation as under current law.

H.B. 2318

Patron: Byron

Electronic notaries. Allows, in the case of an electronic notarization, a notary to notarize a document when the signer is not in the notary's presence if satisfactory evidence of the identity is established. Furthermore, the bill allows satisfactory evidence to be based on video or audio conference technology that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act.

H.B. 2361

Patron: McClellan

Child abduction. Makes it a duty of the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse to maintain close liaison with the National Crime Information Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the exchange of information on children suspected of international travel. Furthermore, the bill makes property used to further the abduction subject to lawful seizure and forfeiture.

H.B. 2373

Patron: Peace

Medical malpractice; privileged communications of certain committees. Provides that nothing in the statute governing privileged communications of certain health committees shall be construed as providing any privilege to any health care provider, emergency medical services agency, community services board, or behavioral health authority with respect to any factual information regarding specific patient health care or treatment, including patient health care incidents, whether oral, electronic, or written. However, the analysis, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and the deliberative process of any medical staff committee, utilization review committee, or other committee, board, group, commission, or other entity, as well as the proceedings, minutes, records, and reports, including the opinions and reports of experts, of such entities shall be privileged in their entirety under the aforementioned statute.

H.B. 2387

Patron: Miller, J.H.

Powers and duties of the Criminal Justice Services Board and the Department of Criminal Justice Services.  Repeals the requirements for the Department of Criminal Justice Services to (i) establish a Crime Prevention Center, (ii) adopt regulations for the implementation of detoxification center programs, and (iii) adopt the "McGruff" symbol and criteria for designation as a McGruff House. The bill also repeals the authority of the Board to provide for the coordination of the operation of a statewide comprehensive criminal justice information system for the exchange of criminal history record information among the criminal justice agencies of the state and its political subdivisions. In addition, the bill provides that the Virginia Law-Enforcement Accreditation Center established by the Department may, in cooperation with Virginia law-enforcement agencies, give technical assistance and administrative support, including staffing, for the establishment of a voluntary state law-enforcement accreditation standard. Under current law, the Department is required to give such assistance and support.