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2020 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Judiciary

Chair: John S. Edwards

Clerk: John Garrett, Alec Fischbein
Staff: Kristen Walsh, C. Quagliato
Date of Meeting: January 20, 2020
Time and Place: 8:00 AM Senate Room A Pocahontas Building
Note start time is 8:00 AM on Monday

S.B. 154

Patron: Stuart

Allowable purposes for restricted licenses. Adds travel to and from the offices of the Virginia Employment Commission for the purpose of seeking employment to the list of purposes for which a court may issue a restricted driver's license.

S.B. 415

Patron: Deeds

Compensation for wrongful incarceration; annuity term. Provides that for a person wrongfully convicted of a felony who receives as compensation an annuity from the Commonwealth the annuity period shall be the person's life expectancy if his life expectancy is less than 25 years. Under current law, the annuity period is 25 years for all such persons regardless of life expectancy.

S.B. 499

Patron: Reeves

Specialty dockets; veterans docket. Provides that any veterans docket authorized and established as a local specialty docket in accordance with the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia shall be deemed a "Veterans Treatment Court Program," as that term is used under federal law or by any other entity, for the purposes of applying for, qualifying for, or receiving any federal grants, other federal money, or money from any other entity designated to assist or fund such state programs. The bill contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY

S.B. 642

Patron: Surovell

Functions of a multi-jurisdiction grand jury; failure to pay wages. Adds the offense of willfully failing to pay wages to the list of offenses that a multi-jurisdiction grand jury is authorized to investigate.

S.B. 681

Patron: Mason

Compensation of experts in criminal cases. Increases from $750 to $1,200 the maximum fee that the court may pay for professional services rendered by each psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, or other expert appointed by the court to render professional service in a criminal case other than capital murder.

S.B. 693

Patron: Obenshain

Common-law defense of intra-family immunity; abolished in certain cases. Abolishes the common-law defense of intra-family immunity for wrongful death actions that accrue on or after July 1, 2020.

S.B. 699

Patron: Obenshain

Juries; fine for failure to respond to questionnaire. Permits a court to fine a person no more than $200 for failure to respond to a request from a jury commissioner or clerk of court containing questions to ascertain such person's eligibility to serve on a jury. The bill provides that prior to assessing such fine, the court may issue a rule to show cause regarding why the person failed to respond to the request.

S.B. 929

Patron: Hanger

Temporary location of district courts for Augusta County and the City of Staunton. Permits the Augusta County General District Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and the City of Staunton Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to sit and exercise full authority in Augusta County on the property on which sits the building formerly used as the Beverley Manor Elementary School. The bill provides that such courts shall continue to sit in such place until other court facilities have been built and fitted for occupation by such courts or until some other place or places are designated by order of the chief judge of the Twenty-Fifth Judicial Circuit.

S.B. 947

Patron: Saslaw

Expungement of police and court records; acquittals. Provides that a court that enters a judgment acquitting a person of a criminal charge shall also enter an order requiring the expungement of the police and court records relating to the charge. Currently, such a person may file a separate petition for the expungement of such records; however, except in certain cases involving misdemeanor charges, the person is not entitled to an order of expungement, and the court hearing the petition must find that the continued existence and possible dissemination of such records causes or may cause circumstances that constitute a manifest injustice to such person before such an order will be entered.

S.B. 973

Patron: Edwards

Maximum number of judges in each judicial circuit and district. Increases from five to six the number of authorized circuit court judgeships in the twenty-third judicial circuit. The bill also increases from four to five the number of authorized general district court judgeships in the twenty-third judicial district.