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- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2011 SESSION
Reynolds (Chairman), Norment, Howell, McDougle, Deeds, McEachin, Stuart
Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: January 31, 2011
Time and Place: 04:00pm/Senate Room A
Patron: Puller
Emergency vehicles proceeding past red lights. Provides that emergency vehicles proceeding past any steady or flashing red signals, traffic lights, stop signs, or other devices indicating moving traffic shall stop must sound a siren, exhaust whistle, or air horn designed to give automatically intermittent signals or bring the vehicle to a complete stop before proceeding with due regard to the safety of persons and property.
Patron: Marsden
Reckless driving; failing to stop at a school bus. Provides that a driver is guilty of reckless driving who fails to stop, when approaching from any direction, at any school bus which is stopped for the purpose of taking on or discharging children, etc., and to remain stopped until all the persons are clear and the bus is put in motion. The current law omits the word "at" in the now corrected phrase "at any school bus" and, thus, gives the sentence, and the law, its intended meaning.
Patron: McDougle
Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center. Allows the Virginia Fusion Intelligence Center to receive and integrate criminal-related intelligence information, not just terrorist-related intelligence, to assist in preventing and deterring criminal activity generally.
Patron: Blevins
Criminal history record information; Department of Rehabilitative Services. Authorizes the Department of Rehabilitative Services 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.
Patron: Barker
Possession of open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle; penalty. Provides that no person shall possess an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area of a motor vehicle upon a public highway of the Commonwealth in other than the manufacturer's unopened, original container. The bill punishes violators with a civil penalty of $25.
Patron: Barker
Texting while driving. Repeals the "secondary enforcement" provisions of the statute prohibiting texting, etc., while driving.
Patron: Barker
Provisional driver's license holders. Makes cell phone use while driving by a provisional driver's license holder a primary offense.
Patron: Barker
Administrative suspension of license. Changes the period of administrative license suspension upon arrest for a DUI from seven to 60 days and, for a second or subsequent offense, from 60 days until the time of trial.
Patron: Hanger
Department of Forensic Science; powers and duties. Provides for the Department of Forensic Science to provide forensic laboratory services upon the request of the head of any private police department that has been designated as a criminal justice agency by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Patron: McEachin
First offense DUI; ignition interlock and restricted license. 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 interlock is imposed only upon a second offense or when the offender's blood alcohol content is above 0.15 percent. The bill also expands the likelihood that a first offender will be issued a restricted license when necessary for the offender's employment.
Patron: Marsden
Pretrial deposition of a witness in a criminal trial. Creates a mechanism for the taking of a pretrial deposition of a witness in a criminal trial who has been shown to the satisfaction of the court to be likely to be unavailable for trial because of sickness or impending death.
Patron: Norment
Reimbursement for law-enforcement training by certain public employers. Provides that whenever a public employer provides law-enforcement training for a person who has been or will be hired as a law-enforcement officer with such employer, and such person terminates his position with the employer to work as a law-enforcement officer within two years of completing the training, then the subsequent employer shall reimburse the former employer the reasonable costs incurred for the training.
Patron: Edwards
Barrier crimes; listing of crimes. Clarifies the individual crimes included in the various barrier crime statutes.
Patron: Vogel
Passing a stopped school bus. Rewrites the Code section that punishes passing a school bus as reckless driving to correct an error in legal construction and to further clarify the language. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Vogel
Electronic tracking devices; penalty. Prohibits a person from placing, through intentionally deceptive means, an electronic tracking device in or on a vehicle. 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 or to parents or guardians of minors. A violation of the section is a Class 3 misdemeanor. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.
Patron: Vogel
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 five years. Information that is determined to not be related to terrorist activity shall be removed from the database.
Patron: Vogel
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.
Patron: Herring
Magistrates ascertaining citizenship of arrested persons. Requires a magistrate or other issuing authority having jurisdiction who issues a warrant following a warrantless arrest to inquire as to whether the arrested person (i) was born in a country other than the United States and (ii) is a citizen of a country other than the United States. The magistrate or other issuing authority having jurisdiction shall make an immigration alien query to the Law Enforcement Support Center of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for any arrested person who responds that he (a) was born in a country other than the United States and (b) is a citizen of a country other than the United States, or for whom the answer to clause (i) or (ii) is unknown. The magistrate or other issuing authority having jurisdiction shall communicate the results of any immigration alien query to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police in a format approved by the Exchange. The information received by the Central Criminal Records Exchange concerning the person's immigration status shall be recorded in the arrested person's criminal history record. Under current law, sheriffs and jail officers have the above duties when a person is taken into custody at their jails.
Patron: Norment
Wireless telecommunications devices in motor vehicles. Extends prohibition on use of wireless telecommunications devices in motor vehicles to initiating or answering a call on such device, unless the device is configured for hands-free operation and is being used in the hands-free mode. The bill also provides for graduated penalties for violations.
Patron: McEachin
Firearms; alcohol; penalties. Provides that it is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person who is under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs to carry a loaded firearm in a public place and that a person found guilty is ineligible to apply for a concealed handgun permit for a period of five years. The bill also makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person to carry a loaded firearm onto the premises of any restaurant or club licensed to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption and consume an alcoholic beverage while on the premises.