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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 15, 2012
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after adjournment - Senate Room B, GAB

H.B. 14

Patron: Habeeb

Immunity for persons acting in defense of property.  Provides civil immunity for an occupant of a dwelling who uses any degree of physical force while engaged in the defense of his dwelling when (i) the other person has unlawfully entered the dwelling and committed an overt act toward the occupant or another person in the dwelling and (ii) the occupant reasonably believes that he or another person in the dwelling is in imminent danger of bodily injury.

H.B. 22

Patron: Cole

Disposition of firearms.  Provides that no locality may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the locality unless the governing body of the locality has enacted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the locality. The ordinance shall require that such firearms shall be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer.

H.B. 25

Patron: Cole

Concealed handgun permits; confidentiality of permittee information.  Prohibits the clerk of the court from disclosing information contained on a concealed handgun permit application or on an order issuing a concealed handgun permit.

H.B. 26

Patron: Cole

Failure to carry concealed handgun permit; penalty.  Provides that failure to produce, upon demand of a law-enforcement officer, a concealed handgun permit and a government-issued photo identification while carrying a concealed handgun is punishable by a $25 civil penalty. A court may waive this penalty if the person presents a valid concealed handgun permit and government-issued photo identification to the court. The bill also introduces an affirmative defense of having a valid concealed handgun permit to a charge of violating the concealed weapons statute with a handgun.

H.B. 48

Patron: Bell, Richard P.

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.

H.B. 77

Patron: Habeeb

Sentencing proceeding by the jury after conviction.  Provides that criminal sentencing by a jury shall be done by a different jury when the original jury cannot agree on punishment, unless the parties and the court agree to sentencing by the court.

H.B. 173

Patron: Loupassi

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.

H.B. 273

Patron: Peace

Department of Criminal Justice Services; minimum training standards; juvenile correctional officers.  Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Criminal Justice Services Board to provide compulsory minimum entry-level training standards for juvenile correctional officers.

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. 286

Patron: Iaquinto

Previous garnishments; costs.  Allows costs incurred by a judgment creditor in connection with a prior garnishment to be collected in a subsequent garnishment attempt that is based on the same judgment. This bill applies to all garnishment summonses issued on or after January 1, 2007.

H.B. 375

Patron: Pogge

Control of firearms by localities; workplace rules.  Prohibits localities from adopting a workplace rule that prevents an employee from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in his locked motor vehicle. The firearm must be in a secured container or compartment in the vehicle.

H.B. 463

Patron: Byron

Legal custody of juveniles in custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.  Clarifies that commitment of a child by a court to the Department of Juvenile Justice is a transfer of legal custody if, at the time of commitment, the child is in foster care.

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. 556

Patron: Albo

Internet publication of personal information of certain public officials prohibited.  Prohibits publication on the Internet of the personal information of certain public officials by the Commonwealth. The bill provides a court process for these public officials to protect their personal information. The bill defines the terms "Commonwealth," "personal information," and "public official." The bill contains technical amendments.

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. 754

Patron: Cline

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.

H.B. 770

Patron: Landes

Protective orders against law-enforcement officers.  Provides that no emergency protective order may be issued against a law-enforcement officer for any action arising out of the performance of his duties.

H.B. 856

Patron: Yost

Critical incident stress management teams; privileged information.  Provides that information communicated to critical incident stress management team members by public safety personnel who are the subjects of peer support services shall not be disclosed. The bill allows the public safety personnel to waive the privilege.

H.B. 915

Patron: Minchew

Habeas corpus; oral argument on the motion.  Provides that in habeas corpus actions, oral argument on any motion shall be heard only at the request of the court. The court shall rule on the record whenever possible.

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. 943

Patron: Lingamfelter

Purchase of service handguns; certain law-enforcement officers. Permits certain law-enforcement officers to purchase their service handgun after 15 years of service. Current law requires law-enforcement officers to have served 20 years before they may purchase their service handgun.

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. 1011

Patron: Ramadan

Abatement of criminal conviction; effect of death of convicted person while case on appeal.  Provides that a criminal conviction shall not abate if a convicted criminal defendant dies at any time following his conviction, and if his death occurs during the pendency of an appeal by him, the appeal is rendered moot.

H.B. 1033

Patron: McClellan

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.

H.B. 1037

Patron: Poindexter

Methamphetamine site cleanup costs ordered paid by defendant.  Provides that if property owned by a person convicted of manufacture of methamphetamine is damaged, destroyed, or otherwise rendered unusable as a result of such methamphetamine manufacture, the court shall order the person to pay the estimated or actual expenses associated with cleanup, removal, or repair of the affected property or, if actual or estimated expenses cannot be determined, the sum of $10,000, to the Methamphetamine Cleanup Fund.

H.B. 1147

Patron: Iaquinto

Garnishment; venue.  Provides that a judgment creditor may institute garnishment proceedings in the jurisdiction where the judgment debtor resides even though the underlying judgment was entered by another court. The judgment creditor must file with the court where the judgment debtor resides an abstract of the judgment rendered, pay all applicable court fees to the court, and file any release or satisfaction of judgment in both courts.