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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 25, 2012
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after adjournment/Senate Room B
REVISED -- SB 246 Taken off docket

S.B. 4

Patron: Stuart

Castle doctrine; self-defense and defense of others. Codifies a version of the "castle doctrine," allowing the use of physical force, including deadly force, by a person in his dwelling against an intruder in the dwelling who has committed an overt act against him or another person in the dwelling, without civil liability.

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. 64

Patron: Stanley

Castle doctrine. Encodes a version of the "castle doctrine," allowing the use of physical force, including deadly force, by a person in his dwelling against an intruder in the dwelling who has committed an overt act against him or another person who is lawfully in the dwelling, without civil liability.

S.B. 67

Patron: Stanley

Concealed handgun permit applications; fingerprints.  Removes the option for a locality to require that an applicant for a concealed handgun permit submit fingerprints as part of the application.

S.B. 94

Patron: Edwards

Rules of Evidence; adoption. Provides that the Rules of Evidence (available here ) that have been prepared and adopted by the Supreme Court of Virginia and approved by the Virginia Code Commission shall take effect on July 1, 2012. The bill also repeals current evidentiary provisions in the Code of Virginia that are included in the Rules of Evidence. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.

S.B. 159

Patron: Obenshain

Penalty for subsequent offenses of drug trafficking.  Provides that any person convicted of a second offense of drug trafficking who has also been previously convicted of any violent felony offense set forth in subsection C of § 17.1-805 shall be fined not more than $500,000 and (i) if the maximum term of incarceration for such prior violent felony offense is 40 years or less, sentenced to an additional mandatory minimum term of incarceration of five years or (ii) if the maximum term of incarceration for such violent felony offense is greater than 40 years, sentenced to serve his term of incarceration consecutively with any other sentence of incarceration. The bill also increases the mandatory minimum term of incarceration for a third such offense from five to 10 years.

S.B. 183

Patron: Stuart

Secure remote access fee.  Exempts the Virginia Outdoors Foundation from having to pay the clerk of the circuit court a fee for remote access to land records. Currently, the Office of Attorney General, the Division of Debt Collection, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Rail and Public Transportation are exempt from paying the fee.

S.B. 184

Patron: Stuart

Interpreter appointed for non-English-speaking defendant.  Provides that the cost for an interpreter for a non-English-speaking defendant shall be borne by the defendant if he is convicted of the criminal offense.

S.B. 224

Patron: Herring

Assault and battery of a family or household member; penalties.  Provides for a Class 1 misdemeanor for the assault followed by a battery through the application of physical force against a member of a family or household member. The bill addresses the decision in U.S. v. White from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2010.

S.B. 251

Patron: Obenshain

Certain circuit court fees; judgments.  Provides that judgments for certain circuit court assessments and fees shall be entered in favor of the Commonwealth if not fully paid within 15 days of the date of sentencing. The bill also institutes a fee of $25 for recording an order to celebrate the rites of marriage by a non-minister and a convenience fee for paying court fees by credit or debit card.

S.B. 323

Patron: Carrico

Purchase of handguns; eliminate limitation on handgun purchases.  Eliminates the prohibition on purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period.

S.B. 324

Patron: Carrico

Limitation on administrative actions relating to Firearms Act.  Establishes legislative preemption of any administrative action taken by an administrative body that has the direct or indirect effect of governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof, unless the administrative body has express statutory authority. Under the bill, any administrative action taken prior to July 1, 2012, having a direct or indirect effect of governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof, other than those expressly authorized by statute, is invalid. The bill also requires administrative bodies to take appropriate action to bring any contrary administrative action into compliance.

S.B. 345

Patron: McDougle

Recruitment of persons for criminal street gang; penalty.  Provides that any person who, by telephone or by any electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, solicits, invites, recruits, encourages, or otherwise causes or attempts to cause another to actively participate in or become a member of what he knows to be a criminal street gang is guilty of a Class 5 felony.

S.B. 360

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.

S.B. 379

Patron: McEachin

Firearms transfers; penalties.  Creates a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person who is not a licensed dealer to sell, rent, trade, or transfer a firearm to any other person who is not a licensed dealer. The bill also creates a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person who is not a licensed dealer to buy, rent, trade, or transfer a firearm from any other person who is not a licensed dealer.

S.B. 429

Patron: Ruff

Criminal history record information checks; required forms.  Provides that the form provided by the State Police to be completed upon the sale of a firearm shall contain only the questions specific to Virginia law. The bill also provides that a copy of the consent form required under federal law for the purposes of running a criminal history record information check upon the purchase of a firearm shall be sent to the State Police by the dealer.

S.B. 435

Patron: McDougle

Criminal history record information check; making false statements; penalty.  Provides that any person who knowingly makes a materially false statement on criminal history background check forms required for the purchase and transfer of firearms is guilty of a Class 5 felony. Current law uses the phrase "willfully and intentionally" rather than "knowingly." The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 439

Patron: Obenshain

Medical Fraud Control Unit; appointment of investigators. Authorizes the Attorney General to appoint unit investigators to investigate fraud, abuse, or neglect in the provision of care under the plan for medical assistance. Such investigators would be considered law-enforcement officers and would be sworn to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth through the investigation of medical fraud and abuse. Such investigators would also be authorized to carry a concealed handgun while in the discharge of their official duties.

S.B. 445

Patron: Vogel

Permanent protective orders. Provides a circuit court jurisdiction to hear petitions to modify, dissolve, or extend a permanent protective order if the circuit court issued the order. The bill requires the court, when a protective order is issued, to enter and transfer identifying information to the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) system. Circuit court clerks who are not currently using the Statewide Case Management System are not required to make reports directly to VCIN until July 1, 2013.

S.B. 459

Patron: Herring

Assault and battery of a family or household member by strangulation; penalty. Raises the penalty for assault and battery of a family or household member from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 6 felony when the assault and battery is accomplished by strangling the victim. The bill also raises from a Class 6 to a Class 5 felony the penalty for assault and battery of a family or household member when the perpetrator has been convicted of certain prior offenses and commits the offense by strangulation. The bill also expands the list of prior offenses for which aggravated punishment is authorized to include unlawful wounding as well as malicious wounding.

S.B. 460

Patron: Black

Immigration query at arrest or during detention.  Provides that when a law-enforcement officer lawfully detains a person following a lawful stop, detention, or arrest of such person for a suspected criminal offense or traffic infraction or upon reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and, during the detention, based upon certain prescribed inquiries of the detainee and ICE, the officer forms a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, the officer shall make a reasonable effort during the detention, when practicable, to determine whether the person is lawfully present, unless the determination would hinder or obstruct an investigation. The bill also sets out procedures to be followed by a judicial officer who would make a bail determination for such an arrestee.

S.B. 486

Patron: Newman

Harassment by computer by prisoners; penalty. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a prisoner or a person acting on behalf of a prisoner to use a computer, computer network, or social networking site to harass, intimidate, or threaten a crime victim.

S.B. 547

Patron: Northam

Assault and battery a felony when certain classes of people are victimized; penalty. Expands the class of people for whom, when they are victims of an assault or assault and battery, the offense is punished as a Class 6 felony. The expanded class would include a person employed as a prison contractor as defined in § 53.1-261.

S.B. 548

Patron: Northam

Property conveyance. Authorizes the Department of General Services, with the approval of the Governor and in a form approved by the Attorney General, to convey to the County of Accomack for the nominal consideration of $1, a parcel of land with improvements consisting of approximately 0.83 acres (Tax Map # 86A1-A-11) located in the Town of Accomac.

S.B. 554

Patron: Favola

Transportation or possession of firearms; certain emergency protective orders; penalty.  Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for the transportation or possession of firearms within the residence of the alleged victim by persons subject to emergency protective orders issued as a result of an assault and battery against a family or household member.

S.B. 563

Patron: Ruff

Concealed handgun permits; application procedures.  Alters certain application procedures to obtain a concealed handgun permit, including allowing for the submission of an initial application via U.S. mail. The bill also restricts the clerk and the circuit court from requesting or requiring any information from an applicant other than that which is allowed on the concealed handgun permit application.

S.B. 612

Patron: Black

Transfer of rifles and shotguns.

S.B. 648

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 on or about his person 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 creates a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person who carries a loaded firearm on or about his person 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. The bill contains technical amendments.

S.B. 670

Patron: Garrett

Concealed handgun permits; fingerprint submission upon application.  Removes the provision allowing localities to require a person to submit to fingerprinting upon application for a concealed handgun permit.