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2011 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice
Subcommittee Civil

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

Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: January 13, 2011
Time and Place: 4:00pm/3rd floor east conference room

S.B. 764

Patron: Puller

Adoption of a child; absence of parental consent. Clarifies the standard a court must apply in when determining whether to allow adoption of a child in the absence of parental consent, stating that the court must determine that failure to grant the petition for adoption would be detrimental to the child, and that granting the petition for adoption would be in the best interests of the child. The bill also clarifies that, in cases in which parental consent to adoption is waived due to failure of the parent to contact the child for six months prior to the filing of the petition for adoption, the six-month period must be immediately preceding the filing of the petition.

S.B. 806

Patron: Obenshain

Expert witnesses; literature designations. Provides that if any party, during the direct examination of his own expert witness, intends to rely on statements in treatises, periodicals, or pamphlets previously designated by an opposing party, copies of such specific statements must be provided to all parties within 10 days after receipt of the opposing party's designation unless ordered by the court. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

S.B. 816

Patron: McEachin

Fees for civil cases; judicial salaries.  Increases civil filing fees by $50 to finance judicial salaries.

S.B. 817

Patron: McEachin

Professions; lawyers; client accounts. Repeals the provision prohibiting the Supreme Court from adopting a disciplinary rule requiring that lawyers deposit client funds in an interest-bearing account.

S.B. 820

Patron: Edwards

Mental health courts. Provides that any district court or circuit court may establish a mental health court, which is a separate court docket within the existing calendar of a district or circuit court offering judicial monitoring of the treatment and supervision of certain individuals with mental illness who are under the jurisdiction of the criminal court. The court is required to (i) identify eligible individuals; (ii) obtain services from a willing local community services board or behavioral health authority serving the territorial jurisdiction of the court and which can provide, or contract for, appropriate treatment and services for the offender or, from a program offered to any eligible veteran by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; (iii) maintain court-established treatment and compliance terms of participation; and (iv) monitor adherence to court requirements.

S.B. 827

Patron: Edwards

Electronic notaries.  Provides that a person applying to be commissioned as an electronic notary public is not required to be commissioned as a notary public first. The bill also 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.

S.B. 831

Patron: Petersen

Issuance of civil investigative demands under the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.  Provides that the Attorney General may not issue a civil investigative demand to a Virginia public institution of higher education when the claim relates to a matter of academic inquiry or research.

S.B. 841

Patron: Petersen

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.

S.B. 845

Patron: Petersen

Speech or debate immunity; local officials.  Provides that local officials who are members of public bodies with legislative powers are immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution for any speech or debate engaged in by the officials during the exercise of such powers, and that they shall not be compelled by law to be questioned on such speech or debate in any other place without leave of court. The public body still retains its authority to regulate the conduct of its members.

S.B. 851

Patron: Petersen

Temporary injunctions.  Provides that, in assessing whether to award a temporary injunction, a court shall determine the prevailing party and fashion relief based upon the following factors: (i) the likelihood of irreparable harm to the party seeking the temporary injunction if the temporary injunction is denied; (ii) the likelihood of harm to the party not seeking the temporary injunction if the temporary injunction is granted; (iii) the likelihood that the party seeking the temporary injunction will succeed on the merits; and (iv) the public interest.

S.B. 855

Patron: Wagner

Courthouse assessments.  Allows localities to raise the fee assessed for courthouse construction, renovation, or maintenance above the current authorized amount of $2 once every two years beginning July 1, 2012, based upon the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.  The fee is assessed as part of the costs in civil, criminal and traffic cases.