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2015 SESSION

14100977D
SENATE BILL NO. 553
Offered January 8, 2014
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 9 of Title 9.1 a section numbered 9.1-923, relating to the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry; certain notifications.
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Patron-- Marsden
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Chapter 9 of Title 9.1 a section numbered 9.1-923 as follows:

§ 9.1-923. Notification and publication of laws affecting persons for whom registration is required.

The Attorney General shall prepare a pamphlet listing and summarizing all laws containing requirements and prohibitions affecting persons solely because they are persons for whom registration is required. The summaries shall be written in plain English as much as possible. For the purposes of this section "plain English" means written in nontechnical, readily understandable language using words of common everyday usage and avoiding legal terms and phrases or other terms and words of art whose usage or special meaning primarily is limited to a particular field or profession.

The Attorney General shall update the pamphlet on or before August 1 of each year, shall highlight any changes in the law, and shall communicate the pamphlet to the Department of State Police and the Department of Corrections. The Department of State Police shall annually distribute the pamphlet to each person required to register for whom the Department of State Police is required to physically verify the registration information, and the Department of Corrections shall annually distribute the pamphlet to each person required to register who is under the control of the Department of Corrections or community supervision as defined in § 53.1-1. The Department of State Police shall annually publish the pamphlet on its publicly available website. No civil liability shall attach to the Attorney General, Department of State Police, or Department of Corrections for failure to comply with the provisions of this section, and failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not constitute a defense to any criminal charge or other requirement or prohibition imposed on a person for whom registration is required.