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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2021 SESSION
Chair: John S. Edwards
Clerk: John Garrett, Alec Fischbein
Staff: Kristen Walsh, C. Quagliato
Date of Meeting: January 20, 2021
Time and Place: 1/2 hr aft Sen. adj. W. Rm Sci M Register to speak @ GA website
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3
Patron: Stanley
Post-conviction relief; previously admitted scientific evidence. Provides that a person who was convicted of certain offenses, upon a plea of not guilty or an Alford plea, or who was adjudicated delinquent, upon a plea of not guilty or an Alford plea, by a circuit court of an offense that would be a covered offense if committed by an adult may petition the Court of Appeals to have his conviction vacated. The petition shall allege (i) the covered offense for which the petitioner was convicted or adjudicated delinquent; (ii) that the petitioner did not commit the covered offense for which the petitioner was convicted or adjudicated delinquent, nor engage in conduct that would support a conviction for a lesser offense or any other crime arising from, or reasonably connected to, the facts supporting the indictment or information upon which he was convicted or adjudicated delinquent; (iii) an exact description of the forensic scientific evidence and its relevance in demonstrating that the petitioner did not commit the covered offense; (iv) specific facts indicating that relevant forensic scientific evidence was not available or could not have been obtained in the exercise of diligence before the expiration of 21 days following entry of the final order of conviction or adjudication of delinquency or that discredited forensic scientific evidence was admitted at the petitioner's trial or adjudication of delinquency; and (v) that the admission of the discredited forensic scientific evidence or the absence of the newly available forensic scientific evidence was not harmless. The bill provides that if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the admission of the discredited forensic scientific evidence or the absence of the newly available forensic scientific evidence was not harmless, the court may grant the petition and vacate the petitioner's conviction, subject to retrial in the discretion of the Commonwealth. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022, and an expiration date of July 1, 2026.
Patron: Stanley
Medical malpractice; limitation on recovery. Eliminates the cap on the recovery in actions against health care providers for medical malpractice where the act or acts of malpractice occurred on or after July 1, 2021.
Patron: Spruill
Communicating threats of death or bodily injury to a person at any place of assembly, any building or other structure, or any means of transportation; penalties. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who either (i) communicates to another by any means any threat to bomb, burn, destroy, shoot, stab, or in any other manner cause death or bodily injury to persons at any place of assembly, any building or other structure, or any means of mass transportation or (ii) communicates to another by any means information, knowing the same to be false, about any plan to bomb, burn, destroy, shoot, stab, or in any other manner cause death or bodily injury to persons at any place of assembly, any building or other structure, or any means of mass transportation and makes either such communication with the intent to (a) intimidate a civilian population at large, (b) influence the conduct or activities of the government of the United States or any state or local government through intimidation, (c) compel the emergency evacuation of any place of assembly, any building or other structure, or any means of mass transportation through intimidation, or (d) place any person in reasonable apprehension of death or bodily injury through intimidation is guilty of a Class 5 felony. The bill provides that any person younger than 18 years of age who commits such offense is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Obenshain
Execution of wills; witnesses. Requires the witnesses to a will to be disinterested, a term defined in the bill.
Patron: Reeves
Veterans service organizations; paramilitary activities. Exempts members of a Congressionally chartered or officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs veterans service organization when such member is participating in a public ceremony on behalf of such veterans service organization from the crimes of brandishing a firearm and unlawful paramilitary activity.
Patron: Cosgrove
Gifts of real estate; requirements. Prohibits a clerk of court from recording a deed of gift conveying real estate unless it is accompanied by a certified copy of the existing deed showing the name of the current owner of the property.
Patron: Deeds
Standby guardianship; triggering event. Adds the detention, incarceration, or deportation of a parent to the list of triggering events for which a parent may designate a standby guardian to be appointed for the care of the parent's minor child.
Patron: Hashmi
Hate crimes; associational relationships; penalty. Redefines the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense to include a person's actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religious conviction, national origin, gender, sex, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation or a person's actual or perceived association with another person or group of a certain actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religious conviction, national origin, gender, sex, disability, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. The bill adds these categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involves malicious wounding and makes such crime punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years, nor more than 40 years. The bill also redefines these categories for the purposes of reporting hate crimes to the central repository of information maintained by the Virginia State Police, for civil actions to recover damages for vandalism, and for interactive computer service liability.
Patron: Barker
Confidentiality of juvenile court records; exceptions. Provides that juvenile case files shall be open for inspection by (i) the Department of Social Services or any local department of social services that is providing services or care for, or has accepted a referral for investigation and the provision of services pursuant to a request for relief of custody regarding, a juvenile who is the subject of the record for (a) a purpose relevant to the provision of the services or care or (b) the purpose of conducting an investigation or family assessment of child abuse or neglect involving the juvenile who is the subject of the record and (ii) the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services or any local community services board that is providing treatment, services, or care for a juvenile who is the subject of the record for a purpose relevant to the provision of the treatment, services, or care.
Patron: Edwards
Driver's license suspensions; restricted licenses; drug offenses. Authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue restricted driving credentials to individuals with driver's license suspensions resulting from drug-related offenses.
Patron: Edwards
Personal appearance by two-way electronic video and audio communication; entry of plea or nolle prosequi; adjudication of probation violations. Provides that with the consent of the court and all parties, an appearance in a court may be made by two-way electronic video and audio communication for the purpose of (i) entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and the related sentencing of the defendant charged with a misdemeanor or felony, (ii) entry of a nolle prosequi, or (iii) adjudication of an alleged violation of probation. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia and the Committee on District Courts.
Patron: Deeds
Criminal history record information check required for firearm rentals; penalty. Provides that for the purposes of conducting a criminal history record information check for a firearm transfer, the term "rent" includes a temporary change in dominion or control of a firearm for use at or on the premises of a dealer's business location in exchange for money or other consideration. Under current federal law, the rental of a firearm for use on a dealer's business premises is not considered to be a sale, disposition, or delivery of the firearm; therefore, such rental would not allow for a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check to be performed. The bill would allow the Virginia State Police to conduct a Virginia state criminal history record information check instead.
Patron: Marsden
Membership on Criminal Justice Services Board and Committee on Training; law-enforcement training. Requires the social justice organization represented by a member of the Criminal Justice Services Board and a member of the Committee on Training be engaged in advancing inclusion and human rights. The bill contains a technical amendment to compulsory in-service training for law-enforcement officers.
Patron: Deeds
Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Eliminates provisions regarding the rebuttable presumptions against being admitted to bail.
Patron: Morrissey
Assault and battery; penalty. Eliminates the mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months for an assault and battery committed against a judge, magistrate, law-enforcement officer, correctional officer, person directly involved in the care, treatment, or supervision of inmates, firefighter or volunteer firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel. The bill removes simple assault from enhanced punishment and provides that the enhanced punishment applies for assault and battery only when it results in bodily injury. The bill also provides that a jury or the court may find any person charged with such offense where the degree of culpability is slight, due to diminished physical or mental capacity or an autism spectrum disorder, not guilty of such offense but guilty of a simple assault or assault and battery, punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that before any arrest, indictment, or service of a petition in the case of a juvenile is made for an alleged assault and battery against a law-enforcement officer, (i) such alleged assault and battery shall be investigated by another law-enforcement officer who was not the subject of such alleged assault and battery and (ii) the arrest, indictment, or service of a petition shall be approved by the attorney for the Commonwealth.
Patron: Reeves
Use of deadly force by a law-enforcement officer during an arrest or detention. Eliminates the requirements that a law-enforcement officer shall not use deadly force against a person unless he has provided a warning to the subject of the deadly force that he will use deadly force, if feasible, and exhausted all other options or such options do not reasonably lend themselves to the circumstances. The bill shifts these requirements to the factors considered in determining whether a law-enforcement officer's use of deadly force was proper.
Patron: Stuart
Restricted permits to operate a motor vehicle; ignition interlock systems. Provides that in any criminal case where a defendant's license to operate a motor vehicle, engine, or train is subject to revocation or suspension and the court orders a defendant, as a condition of probation or otherwise, to enter into and successfully complete an alcohol safety action program, the court may issue the defendant a restricted license to operate a motor vehicle where the only restriction is to prohibit the defendant from operating a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock system for a period of not less than 12 consecutive months without alcohol-related violations of the interlock requirements.
Patron: Hashmi
Statute of limitations to collect medical debt. Provides that the statute of limitations for an action on any contract, written or unwritten, to collect medical debt, including actions brought by the Commonwealth, is three years.
Patron: Vogel
Arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Provides that an individual who is subject to arrest or prosecution for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; possession of marijuana; intoxication in public; or possession of controlled paraphernalia may be offered a first offender deferred disposition program or drug treatment court docket program if such person is reporting an overdose and seeking emergency medical attention. Under current law, such person would be immune from arrest and prosecution.
Patron: Reeves
Law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies. Provides that any person appointed to a law-enforcement civilian oversight body shall be a citizen of the United States, shall reside in the jurisdiction that he is appointed to serve, shall not have a criminal record, and shall be required to complete (i) a Citizen's Law Enforcement or Police Academy with a basic firearms instruction course conducted by an accredited law-enforcement agency and (ii) one daytime and one nighttime ride-along with each agency that serves under the authority of the locality. The bill requires at least two members of a law-enforcement civilian oversight body to have specialized knowledge in law-enforcement activities or operations. The bill provides that a law-enforcement civilian oversight body shall not have the authority to award or order financial restitution and requires the redaction of all personal identifying information for law-enforcement personnel from all public reports made by the law-enforcement civilian oversight body.
Patron: DeSteph
Abuse and neglect of children; contact with other parent; penalty. Provides that any parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 whose willful act or omission interferes with such child's contact and relationship with the other parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of such child, including unreasonably denying the other parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of such child access to or visitation with such child, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Patron: DeSteph
Criminal history record information check required to sell firearm; National Firearms Act. Provides that a person may sell a firearm to another person without obtaining a criminal history record information check at the point of sale if the sale of the firearm is governed by the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the purchaser has been previously approved pursuant to a background check conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in accordance with the NFA provisions and regulations governing the sale and transfer of such firearm.