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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Courts of Justice

Chairman: Thomas K. Norment, Jr.

Clerk: Angi Murphy, Cheryl Law
Staff: J. French, M. Felch, K. Walsh
Date of Meeting: January 23, 2012
Time and Place: 8:00a.m./Senate Room B

S.B. 16

Patron: Stuart

Indecent liberties; penalty. Raises the victim age for indecent liberties from under the age of 15 years to under the age of 16 years. A person 18 years of age or older who, with lascivious intent, knowingly and intentionally participates in or proposes certain sexual activities with a child under the age of 16 will be guilty of a Class 5 felony.

S.B. 20

Patron: Stuart

Rape accomplished by ruse.  Provides that rape may be accomplished by ruse or trickery as well as, under current law, by force, threat, or intimidation.

S.B. 21

Patron: Stuart

Rape by coercion.  Provides that any person who has sexual intercourse with a complaining witness, accomplished against the complaining witness's will by coercion, is guilty of rape. Currently such an offense must be accomplished by force, threat, or intimidation.

S.B. 23

Patron: Stuart

Adultery and fornication by persons forbidden to marry; penalty.  Provides that it will be a Class 3 felony for parents or grandparents to commit adultery or fornication with their child or grandchild who is younger than 18 at the time of the offense.

S.B. 71

Patron: Reeves

Grand larceny; threshold amount. Increases from $200 to $500 the threshold amount of money or the value of the goods or chattel that the defendant must take before the crime rises from petit larceny to grand larceny. The same threshold is increased for certain property crimes.

S.B. 96

Patron: Edwards

Publication of unlawful photographs; penalty.  Provides that it is a Class 6 felony for a person to publish on the Internet a photograph or video made in violation of the current law prohibiting filming, videotaping, or photographing a nonconsenting person in certain situations where there is an expectation of privacy.

S.B. 108

Patron: Edwards

Power of attorney; embezzlement by agent; penalty.  Emphasizes that an agent who violates the Uniform Power of Attorney Act with the intent to defraud the principal and who thereby converts funds or other property is guilty of embezzlement.

S.B. 127

Patron: Stanley

Sex offender registry; juvenile registration.  Requires registration on the sex offender registry for juveniles who were over the age of 13 at the time of the offense who were adjudicated delinquent on or after July 1, 2005, of rape, forcible sodomy, or object sexual penetration. Information on juveniles adjudicated delinquent does not have to be made available on the public website.

S.B. 150

Patron: Puckett

Presumption of ownership of mineral rights.  Adds the rights to transport coal, gas, and oil to those rights presumed to be held by the owner of the shell. Current law provides only the right to transport minerals.

S.B. 158

Patron: Obenshain

Criminal procedure; admission to bail. Where a person is charged with an offense giving rise to a rebuttable presumption against bail, gives the attorney for the Commonwealth an opportunity to have notice of the bond hearing and the opportunity to present additional facts to the court that the court may need to make a fair decision.

S.B. 180

Patron: Stuart

Protection of certain trustees from liability.  Provides for the protection of a trustee from liability when he follows the directions of a trust director or fails to act while awaiting directions from a trust director. The bill specifies that the trust director must be fiduciary and have the power to direct the trustee on any matter. The provisions of this bill only apply upon incorporation into the trust instrument.

S.B. 222

Patron: Herring

Financial exploitation of certain adults; penalty.  Provides that it is larceny for a person to knowingly, by deception, intimidation, undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress, or misrepresentation, use, obtain, convert, take control of or endeavor to control, the money, assets, property, or financial resources of an incapacitated adult or an adult over 60 years of age, and convert the property to his own use or benefit. If the person is in a fiduciary relationship the penalty is a Class 3 felony.

S.B. 223

Patron: Herring

Synthetic cannabinoids; bath salts; penalties. Amends provisions added to the Code last year regarding the criminalization of synthetic cannabinoids and chemicals known as "bath salts" to add newly identified chemical combinations. The bill adds a more generic chemical description of synthetic cannabinoids so that new combinations will be illegal without the precise chemical combination being added to the Code.

S.B. 270

Patron: Norment

Fiduciaries; permission to notarize a will.  Clarifies that a notary nominated as a fiduciary in a will shall not be disqualified from notarizing a will if he is only named in it for the purpose of being nominated as a fiduciary. Currently, a fiduciary who is named in a will is prohibited from acting as a notary, whether or not he is a party to or has a beneficial interest in the will.

S.B. 273

Patron: Smith

Synthetic cannabinoids; bath salts; penalties.  Amends provisions added to the Code last year regarding the criminalization of synthetic cannabinoids and chemicals known as "bath salts" to add newly identified chemical combinations. The bill adds a more generic chemical description of synthetic cannabinoids so that new combinations will be illegal without the precise chemical combination being added to the Code.

S.B. 285

Patron: Herring

Crimes against incapacitated or elder adults; penalty.  Provides that any person who commits an offense set forth in Chapter 4 (crimes against the person), Chapter 5 (crimes against property), or Chapter 6 (crimes involving fraud) of Title 18.2, knowing or having reason to know that the victim of the offense is an incapacitated or elder adult, is guilty of a separate and distinct Class 1 misdemeanor if the underlying offense is a misdemeanor and a separate and distinct Class 6 felony if the underlying offense is a felony. The bill also provides that if the offender is a person responsible for the care of the victim, punishment shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 30 days if the underlying offense is a misdemeanor and a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months if the underlying offense is a felony.

S.B. 300

Patron: Howell

Protective orders; juveniles; venue.  Makes various changes to the provisions governing protective orders issued by a juvenile and domestic relations district court, including (i) clarifying that only violations related to trespass, criminal offenses, acts of abuse, or prohibited contacts are Class 1 misdemeanors; (ii) clarifying that juvenile and domestic relations district courts have jurisdiction over all protective orders that involve juveniles, whether as petitioner or as respondent; and (iii) allowing judges to prohibit contact between the respondent and the petitioner's family.

The bill also creates a venue statute for protective orders issued under Chapter 9.1 of Title 19.2.

S.B. 371

Patron: Barker

Judicial authorization of treatment; advance directives. Provides that a court authorizing medical treatment for an incapacitated person must do so in conformity with the terms of the person's advance directive. The bill also provides that a court can authorize such treatment for an incapacitated person, despite the existence of an advance directive, where the person authorized to make medical decisions under the advance directive for the incapacitated person refuses or is unable to act or cannot be contacted within a reasonable period of time in light of the immediacy of the need for treatment. The bill also authorizes restraint or transportation of an incapacitated person if necessary for treating a mental disorder or a person subject to an order of involuntary admission.

S.B. 386

Patron: McEachin

Conversion of leased property.  Removes the provision that failure to return leased property to the lessor within 10 days of the giving of written notice that the rental period for the property has expired is prima facie evidence of the intent to defraud.

S.B. 412

Patron: Norment

Sex offender registry; juvenile registration.  Requires registration on the sex offender registry for juveniles who were over the age of 13 at the time of the offense who were adjudicated delinquent on or after July 1, 2005, of rape, forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration.

S.B. 416

Patron: Stanley

Confession of judgment by a substitute attorney-in-fact.  Allows a substitute attorney-in-fact, pursuant to a power of attorney, to confess judgment. The bill requires that a designation of a substitute attorney-in-fact be duly executed and acknowledged and filed by the clerk with the confession of judgment.

S.B. 420

Patron: Marsden

Sex Offender Registry; notification of laws.  Requires the Attorney General to annually compile laws containing requirements and prohibitions relevant to persons who must register as sex offenders and requires the State Police to publish the list on its website.  The State Police must annually distribute the list to persons required to register as sex offenders, unless the person is under the control of the Department of Corrections or Community Supervision, in which case the Department of Corrections must distribute the list.

S.B. 431

Patron: Stuart

Financial exploitation of elderly or incapacitated adults; penalty.  Provides that it is a Class 5 felony to knowingly, by deception, intimidation, undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress, or misrepresentation, use, obtain, convert, or take control of an elderly or incapacitated adult’s property or financial resources with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the adult of the use, benefit, or possession of the property or financial resources. If the violation is by a caregiver or person with a fiduciary relationship it is a Class 3 felony. The bill allows forfeiture of personal property used in connection with the crime.

S.B. 436

Patron: Obenshain

Sex crimes; penalties.  Imposes a mandatory minimum life sentence for rape, forcible sodomy, and object sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13.

S.B. 441

Patron: Obenshain

Special funds for families; Line of Duty Act.  Creates a special fund controlled by the Governor for disbursement of moneys to the beneficiary of a deceased law-enforcement officer.

S.B. 443

Patron: Vogel

Financial exploitation of elderly or vulnerable adults; penalty.  Provides that it unlawful to knowingly, by deception, intimidation, undue influence, coercion, harassment, duress, or misrepresentation, use, obtain, convert, or take control of an elderly or vulnerable adult’s property or financial resources with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive the adult of the use, benefit, or possession of the property or financial resources. A violation is deemed larceny unless the violation is by a caregiver or person with a fiduciary relationship in which case it is a Class 3 felony. The bill also allows forfeiture of personal property used in connection with the crime.

S.B. 555

Patron: Favola

Restoration of parental rights. Creates a procedure for restoring the parental rights to a child's parent whose rights as to that child had previously been terminated, provided certain conditions exist. The petition to restore a parent's rights may be filed by the local board of social services or the child's guardian ad litem jointly with the child's parent. In order to order the restoration of rights, the court must find that such an order is in the child's best interest and that the child has not achieved or sustained his permanency goal and is not likely to do so in the next six months.

S.B. 570

Patron: Ruff

Circuit courts; number of judges; Tenth Circuit. Adds a fourth circuit court judge to the Tenth Judicial Circuit.