SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2011 SESSION
Edwards (Chairman), Quayle, Lucas, Puller, Obenshain, Saslaw, Petersen
Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Stokes
Date of Meeting: January 27, 2011
Time and Place: 04:00pm/ 4 East Conference Room
Please note SB 1268 , SB 1145 and SB 1437 have been added
Patron: Howell
Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act. Establishes a mechanism for resolving multistate jurisdictional disputes regarding adult guardianships and conservatorships. Procedures are provided for determining which jurisdiction is the "home state" having primary jurisdiction, transferring a guardianship or conservatorship to another state, registering orders, and addressing emergency situations. The Act has been adopted in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
Patron: Reynolds
Preliminary protective orders. Makes the prohibition on purchasing and transporting a firearm applicable to persons subject to preliminary protective orders that contain a finding of abuse. Under current law, persons subject to a preliminary protective order are prohibited from purchasing or transporting a firearm regardless of any court finding.
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.
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.
Patron: Deeds
Retired judges; appearing as counsel. Permits retired justices or judges to appear as counsel in cases in courts of the Commonwealth if (i) the retired justice or judge is at least 70 years old, (ii) the retired justice or judge is appearing as counsel, pro bono, for an indigent person in a civil matter, (iii) such civil matter is assigned or referred to the retired justice or judge by a nonprofit legal aid program organized under the auspices of the Virginia State Bar, and (iv) the retired justice or judge is not an employee, officer, or board member of such nonprofit legal aid program.
Patron: Herring
Military parents; delegation of visitation rights. Provides that in cases involving a parent who is a member of the military and who has been deployed on active duty, a court may enter an order (i) delegating the deploying parent's visitation rights with a child to a family member of the deploying parent or (ii) awarding visitation rights to a family member of the deploying parent if the parent had physical custody of the child prior to the deployment and physical custody is awarded to the nondeploying parent or his family during the deployment. The bill also provides that the court may provide for the appearance of parties and witnesses via electronic means and allow affidavits in lieu of testimony into evidence at any hearing under the Virginia Military Parents Equal Protection Act (§ 20-124.7 et seq.).
Patron: McDougle
Transfer fee covenants. Provides that a transfer fee covenant recorded in the Commonwealth on or after July 1, 2011, shall not run with the title to real property and is not binding on, or enforceable against, any subsequent owner, purchaser, or mortgagee of any interest in real property. The bill further provides that any lien purporting to secure the payment of a transfer fee under a transfer fee covenant recorded in the Commonwealth on or after July 1, 2011, is void and unenforceable.
Patron: Stuart
Best interests of the child. Provides that when a court has jurisdiction to resolve a dispute between parents as to how a child shall be educated, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that it is in the child’s best interests to remain in the last educational setting to which both parents agreed.
Patron: McDougle
Master Settlement Agreement; regulation of cigarette manufacturers. Permits a tobacco manufacturer to request removal from the Virginia Tobacco Directory under certain circumstances, such as the cessation of business operations, without penalty. Resellers may continue to vend cigarettes from such a manufacturer under limited conditions. Any manufacturer, wholesaler or retail dealer selling cigarettes for resale of a manufacturer or brand family that has been removed from the Directory shall notify the purchaser, who shall receive a refund. Any failure of the manufacturer to provide the purchaser with the refund shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 for each violation. The bill also extends the safe harbor for selling lawfully stamped cigarettes that have been removed from the Directory from 14 days to 45 days.
Patron: McEachin
Court's jurisdiction to enforce judgment lien through sale of real estate. Provides that a court shall not decree real estate to be sold to enforce a judgment lien if (i) such real estate is used as the owner's primary residence, (ii) such owner has an annual household gross income below $59,000, and (iii) the value of such real estate is not greater than $150,000 based upon the most recent tax assessment. However, this exception shall not apply if the judgment at issue was rendered against the owner of the real estate for the commission of an intentional tort or fraud or the failure to pay a child or spousal support obligation or state or local taxes or levies.
Patrons: Quayle, Martin
Child abduction. Provides that a chief judge shall designate a judge to hear and dispose of proceedings in which a person seeks enforcement of an order for the return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The bill also 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.
Patron: Quayle
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 25 years from the time of the removal of the infancy or incapacity or from the time the cause of action otherwise accrues.
Patron: Reynolds
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."
Patron: Marsden
Crashes on HOT lanes under construction on the Capital Beltway. Requires that when there is a vehicle crash on HOT lanes under construction on the Capital Beltway and the vehicles involved in the crash can be moved and there are no apparent bodily injuries, the drivers must move their vehicles to the nearest designated pull-off area. Failure to do so is punishable by a civil penalty of $100, to be paid into the Highway Maintenance and Operating Fund. VDOT is required to post the bill's requirements on signs along the Capital Beltway in Virginia where HOT lanes are under construction. The bill's provisions expire when HOT lanes on the Capital Beltway in Virginia are completed and the Virginia Department of Transportation accepts the project.
Patron: Norment
Board of Bar Examiners; exam application. Expands the methods of submitting an application to take the bar exam to include third party commercial carriers in addition to mailing using the U.S.P.S.
Patron: Deeds
Hearings in the Supreme Court of Virginia; Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. Clarifies that the hearings allowed under the Constitution related to complaints filed by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission are to be evidentiary hearings and that both the Commission and the judge are entitled to present evidence and argument during such hearings subject to any scheduling orders issued by the Court.
Patron: Vogel
Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. Provides that a designee of the Attorney General may issue civil investigative demands. The bill also provides that information obtained by the Attorney General or his designee pursuant to the issuance of a civil investigative demand may be shared with any qui tam relator if the Attorney General or his designee determines that such information is necessary as part of any false claims investigation. In addition, the bill changes the elements of offenses that make persons liable to the Commonwealth under the Act. Under current law, a person is civilly liable to the Commonwealth if he (i) knowingly presents to an officer or employee of the Commonwealth a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval; (ii) knowingly makes a false record to get a false or fraudulent claim paid or approved by the Commonwealth; (iii) has possession of property used by the Commonwealth and, intending to defraud the Commonwealth, knowingly delivers less property than the amount for which the person receives a certificate or receipt; or (iv) conspires to do any act described in clauses (i) through (iii). Under the bill, a person is civilly liable to the Commonwealth if he, respectively, (a) knowingly presents a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval (regardless of to whom the claim is made); (b) knowingly makes a false record material to a false or fraudulent claim (regardless of whether the claim was paid or approved by the Commonwealth); (c) has possession of property used by the Commonwealth and delivers less than all such money or property (regardless of whether the person intends to defraud the Commonwealth); or (d) conspires to do any act described in clauses (a) through (c).
Patron: Martin
Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement; bond requirements; escrow payments by certain manufacturers. Requires that the bond posted by manufacturers for inclusion in the Directory be equal to the greater of $50,000 or the escrow amount the manufacturer was required to deposit based on its highest calendar year's sales in Virginia. Under current law, the bond amount to be posted is the greater of $50,000 or the escrow amount the manufacturer was required to deposit based on its previous calendar year's sales in Virginia. The bill also adds nonparticipating manufacturers that have been designated by the Attorney General as an elevated risk to the list of those manufacturers that may be required to make escrow payments on a quarterly rather than an annual basis.
Patron: McEachin
Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. Repeals the authority of the Attorney General to issue civil investigative demands.
Patron: Marsden
Common interest communities; payment of resale disclosure packet fees. Decreases from 90 to 30 days, where settlement does not occur, the time when a seller of a condominium unit or lot will be responsible for the payment of all allowable fees related to the preparation of the disclosure packet provided by the association.
Patron: Herring
Common interest communities; rules violations; jurisdiction of general district courts. Empowers the court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party if a lawsuit results from the assessment of charges for a rules violation by an owner. The court may also order the violating owner to abate or remedy the violation. Finally, a general district court may enter default judgment against an owner on the association's sworn affidavit. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Herring
Medical malpractice actions. Changes from 10 business days to 21 days the number of days after receipt of written request of a defendant in which the plaintiff must provide the defendant with a certification form that affirms that the plaintiff had obtained the necessary certifying expert opinion at the time service was requested or affirms that the plaintiff did not need to obtain a certifying expert witness opinion. The bill further provides that this certification form is not necessary if the complaint, counter claim, or third party claim contains the foregoing affirmation.
Patron: Locke
Electronic filing in civil or criminal proceedings. Provides that clerks may charge a fee of $25 for civil or criminal proceedings filed electronically and an additional $10 fee for subsequent filings in such proceedings. The fee will be deposited into the clerk's local fund to cover operational expenses of the electronic filing system. The bill clarifies that clerks may provide official certificates and certified copies of records that contain personal identifying information electronically upon request of a party or attorney. The bill also confirms the clerks' authority to charge a fee for electronic notarization of $25 per notarization consistent with the fees allowed for notarization under Title 47.1 (Notaries and Out-of-State Commissioners) and raises from $5 to $25 the maximum fee per official certificate accompanying certified records. The bill also makes various changes to clerks' duties regarding electronic filing.
Patron: Stanley
Interlocutory appeal; sovereign immunity. Provides that the Commonwealth or any agency, instrumentality, political subdivision, or agent or employee thereof, have an appeal of right to the Supreme Court of Virginia of any order denying a plea of sovereign immunity entered in a civil action prior to the commencement of trial.
Patron: McEachin
Law-enforcement officer; definition. Expands the definition of law-enforcement officer under the Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act to include a uniformed corrections employee of the Department of Corrections, regardless of the officer’s authority to make arrests.
Patron: Deeds
Child pornography; civil action. Creates a civil cause of action for victims of child pornography that entitles them to recover compensatory damages together with the costs of litigation. Punitive damages may also be awarded if an award of compensatory damages is made. Such actions are subject to a two-year limitations period from the later of the conclusion of a related criminal case or the notification of the victim by a member of a law-enforcement agency of the offense. The bill also provides for an additional $100 fee to be assessed upon conviction for a violation of § 18.2-374.1 (production, etc., or child pornography) or 18.2-374.1:1 (possession, etc., of child pornography).
Patron: Smith
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.
Patron: McDougle
Motor vehicle dealers and manufacturers. Clarifies the time within which a dealer may request a hearing before the DMV Commissioner in the event of a dispute with a manufacturer.
Patron: Marsden
Collection of fines, costs, and fees, etc. Requires the cost of collecting fines, costs, and fees be added to the total amounts due instead of paid from amounts collected. The bill also allows the Department of Taxation’s fee to localities for collecting fines, costs, and fees to be added to the total amounts due.