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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: February 13, 2012
Time and Place: 8:00 A.M. -- Senate Room B

H.B. 17

Patron: Kilgore

Electronic filing of search warrant affidavits.  Allows for the electronic filing of search warrant affidavits by means other than the currently authorized electronic facsimile.

H.B. 39

Patron: Tata

Causing telephone to ring with intent to annoy. Provides that the second or subsequent offense of the Class 3 misdemeanor of causing a telephone or digital pager to ring with intent to annoy is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

H.B. 104

Patron: Loupassi

Divorce; service of process; failure to respond.  Provides that if a defendant fails to file an answer in a divorce suit or otherwise appear after having been served with notice of the suit, no additional notice to take depositions is required to be served on the defendant and the court may enter any order or final decree without notice to the defendant. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

H.B. 126

Patron: Kilgore

Use of affidavits in no-fault divorce cases.  Allows parties to submit evidence supporting the grounds for a no-fault divorce by affidavit or deposition, without leave of court, in lieu of oral testimony where (i) the parties have resolved all issues by a written settlement agreement, (ii) there are no issues other than the grounds of the divorce itself to be adjudicated, or (iii) the adverse party has been properly served and has failed to file a responsive pleading or make an appearance as required by law. The bill sets out the required contents of both the affidavit of a party and the affidavit of a corroborating witness.

H.B. 134

Patron: Kilgore

Court distributions; dollar limits. Increases from $15,000 to $25,000 the amount of money or property that a court may distribute without the necessity of qualification as a fiduciary in cases involving (i) funds paid into court and (ii) funds or property due a person under a disability for whom a fiduciary has not been appointed. The bill also increases from $15,000 to $25,000 the amount of money or property that a fiduciary may distribute upon approval of the commissioner of accounts. The bill also authorizes the circuit courts to allow a fiduciary to continue to administer a fund not exceeding $25,000 (up from $15,000) without filing further accountings.

H.B. 229

Patron: Habeeb

Doctrine of necessaries.  Provides that a lien arising out of a judgment under the doctrine of necessaries shall not attach to the principal residence of a husband and wife that was held by the spouses as tenants by the entireties prior to the death of either spouse where the tenancy terminated as a result of such death.

H.B. 240

Patron: Cline

Amherst County; conveyance of certain property by DCR. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to convey a 31.153-acre parcel at State Route 1004 to Amherst County while requiring that the land remain open to the public.

H.B. 278

Patron: Iaquinto

Bonds in recognizances; how payable.  Provides that bonds in recognizances in criminal or juvenile cases are payable to the county or city where the case is prosecuted, not the locality where the recognizance was taken.

H.B. 280

Patron: Iaquinto

Correcting errors in deeds; affidavit. Allows, in the event that a recorded deed or other instrument contains an obvious description error, the recordation of a corrective affidavit by an attorney, settlement agent, or title insurance company involved in the transaction that resulted in the recordation of the deed or other instrument needing correction. Obvious description errors include (i) errors transcribing courses and distances, (ii) errors incorporating previously recorded plat or deed references, (iii) errors incorporating tax map or other identification numbers, and (iv) omitted exhibits that supply property parcel descriptions. Before a corrective affidavit may be recorded, all parties to the deed or other instrument and, if necessary, the title insurance company, must be provided with a copy of the affidavit and such parties have 30 days to object in writing to the recordation of the corrective affidavit. If a corrective affidavit is recorded, the title insurance company shall amend the title insurance policy and deliver a copy of the amended policy to all parties to the policy.

H.B. 387

Patron: Gilbert

Fees collected by clerks; payment with dishonored check or credit card.  Increases the fee for paying the clerk of court with a bad check or credit card from $20 to $50, which is the same as merchants may charge for same.

H.B. 521

Patron: Farrell

Indemnifying bond; not required of Commonwealth.  Clarifies that the Commonwealth is not required to give an indemnifying bond that an authority may require before levying an attachment, writ of fieri facias, or warrant of distress on property if such authority doubts whether the property is subject to such levy.

H.B. 635

Patron: Iaquinto

Equitable distribution; change of venue. Provides that, upon or after the entry of a final divorce decree, a court may, upon its own motion or the motion of any party, transfer to the circuit court for the county or city where either party resides the authority to make additional orders to effectuate or enforce an equitable distribution award made in the decree or a stipulation, contract, or agreement that has been affirmed, ratified, and incorporated in the decree.

H.B. 648

Patron: Habeeb

Confession of judgment by a substitute attorney-in-fact. Allows a payee, oblige, or person otherwise entitled to payment under any note or bond to appoint a substitute for any attorney-in-fact authorized to confess judgment. The substitute attorney-in-fact must be specifically named in the instrument appointing the substitute attorney-in-fact, and the instrument must be recorded and indexed. If the note or bond does not provide notice informing the debtor that a substitute attorney-in-fact may be appointed, then within 10 days after the instrument appointing the substitute attorney-in-fact is recorded, the person appointing the substitute shall send notice of the appointment to the debtor.

H.B. 677

Patron: Surovell

Power of attorney; termination.  Provides that an agent's authority under a power of attorney terminates by operation of law if either the agent or principal file an action for separate maintenance from the other or for custody or visitation of a child in common with the other.

H.B. 681

Patron: Surovell

Interest on appeal.  Adds specificity to the description of the time period for which interest is paid on a judgment affirmed by an appellate court to provide that interest is computed from the date of filing the notice of appeal to the date the appellate court issues its mandate.

H.B. 753

Patron: Cline

Juvenile offenses requiring registration; motions by the attorney for the Commonwealth.  Permits the attorney for the Commonwealth to file a motion with the court at any time considering juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent of any offense requiring registration during the time the juvenile is within the jurisdiction of the court. Currently, the law does not specifically address any time frame during which the attorney for the Commonwealth may file the required motion.

H.B. 761

Patron: Lewis

Recording deeds; statement of preparation. Provides that the circuit court clerk shall reject for filing or recording a deed, except for deeds where a public service company, railroad, or cable system operator is either a grantor or grantee, unless it states on its first page that it was prepared either by the owner of the property or by an attorney licensed to practice in Virginia.

H.B. 763

Patron: Lewis

Conveyance of real estate; nonresident executor and testamentary trustee.  Provides that nonresident executors or testamentary trustees under a will probated according to the laws of another state may convey real property located in the Commonwealth under the terms of such will without qualifying as an executor or testamentary trustee in Virginia provided that they have duly qualified under the laws of the state where the will was probated.

H.B. 837

Patron: Hope

Local salary supplements for district court employees.  Clarifies that local salary supplements may be paid to clerks and other local district court employees, excepting district court judges and substitute judges, wholly out of local funds.

H.B. 849

Patron: Johnson

Juveniles held in secure local facility; conduct of hearing.  Authorizes the court to conduct the mandatory review hearing for a juvenile held in a secure local facility via the use of two-way electronic video and audio communication. Such hearing shall otherwise be conducted in the same manner as if the juvenile appeared in person.

H.B. 926

Patron: Lingamfelter

Circuit court clerks; remote access to land records; fees collected by clerks; debit cards. Provides for the acceptance of debit cards in addition to credit cards and allows the clerk to outsource the processing of credit and debit card transactions. The bill also provides that the clerk may charge a convenience fee for processing credit or debits cards of up to $2 per transaction or four percent of the amount paid. Currently, such fee may not exceed four percent of the amount paid. The bill also makes permanent a Prince William program authorizing the clerk to charge a convenience fee of up to $2 per transaction, and a separate per image download fee for access to land records.

H.B. 928

Patron: Lingamfelter

Mechanics' liens; site development improvements. Allows contractors to obtain a mechanics' lien in the amount of the value of the work done or to be done for site development improvements and clarifies that common areas are not to be included in the fraction used to calculate allocation of the contract amount to each individual lot or unit. The bill also specifies that any payment made to the contractor for an undesignated lot shall be applied to any lot previously sold by the developer.

H.B. 948

Patron: Bell, Robert B.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund; crimes included. Expands the category of crime victims entitled to receive compensation from the Fund to include injured victims of felony vehicular hit and run. Under current law, injuries resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle are not covered unless they were intentionally inflicted or resulted from a violation of DUI or DUI maiming.

H.B. 961

Patron: Bell, Robert B.

Shoplifting and employee theft; civil action. Provides that a civil action for shoplifting or employee theft may be initiated or maintained by a merchant even though a criminal action for the same conduct has been initiated. A merchant may not recover the value of the merchandise, or the unpaid retail value of the merchandise if it is not recovered in a merchantable condition, more than once for the same loss if both criminal and civil actions are initiated. However, a merchant may still recover any damages in excess of such value allowed by statute even if a criminal action is initiated.

H.B. 1095

Patron: Herring

Enforcement of support; qualified domestic relations order.  Provides that a court may enforce a support order by entering a qualified domestic relations order or other order designed to attach or garnish pensions and other deferred compensation or retirement plans governed by federal law.

H.B. 1123

Patron: Keam

Dissemination of criminal history record information; state treasurer.  Allows the state treasurer access to criminal history record information for the purpose of determining whether a person receiving compensation for wrongful incarceration has been subsequently convicted of a felony.

H.B. 1201

Patron: Bulova

Exemptions from jury service; foreign service workers; military.  Provides that any member of the armed services of the United States or the diplomatic service of the United States who is serving outside of the United States may be exempt from jury service upon request.

H.B. 1250

Patron: Morefield

Judicial Conference of Virginia; membership.  Adds to the ranks of the honorary members of the Judicial Conference of Virginia the deans of the Liberty University School of Law and the Appalachian School of Law.