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2011 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice
Subcommittee Criminal

Reynolds (Chairman), Norment, Howell, McDougle, Deeds, McEachin, Stuart

Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: February 14, 2011
Time and Place: 4:00 PM -- Senate Room A
CHANGE: HB 2032 AND HB 2106 HAVE BEEN ADDED

H.B. 1411

Patron: Wilt

Reckless handling of firearms; revocation of hunting license.  Provides that a person's hunting or trapping license, or privilege to hunt or trap while possessing a firearm may be revoked for a period of one to five years for a first offense of § 18.2-56.1 (reckless handling of firearms) while hunting. Revocation for a person whose privilege to hunt has been revoked who hunts with a firearm will be for a period of one year to life. Currently, the penalties are revocation for a period of one year to life and for hunting with a firearm while the privilege is revoked, an additional period of one to five years.

H.B. 1487

Patron: Hope

Venue for criminal sexual assault coupled with a violent felony.  Provides that, where the attorneys for the Commonwealth concur, venue for the trial of any person charged with committing or attempting to commit (i) a crime against nature, the crime of taking indecent liberties with a child, or a criminal sexual assault under Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 and (ii) any violent felony as defined in § 17.1-805 or 19.2-297.1 arising out of the same incident, occurrence, or transaction may be had in the county or city in which any such crime is alleged to have occurred or in any county or city through which the victim was transported by the defendant prior to the commission of such offense.

H.B. 1515

Patron: Orrock

Traffic lights; enforcement.  Provides that, in addition to observing the violation directly, a law-enforcement officer may detain or arrest the driver of a motor vehicle violating a traffic light signal if the officer observes the violation through the use of a red light activation terminal approved by the Virginia State Police Superintendent.

H.B. 1516

Patron: Orrock

Crimes; assault and battery of ABC agent. Provides for an offender who assaults a special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control because of his employment to be prosecuted for a Class 6 felony.

H.B. 1699

Patron: Athey

Restoration of firearms rights. Requires that an audio recording be made of a hearing requested by a person to restore his right to possess or carry a firearm after being acquitted by reason of insanity, adjudicated legally incompetent or mentally incapacitated, or involuntarily committed for mandatory treatment. In addition, the bill defines "treatment record" and makes parallel the process for the request and conduct of a hearing to restore firearms rights under these circumstances.

H.B. 1776

Patron: Gilbert

Expungement of police and court records.  Provides that dismissed charges may not be expunged if the court found the evidence sufficient to find the person guilty, and that charges that result in a conviction for a lesser included offense or that are subject to amendment or substitution by charge or indictment resulting in a conviction may not be altered or expunged.

H.B. 1777

Patron: Gilbert

Fake birth certificate; penalty.  Provides that any person who manufactures, sells, or transfers a fictitious birth certificate for the purpose of establishing a false identity for himself or for another person is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Current law punishes obtaining, possession, transfer and sale as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

H.B. 1898

Patron: Hugo

Abduction of a minor. Provides that abduction of any minor for the purpose of concubinage, prostitution, or the manufacture of any obscene material or child pornography is a Class 2 felony. The bill also provides that abduction of any adult for the purpose of concubinage or prostitution is a Class 4 felony. The bill also provides that any person who receives any money or other valuable thing for or on account of causing any person to engage in forced labor or services, concubinage, prostitution, or the manufacture of any obscene material or child pornography shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.

H.B. 1993

Patron: Janis

Reckless driving offenses.  Provides that any person who operates a motor vehicle in violation of § 46.2-833 (running a red light) is guilty of reckless driving.

H.B. 2012

Patron: Carrico

Law-enforcement employment; disclosure of juvenile records. Provides that a person who was adjudicated delinquent may be denied employment with the State Police or a local police department or sheriff's office. The bill also provides that juvenile record information may be disseminated to the State Police or a local police department or sheriff's office for the purpose of screening a person for employment.

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. 2059

Patron: Bell, Robert B.

Use of profane, threatening, or indecent language over the telephone; use of cellular telephones and other wireless telecommunications devices.  Clarifies that the current statutory provision prohibiting the use of obscene, vulgar, or indecent language over the telephone applies to electronic communications, including visual or electronic messages, received or transmitted by a cellular phone or other wireless telecommunications device. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.

H.B. 2064

Patron: Bell, Robert B.

Assault and battery of an employee of a prison contractor.  Adds an employee of a prison contractor, as defined in § 53.1-261, to the list of persons who, when a victim of assault or assault and battery, subject the perpetrator to enhanced punishment as a Class 6 felony instead of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

H.B. 2106

Patron: Armstrong

GPS tracking. Allows GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking for persons on bond for a felony or protective order violation or as a condition of probation.

H.B. 2150

Patron: Cline

Court fees; Internet Crimes Against Children Fund.  Amends the fees collected by courts to reflect the adoption in 2010 of an additional $10 fee on felony and misdemeanor convictions to support the Internet Crimes Against Children Fund.

H.B. 2158

Patron: Iaquinto

Bonds in recognizances.  Provides that bonds in recognizances in criminal or juvenile cases, whether the violation is committed against the Commonwealth or the locality, shall be payable to the jurisdiction where the recognizance was taken. Current law provides that such bonds in recognizances are paid to the Commonwealth of Virginia when the violation is committed against the Commonwealth.

 

H.B. 2330

Patron: Lingamfelter

Secretary of Public Safety; information exchange program.  Requires the Secretary of Public Safety to establish an information exchange program with states that share a border with Mexico and Canada. The purpose of the exchange is to aid in the sharing of intelligence relating to international gangs, terrorist organizations, and other illegal activities in the Commonwealth. The Secretary is required to present a plan for establishing the exchange to the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety and the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice no later than October 1, 2011.

H.B. 2362

Patron: McClellan

Restricted license.  Authorizes the court to issue a restricted license to a person convicted of DUI and certain other offenses to travel to and from jail to serve a sentence of confinement in jail on weekends or nonconsecutive days, and to travel to and from the facility that installed or monitors the ignition interlock device in the person’s vehicle.

H.B. 2391

Patron: Albo

Disposition of driver’s licenses upon revocation or suspension.  Provides that the court shall not order the surrender of the driver’s license of a person (i) who is not licensed to drive in Virginia but who has a valid driver's license from another jurisdiction and (ii) whose privilege to operate a motor vehicle is suspended or revoked by a court in the Commonwealth.

H.B. 2396

Patron: Bell, Robert B.

Unlawful solicitation of a child by an adult; penalty. Provides that any adult who, by an offer of something of value or by misrepresentation of his identity, lures or entices a minor who is three or more years younger than the adult to enter a motor vehicle is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. There would be rebuttable presumption that the prohibition does not apply to any law-enforcement officer in the performance of his duties, to any family or household member or guardian of the minor, or to any person who has permission, granted by an adult family member of the minor or the guardian of the minor, to transport the minor.

H.B. 2423

Patron: Cleaveland

Transfer of custody of person suspected of drunk boating.  Reinstates language allowing for transfer of custody of a person arrested for drunk boating. The language was removed, during the 2010 session in Chapter 840, from the statute providing for warrantless arrests and replaced with broader language applicable to arrests for both DUI and drunk boating that allows for an arrest in any location whether or not the offense was committed in the officer’s presence.

H.B. 2450

Patron: Gilbert

Establishment of pretrial services agencies.  Removes the mandatory requirement that any city, county or combination thereof that is required to submit a community-based corrections plan also establish a pretrial services agency, but preserves the permissive authority for any city, county or combination thereof to establish a pretrial services agency.

H.B. 2462

Patron: Habeeb

Certain misdemeanor offenses by minors. Provides that in the case of a misdemeanor violation of § 18.2-250.1 (possession of marijuana) and § 18.2-266.1 (underage drinking and driving) a petition need not be filed if the juvenile is released to the custody of a parent or legal guardian pending the initial court date. Current law provides that no petition need be filed in the case of any violation of § 18.2-266 (DUI) or 29.1-738 (drunk boating).

H.B. 2485

Patron: Miller, J.H.

Reckless driving on parking lots. Expands the list of places where a person can be found guilty of reckless driving to include any parking lot. The current limitation on parking lots is that such lots be "industrial" parking lots.

H.B. 2513

Patron: Gilbert

Inherent authority to defer and dismiss a criminal case.  Provides that no court shall have the authority, upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or after a plea of not guilty, when the facts found by the court would justify a finding of guilt, to defer proceedings or to defer entry of a final order of guilt for more than 60 days following the conclusion of the evidence or to dismiss the case upon completion of terms and conditions except as provided by statute. This is in response to the January 13, 2011, Supreme Court of Virginia decision in Hernandez v. Commonwealth, ___Va.___ (2011); record no. 092524.