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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2018 SESSION
Chairman: Mark D. Obenshain
Clerk: Hobie Lehman
Staff: Kristen Walsh, C. Quagliato
Date of Meeting: January 24, 2018
Time and Place: 15 minutes after adjournment/Senate Com Room A, Pocahontas Bld
Updated to add SB 526
Patron: Petersen
Service of process on county attorney. Removes the requirement that in an action against a supervisor, county officer, employee, or agent of the county, each member of the county board be served; instead, only the county attorney, or the clerk of the county board if there is no county attorney, and the defendant need to be served.
Patron: Petersen
Uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance policies; bad faith. Provides that if an insurance company denies, refuses, or fails to pay its insured, or refuses a reasonable settlement demand within the policy's coverage limits for a claim for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits within a reasonable time after being presented with a demand for such benefits and it is subsequently found that such denial, refusal, or failure was not in good faith, then the insurance company shall be liable to the insured for the full amount of the judgment and reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and interest.
Patron: Stanley
Sentence reduction; substantial assistance to prosecution. Allows a convicted person's sentence to be reduced if such person provides substantial assistance, defined in the bill, in the furtherance of the investigation or prosecution of another person engaged in an act of violence or for offenses involving the manufacture or distribution of controlled substances or marijuana. Sentence reduction can occur only upon motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth.
Patron: Black
Service of process on domestic limited liability company. Extends to domestic limited liability companies the rules for service of process on a domestic corporation.
Patron: Surovell
Use of handheld personal communications devices while driving. Expands the prohibition on using a handheld personal communications device while operating a motor vehicle to all communications unless the device is specifically designed to allow voice and hands-free operation and the device is being used in that manner. Current law prohibits only the reading of an email or text message and manually entering letters or text in the device as a means of communicating. The bill expands the exemptions to include handheld personal communications devices that are used (i) for navigation or generating audio transmissions when the device is physically mounted to the vehicle, (ii) as a citizens band radio, (iii) by federally licensed amateur radio operators under certain circumstances, or (iv) by an operator who activates, deactivates, or initiates a factory-installed feature or function on the vehicle.
Patron: Edwards
Trust decanting; authorized fiduciary. Reinstates the restriction in Virginia's former trust decanting law that limits the type of fiduciary who may exercise the decanting power to a disinterested trustee. The bill also reinstates the former provisions that state that the decanting power may be exercised by a majority of the authorized fiduciaries and that the court has the power to appoint a special fiduciary to exercise the decanting power. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Lucas
Orders of publication to enforce tax lien; limited-value property. Provides that an order of publication for the enforcement of a lien for taxes owed on real property that has a value of $50,000 or less need be published only once. Under current law, such order is required to be published at least once a week for two successive weeks. The bill further provides that for property that has a value of $10,000 or less, the court may order any alternative form of and forum for publication that will reasonably provide notice of such lien to all interested parties.
Patron: Howell
Marijuana field test; evidence at trial. Provides that a law-enforcement officer is permitted to testify as to the results of any field test approved by the Department of Forensic Science regarding whether or not any plant material is marijuana in any trial for a misdemeanor offense of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Under current law, such testimony is allowed only in any trial for simple possession of marijuana.
Patron: Edwards
Annual reports by guardians; report by licensed physician, licensed psychologist, or other licensed professional. Provides that the annual report that is required to be filed by a guardian with the local department of social services must also include a report by a licensed physician, licensed psychologist, or other licensed professional who has examined the incapacitated person no more than 90 days prior to the end of the applicable reporting period. The bill further provides that a court may issue a summons or motion to show cause why the guardian has not filed a timely annual report upon notification from the local department of social services that such report has not been filed.
Patron: Edwards
Commonwealth's lien for payment of medical services; limitations. Provides that a lien granted to the Commonwealth against any recovery from a third party obtained by an injured person, or the personal representative of a decedent, whose medical costs were paid pursuant to the Virginia Medical Assistance Program shall attach only to the portion of the claim representing compensation for medical expenses incurred by the injured person. The bill further provides that such lien shall be reduced by deducting from the portion of the recovery representing compensation for such medical costs the pro rata share of attorney fees, costs, and expenses incurred by the injured party or decedent.
Patron: Stanley
Suspension of driver's license for nonpayment of fines or costs. Repeals the requirement that the driver's license of a person convicted of any violation of the law who fails or refuses to provide for immediate payment of fines or costs be suspended. The bill provides that the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles shall return or reinstate any person's driver's license that was suspended solely for nonpayment of fines or costs.
Patron: Locke
Decertification of law-enforcement officers; Criminal Justice Services Board; statewide professional standards of conduct. Requires the Criminal Justice Services Board (the Board) to adopt, by July 1, 2019, statewide professional standards of conduct applicable to all certified law-enforcement officers and certified jail officers. The bill requires any sheriff, chief of police, or agency administrator to notify the Board in writing within 48 hours of becoming aware that any certified law-enforcement or jail officer currently employed by his agency has been found to have engaged in serious misconduct. The bill authorizes the Board to initiate decertification proceedings against any former law-enforcement or jail officer who has engaged in serious misconduct as defined in such statewide professional standards of conduct. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2019.
Patron: DeSteph
Rights of persons with disabilities; procedures for certain actions; notice and opportunity to cure. Provides that before bringing a civil action based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier, as defined in the bill, to access into an existing public accommodation, the aggrieved person shall provide to the owners or operators a written notice that (i) provides the name of the individual alleging a failure to remove the architectural barrier; (ii) provides the date, place, and manner in which the aggrieved person discovered the alleged violation; (iii) cites the law alleged to be violated; (iv) identifies each architectural barrier that is the subject of an alleged violation and specifies its location on the premises; and (v) provides a reasonable period for response, which shall not be less than 60 days after receipt of notice. The bill prohibits the aggrieved person from including in the notice a request or demand for money or an offer or agreement to accept money but provides that such notice may offer to engage in settlement negotiations before litigation. The owner or operator may submit to the aggrieved person within the time period either a notice of the correction describing each correction and the manner in which the correction addresses the alleged violation or a notice of explanation if the owner or operator concludes that an alleged violation has not occurred and that a correction is not necessary. The bill defines "aggrieved person" as a person with a disability who patronized or attempted to patronize a public accommodation, encountered a barrier to his access to the public accommodation, and experienced denial of access to the public accommodation based on his disability.
Patron: Stuart
Virginia State Bar; Clients' Protection Fund; sunset. Extends from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2023, the sunset provision on the Supreme Court's authority to adopt rules assessing members of the Virginia State Bar an annual fee of up to $25 to be deposited in the Clients' Protection Fund.
Patron: Petersen
Construction Trust Act. Provides that any moneys paid under a contract by an owner to a contractor, or by the owner or contractor to a subcontractor for work done or materials furnished for or about a building by any subcontractor, shall be strictly accounted for and held in trust by the contractor or subcontractor, as trustee, for those subcontractors who did work or furnished materials, for purposes of paying those subcontractors. Under the bill, any officer, director, or managing agent of any contractor or subcontractor who knowingly retains or uses such moneys held in trust for any purpose other than to pay the subcontractors for whom the moneys are held in trust shall be personally liable to any person damaged by the action and for reasonable attorney fees incurred.
Patron: Petersen
Lease-option real estate contracts; requirements of the owner; default. Establishes contract provisions for when an owner of real property enters into a contract with a purchaser to lease the real property and the contract includes an option to purchase the same property. The bill directs that whenever an owner enters into such contract, he shall (i) ensure that the contract is in writing and recorded, (ii) disclose in the contract all liens on the property at the time of the signing of the contract, and (iii) satisfy any outstanding tax obligations on the property prior to the signing of the contract. If the purchaser defaults, including by nonpayment, the owner shall give written notice of the grounds for default to the purchaser, and the purchaser shall have 30 days to cure the default in order to maintain his right to purchase.
Patron: Chafin
Foreclosure; notice of sale when owner is deceased. Provides that when the owner of a property to be sold by a trustee pursuant to a deed of trust is deceased, the notice of the sale shall be delivered to the last known address of the deceased owner, any personal representative of the decedent's estate, and any heirs of the decedent as recorded in the land records where the property is located.
Patron: Reeves
Malicious bodily injury to or pointing of laser at members of United States Armed Forces; penalty. Adds members of the United States Armed Forces, and members of the Virginia National Guard, to the list of persons the malicious or unlawful wounding of whom, or the pointing of a laser at whom, is subject to an enhanced penalty.
Patron: Obenshain
Electronic case papers; transmission between district and circuit courts. Makes applicable to juvenile and domestic relations district courts current provisions related to electronic case papers and transmission of such papers between the general district courts and the circuit courts by relocating such provisions from a statute specifically addressing general district courts to a statute applicable to all district courts. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council.
Patron: Obenshain
Maximum number of judges in each judicial district and circuit. Increases or decreases the maximum number of judges in select judicial districts and circuits to reflect the number of authorized judgeships recommended by the Supreme Court of Virginia in the 2017 "Virginia Judicial Workload Assessment Report."
Patron: Obenshain
Trespass; electronic device; penalty. Provides that any person who, after being given notice to desist, knowingly and intentionally causes any electronic device to enter the area of a dwelling house of another person or the curtilage thereof with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any other person is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and, upon a second or subsequent conviction, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that anyone who is required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally follow, contact, or capture images of another person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Additionally, any respondent of a permanent protective order who uses or operates an unmanned aircraft system to knowingly and intentionally follow, contact, or capture images of the petitioner of the protective order, or the petitioner's family members, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also repeals the expiration of the prohibition on local regulation of privately owned, unmanned aircraft systems and clarifies that such prohibition extends to all political subdivisions and not only to localities.
Patron: Mason
Computer trespass; penalty. Expands the crime of computer trespass to provide that the prohibited actions that constitute computer trespass are criminalized if done through intentionally deceptive means and without authority and specifies that a computer hardware or software provider, an interactive computer service, or a telecommunications or cable operator does not have to provide notice of its activities to a computer user that a reasonable computer user should expect may occur.
Patron: Obenshain
Personal injury claim; disclosure of insurance policy limits. Provides that in a civil action for personal injuries sustained from a motor vehicle accident, regardless of the amount of losses sustained by an injured person, an insurance company shall disclose the policy limits of an alleged tortfeasor who has been convicted of an offense of driving under the influence within 30 days of a request for such disclosure.
Patron: Obenshain
Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP; duty of in-network providers to submit claims. Extends the duty of in-network providers of health care services to submit claims to an insurer for health care provided to an individual covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP within a specified time period.
Patron: Obenshain
Restitution; collection; Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund. Adds to the duties of the Workers' Compensation Commission in its role as administrator of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund (Fund) the obligation to identify and locate victims for whom restitution owed to such victims has been deposited into the Fund. The bill provides that clerks shall deposit into the Fund on an annual basis restitution collected for victims who can no longer be identified or located. The bill requires that clerks record the receipt of restitution payments in the Virginia Supreme Court's automated information system and that the restitution form used by the court include the victim's contact information, including address, telephone number, and email address.
Patron: Obenshain
Unlawful creation of image of another; incapacitated adult; penalty. Provides that knowingly and intentionally creating a videographic or still image of a nonconsenting person if such person is totally nude, clad in undergarments, or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast or if the recording device was positioned directly beneath or between such person's legs is punishable as a Class 6 felony if the nonconsenting person is an incapacitated adult. The bill provides that any person who, without authorization and with the intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate, maliciously disseminates or sells a videographic or still image of an incapacitated adult who is totally nude, or in a state of undress so as to expose the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Surovell
Electronic transmission of sexually explicit images by minors; penalties. Provides that a minor who (i) knowingly transmits, distributes, publishes, or disseminates to another minor an electronically transmitted communication containing a sexually explicit image of his own person or (ii) knowingly possesses at least one but not more than 10 electronically transmitted communications containing a sexually explicit image of another minor is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Patron: Surovell
Deposition of local governing body. Provides that when a local governing body is named as a deponent, it shall designate one or more members of such body to serve as a deponent on its behalf. The bill provides that such designee and his testimony shall be subject to all of the same duties, responsibilities, and consequences as a corporate or organizational deponent as determined by the rules of court.
Patron: Surovell
Waiver of immunity; insurance coverage. Provides that no person who is sued in a civil cause of action and who is immune from liability under Virginia law may claim such immunity if his actions that gave rise to the civil cause of action would otherwise be covered by an insurance policy.
Patron: Surovell
Statute of limitations; discovery rule. Provides that the period of limitations for filing a cause of action for injury resulting from toxic substance exposure or prescribed or over-the-counter medications accrues from the time the person knew or should have known of the injury and its causal connection to such exposure or medication, respectively.
Patron: Surovell
Expert witnesses; government officer and employees; fees. Provides that no officer or employee of the Commonwealth or of any locality or political subdivision thereof who is called to testify as an expert witness shall charge a fee for providing such testimony, whether at trial or in a deposition.
Patron: Surovell
Denial of motion to compel arbitration; appeal. Provides that no appellate court has jurisdiction to review a trial court's interlocutory order denying a motion to compel arbitration. The bill further provides that an interlocutory appeal shall be permitted if the trial court orders arbitration and dismisses the action or stays the litigation.
Patron: Reeves
Civil action for trespass; vicarious liability. Provides that any person arrested for or convicted of criminal trespass shall be liable for any property damage caused during the commission of such trespass. The bill also provides that any person who compensates another person for such trespass may be held vicariously liable for any property damage caused during the commission of such trespass.
Patron: Reeves
Damage or trespass to critical infrastructure or utilities; penalty. Provides that any person who intentionally destroys or damages any alumina refinery, a chemical, polymer, or rubber manufacturing facility, a transmission facility used by a federally licensed radio or television station, a steelmaking facility that uses an electric arc furnace to make steel, a facility identified and regulated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, a dam that is regulated by the Commonwealth or federal government, a port, a railroad switching yard, railroad tracks, a trucking terminal, or other freight transportation facility, or a facility that is used to furnish cellular telephone or other wireless telecommunications service, is guilty of a Class 4 felony, provided that in the event the destruction or damage may be remedied or repaired for $200 or less such act shall constitute a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Patron: Petersen
Punitive damages cap. Raises the punitive damages cap from $350,000 to $600,000 for any action accruing on or after July 1, 2018.
Patron: Petersen
Line of Duty Act; disabled persons; health insurance. Allows a person disabled in the line of duty to continue to participate in the state or local health plan that he participated in prior to the disability. The bill also allows any natural or adopted child of a deceased person or a disabled person to be an eligible dependent for purposes of the Line of Duty Act, regardless of the date of birth or adoption of such child.
Patron: Stuart
Protective orders; issuance upon convictions for certain felonies; penalty. Authorizes a court to issue a protective order upon convicting a defendant for a felony offense of (i) violating a protective order, (ii) homicide set forth in Article 1 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (iii) kidnapping set forth in Article 3 (§ 18.2-47 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (iv) assaults and bodily woundings set forth in Article 4 (§ 18.2-51 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, (v) extortion set forth in Article 6 (§ 18.2-59 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2, or (vi) criminal sexual assault set forth in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2. The bill provides that the duration of such protective order can be for any period of time, including up to the lifetime of the defendant, that the court deems necessary to protect the health and safety of the victim and may only prohibit (a) acts of family abuse or of violence, force, or threat against the victim or criminal offenses that may result in injury to the person or property of the victim and (b) such contacts by the defendant with the victim as the court deems necessary for the health or safety of the victim. The bill provides that a violation of a protective order issued upon conviction of one of the enumerated offenses is punishable as contempt of court or in the same manner as criminal violations of other protective orders are punished.