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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: February 24, 2020
Time and Place: 8:00 AM Senate Room A Pocahontas Building

H.B. 2

Patron: Plum

Firearm transfers; criminal history record information checks; penalty. Requires a background check for any firearm transfer and directs the Department of State Police (the Department) to establish a process for transferors to obtain such a check from licensed firearms dealers. A transferor who sells a firearm to another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that a transferee who receives a firearm from another person without obtaining the required background check is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts transfers (i) between immediate family members; (ii) that occur by operation of law; (iii) by the executor or administrator of an estate or by the trustee of a testamentary trust; (iv) at firearms shows in accordance with law; (v) that are part of a buy-back or give-back program; (vi) of antique firearms; (vii) that occur at a shooting range, shooting gallery, or any other area designed for the purpose of target shooting, for use during target practice, a firearms safety or training course or class, a shooting competition, or any similar lawful activity; or (viii) that are temporary transfers that (a) occur within the continuous presence of the owner of the firearm or (b) are necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. The bill removes the provision that makes background checks of prospective purchasers or transferees at firearms shows voluntary. The bill also provides that the Department shall have three business days to complete a criminal history record information check before a firearm may be transferred. The bill establishes an appropriation for the fiscal impact of the bill and authorizes the Director of the Department of Planning and Budget to allocate such appropriation among the agencies and programs impacted by the bill. This bill incorporates HB 355.

H.B. 9

Patron: Bourne

Reporting lost or stolen firearms; civil penalty. Requires that, if a firearm is lost or stolen from a person who lawfully possessed it, such person shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to any local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police within 24 hours after such person discovers the loss or theft or is informed by a person with personal knowledge of the loss or theft. The bill requires the relevant law-enforcement agency to enter the report information into the National Crime Information Center. A violation is punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $250. The bill provides that a person who, in good faith, reports the loss or theft is immune from criminal or civil liability for acts or omissions that result from the loss or theft. The immunity does not apply to a person who knowingly gives a false report. The bill does not apply to the loss or theft of an antique firearm.

H.B. 264

Patron: Lopez

Concealed handgun permits; demonstration of competence. Removes the option for concealed handgun permit applicants to demonstrate competence with a handgun by completing an electronic, video, or online course. The bill also removes all references to the National Rifle Association from the demonstration of competence provisions.

H.B. 421

Patron: Price

Control of firearms by localities. Grants localities authority to adopt or enforce an ordinance, resolution, or motion governing the possession, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof in the locality. Various provisions limiting such authority are repealed. Provisions limiting the authority of localities and state governmental entities to bring lawsuits against certain firearms manufacturers and others are also repealed.

The bill also provides an exception to the requirement that an ordinance enacted regarding the disposition of certain firearms acquired by localities must provide that any firearm received be offered for sale by public auction or sealed bids to a person licensed as a dealer. The bill allows such ordinance to provide that if the individual surrendering the firearm requests in writing that the firearm be destroyed, then such firearm will be destroyed by the locality.

H.B. 673

Patron: Mullin

Cruelty to children; penalty. Increases the penalty from a Class 6 felony to a Class 4 felony for any person employing or having custody of a child to willfully cause or permit such child to be tortured physically or psychologically, tormented, mutilated, beaten, or cruelly treated. The bill includes such offense in the definition of "violent felony" for purposes of determining felony sentencing guidelines. The bill also includes willful and negligent acts of cruelty and injuries to children in offenses prohibiting a person from operating or residing in a family day home and provides that a conviction is a barrier crime for persons providing care to certain children or the elderly or disabled.

H.B. 674

Patron: Sullivan

Firearms; removal from persons posing substantial risk; penalties. Creates a procedure by which any attorney for the Commonwealth or any law-enforcement officer may apply to a general district court, circuit court, or juvenile and domestic relations district court judge or magistrate for an emergency substantial risk order to prohibit a person who poses a substantial risk of injury to himself or others from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. If an emergency substantial risk order is issued, a judge or magistrate may issue a search warrant to remove firearms from such person. An emergency substantial risk order shall expire on the fourteenth day following issuance of the order. The bill requires a court hearing in the circuit court for the jurisdiction where the order was issued within 14 days from issuance of an emergency substantial risk order to determine whether a substantial risk order should be issued. Seized firearms shall be retained by a law-enforcement agency for the duration of an emergency substantial risk order or a substantial risk order or, for a substantial risk order and with court approval, may be transferred to a third party 21 years of age or older chosen by the person from whom they were seized. The bill allows the complainant of the original warrant to file a motion for a hearing to extend the substantial risk order prior to its expiration. The court may extend the order for a period not longer than 180 days. The bill provides that persons who are subject to a substantial risk order, until such order has been dissolved by a court, are guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor for purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm; are disqualified from having a concealed handgun permit; and may not be employed by a licensed firearms dealer. The bill also provides that a person who transfers a firearm to a person he knows has been served with a warrant or who is the subject of an order is guilty of a Class 4 felony. The bill creates a computerized substantial risk order registry for the entry of orders issued pursuant to provisions in the bill.

H.B. 812

Patron: Ward

Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgun purchases; penalty. Prohibits any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period and makes such an offense a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill exempts from this provision (i) persons who have been issued a certificate by the Department of State Police under certain circumstances and with an enhanced background check, (ii) law-enforcement agencies and officers, (iii) state and local correctional facilities, (iv) licensed private security companies, (v) persons whose handgun has been stolen or irretrievably lost or who are trading in a handgun, and (vi) purchases of antique firearms. This bill incorporates HB 1502.

H.B. 863

Patron: Levine

Persons other than ministers who may celebrate rites of marriage; filing of the marriage record. Provides that a marriage license application shall allow parties to a marriage to designate an officiant to celebrate the rites of marriage, provided that such officiant is not younger than 18 years of age and is not a party to the marriage. The bill provides that a license issued with such designation shall serve as authorization for such officiant to celebrate the rites of marriage anywhere in the Commonwealth without the necessity of bond or further order of authorization. The bill removes the bond requirement for a person chosen by a religious society having no ordained minister to complete the certification of marriage. The bill further removes confinement in jail from the penalty for celebrating a marriage without a license. The bill also removes confinement in jail from the penalty for a clerk knowingly issuing a marriage license contrary to law. The bill further allows either the officiant or a party to the marriage to file the marriage record with the State Registrar within five days after the ceremony. Under current law, the officiant is required to file such a record, but a party to the marriage is not allowed to do so.

H.B. 873

Patron: Bourne

Discovery in criminal cases. Establishes requirements and procedures for discovery by an accused and by the Commonwealth in a criminal case. The bill requires a party requesting discovery to request that the other party voluntarily comply with such request prior to filing any motion before a judge. Upon receiving a negative or unsatisfactory response, or upon the passage of seven days following the receipt of the request without response, the party requesting discovery may file a motion for discovery with the court. The bill details information that is subject to discovery and provides that discovery shall be provided at a reasonable time before trial but that in no case shall it be provided later than (i) 14 days before trial on a misdemeanor in circuit court, (ii) 30 days before trial on a felony or multiple felony counts punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for an aggregate of 30 years or less, or (iii) 90 days before trial on a felony or multiple felony counts punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for an aggregate of more than 30 years. The bill also provides a mechanism for redaction of certain personal identifying information and creates a procedure for either party to move the court to enter a protection order with regard to discovery. Finally, the bill grants the court the ability to impose various remedies it deems just if a party fails to comply with any of the requirements. This bill incorporates HB 1153.

H.B. 1004

Patron: Mullin

Protective orders; possession of firearms; surrender or transfer of firearms; penalty. Prohibits any person subject to a permanent protective order (i.e., a protective order with a maximum duration of two years) from knowingly possessing a firearm while the order is in effect, provided that for a period of 24 hours after being served with a protective order such person may continue to possess such firearm for the purposes of selling or transferring it to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm. A violation of this provision is a Class 6 felony. The bill also provides that a court shall order a person subject to a permanent protective order to (i) within 24 hours, surrender any firearm possessed by such person to a designated local law-enforcement agency or sell or transfer any firearm possessed by such person to a dealer or to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm and (ii) certify in writing that such person does not possess any firearms or that all firearms possessed by such person have been surrendered, sold, or transferred and file such certification with the clerk of the court that entered the protective order within 48 hours after being served with a protective order. The bill provides that any person who fails to certify in writing in accordance with this section that all firearms possessed by such person have been surrendered, sold, or transferred or that such person does not possess any firearms is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill provides procedures for designating a local law-enforcement agency to receive and store firearms, as well as a process to return such surrendered firearms. The bill also makes it a Class 4 felony for any person to sell, barter, give, or furnish any firearm to any person he knows is prohibited from possessing or transporting a firearm who is the subject to a permanent protective order. This bill incorporates HB 856.

 

H.B. 1080

Patron: Hope

Firearms or other weapons on school property. Provides that no school board may authorize or designate any person to possess a firearm on school property other than those persons expressly authorized by statute. The bill also clarifies that no exemption exists for a special conservator of the peace to possess a firearm or other weapon on school property.

H.B. 1083

Patron: Hayes

Allowing access to firearms by minors; penalty. Provides that any person who recklessly leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any person under the age of 18 is guilty of a Class 6 felony. Current law provides that any person who recklessly leaves a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of 14 is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. This bill incorporates HB 463 and HB 72.

H.B. 1182

Patron: Watts

Protective order; family abuse; financial relief; temporary spousal support. Allows the court to order the respondent in a protective order issued in a case of family abuse to order financial or other relief for the protection or well-being of the petitioner. The bill further allows a court to issue a temporary spousal support order for support of the petitioner in conjunction with the issuance of such a protective order.

H.B. 1250

Patron: Torian

Community Policing Act; data collection and reporting requirement. Prohibits law-enforcement officers and State Police officers from engaging in bias-based profiling, defined in the bill, in the performance of their official duties. The bill directs the Department of State Police to create the Community Policing Reporting Database into which sheriffs, police forces, and State Police officers report certain data pertaining to motor vehicle or investigatory stops. The Department is directed to use the database to collect and analyze motor vehicle and investigatory stops and records of complaints alleging the use of excessive force. The data analysis shall be used to determine the existence and prevalence of the practice of bias-based profiling and the prevalence of complaints alleging the use of excessive force. The bill requires that each time a local law-enforcement officer or State Police officer stops a driver of a motor vehicle the officer collect the following data: (i) the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the person stopped; (ii) the reason for the stop; (iii) the location of the stop; (iv) whether a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or whether any persons were arrested; (v) if a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the warning provided, violation charged, or crime charged; and (vi) whether the vehicle or any person was searched. Each state and local law-enforcement agency shall also collect and report to the State Police the number of complaints the agency receives alleging the use of excessive force. The Superintendent of State Police shall annually report the findings and recommendations resulting from the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data from the Database to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Attorney General beginning July 1, 2021. The report shall include information regarding any state or local law-enforcement agency that has failed or refused to report the required data to the Department of State Police. A copy of the report shall be provided to each attorney for the Commonwealth of the county or city in which a reporting law-enforcement agency is located.

H.B. 1271

Patron: Hodges

Conveyance of right-of-way usage to certain nonpublic service companies. Allows a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization to obtain a land use permit from the Department of Transportation to use rights-of-way to operate a wholesale open-access fiber network.

H.B. 1288

Patron: Murphy

Purchase, possession, or transportation of firearms following conviction for assault and battery of a family or household member; permit to restore rights; penalties. Prohibits a person who has been convicted of stalking, sexual battery, assault and battery of a family or household member, or assault and battery when the person intentionally selects the person against whom a simple assault is committed because of his race, religious conviction, color, or national origin from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm. A person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill provides for a process by which a person convicted of such crime may petition the circuit court for a reinstatement of his right to possess or transport a firearm and the factors a court shall consider in determining such reinstatement. This bill incorporated HB 78, HB 900, and HB 459.

H.B. 1300

Patron: Hurst

Virginia Public Procurement Act; statute of limitations on performance bonds; statute of limitations on construction contracts and architectural and engineering contracts. Provides that an action against the surety on a performance bond shall be brought within five years after the completion of the contract. The bill further provides that the statute of limitations on construction contracts and architectural and engineering contracts is 15 years after completion of the contract. The bill specifies that completion of the contract is the final payment to the contractor pursuant to the terms of the contract, but that if a final certificate of occupancy or written final acceptance of the project is issued prior to final payment, the period to bring an action shall commence no later than 12 months from the date of the certificate of occupancy or written final acceptance of the project. The bill incorporates HB 847.

H.B. 1359

Patron: Leftwich

Jurisdiction of civil claims; amending amount of claim. Provides that, while a matter is pending in a circuit court, upon motion of the plaintiff seeking to decrease the amount of the claim to within exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction of the general district court, the circuit court shall order transfer of the matter to the general district court having jurisdiction over the claim without requiring a dismissal of the claim or a nonsuit. The bill provides that the tolling of the applicable statutes of limitations governing the pending matter shall be unaffected by the transfer. The bill further provides that, except for good cause shown, no such order of transfer shall issue unless the motion to amend and transfer is made at least 10 days before trial and requires that the plaintiff shall pay filing and other fees to the clerk of the court to which the case is transferred, prepare and present the order of transfer to the transferring court for entry, and provide a certified copy of the transfer order to the receiving court.

H.B. 1380

Patron: Leftwich

Uniform Directed Trust Act. Codifies the Uniform Directed Trust Act, which expressly validates terms of a trust that provide for a trust director, a term that is defined in the Act, and prescribes a set of rules for directed trusts, including allocation of fiduciary duties.

H.B. 1391

Patron: Leftwich

Deeds of trust; fiduciary duties. Specifies that a trustee under a deed of trust has only the duties, rights, and obligations imposed and conferred on it by the deed of trust or by statute. The bill further requires that a trustee shall comply with all restrictive covenants regarding the affordability of the property and that a trustee under a deed of trust is a fiduciary for both the debtor and the creditor. This bill is in response to Crosby v. ALG Trustee, LLC, 296 Va. 561 (2018).

H.B. 1411

Patron: Leftwich

Fiduciaries; good faith reliance on certificate of qualification. Provides that any individual or entity conducting business in good faith with a personal representative who presents a currently effective certificate of qualification may presume that the personal representative is properly authorized to act as to any matter or transaction. The bill further provides that if such individual or entity refuses to accept a certificate of qualification for a personal representative or a guardian or conservator who has been appointed for an incapacitated person, such individual or entity is subject to (i) a court order mandating acceptance of the certificate of qualification and (ii) liability for reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred in any action or proceeding that confirms the validity of the certificate of qualification or mandates acceptance of the certificate of qualification. The bill further provides that any individual or entity shall either accept or reject a certificate of qualification of such personal representative or such guardian or conservator no later than seven business days after presentation of such certificate. The bill specifies certain circumstances under which an individual or entity is not required to accept such a certificate for a transaction.

H.B. 1500

Patron: Collins

Pendente lite spousal support; guidelines. Makes current juvenile and domestic relations district court guidelines for the presumptive amount of temporary spousal support applicable in cases filed in circuit court. The bill also adjusts the guidelines to account for changes to the federal tax code that became effective on January 1, 2019.

H.B. 1501

Patron: Collins

Modification of spousal support. Removes requirement that a stipulation or contract that is executed on or after July 1, 2018, contain specific language, as set out in the Code, stating that the amount or duration of spousal support is not modifiable in order for a request for modification of spousal support to be denied solely on the basis of the terms of such stipulation or contract. The bill instead provides that such stipulation or contract need only expressly state that the amount or duration of spousal support is non-modifiable.

H.B. 1522

Patron: Simon

Forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of crimes; finding of guilt required. Requires that any action for the forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of a crime be stayed until the person whose property is the subject of the forfeiture action has been found guilty of the crime authorizing the forfeiture, regardless of whether he has been sentenced. The bill provides that property may be forfeited even though no finding of guilt is made if (i) the forfeiture is ordered by the court pursuant to a plea agreement or (ii) the owner has not submitted a written demand for the return of the property within 21 days from the date the stay terminates. This bill incorporates HB 225.

H.B. 1530

Patron: Hope

No-fault divorce; corroboration requirement. Removes the corroborating witness requirement for no-fault divorces.

H.B. 1573

Patron: Bell

Rabid animals. Raises from a Class 4 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor the punishment for an owner of a dog or cat who has been ordered to or agreed to confine such dog or cat pursuant to an animal confinement agreement or a plan upon suspicion of the dog or cat having rabies to permit the dog or cat to stray from his premises and such dog or cat (i) bites, attacks, or inflicts injury on a companion animal that is a dog or cat; (ii) kills a companion animal that is a dog or cat; or (iii) bites, attacks, or inflicts injury on a person.