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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.
2022 SESSION
Co-Chair: John S. Edwards - Co-Chair: R. Creigh Deeds
Clerk: Sean Sukol, Warda Asif
Staff: Kristen Walsh, C. Quagliato
Date of Meeting: February 9, 2022
Time and Place: 30 min. post-adjourn/Senate Room A. Register to speak at GA site:
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3
Patron: Hanger
Promise to appear after the issuance of a summons. Provides that if any person refuses to give a written promise to appear, the arresting officer shall give such person notice of the time and place of the hearing, note such person's refusal to give his written promise to appear on the summons, and forthwith release him from custody. Under current law, any person refusing to give such written promise to appear is required to be taken immediately by the arresting officer before a magistrate or other issuing officer having jurisdiction.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-311, 19.2-74, 28.2-901, 29.1-210, 54.1-306, 54.1-2506, and 54.1-4407 of the Code of Virginia, relating to promise to appear after the issuance of a summons.22100053D
Patron: Morrissey
Custody and visitation; grandparents; mediation. Requires any case in which a grandparent petitions the court for custody or visitation of a minor grandchild to be referred by the court to mediation. The bill requires the petitioning party to pay the fee of the mediator.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 20-124.2 and 20-124.4 of the Code of Virginia, relating to custody and visitation; grandparents; mediation.22100696D
Patron: Edwards
Admissibility of statements of a deceased or incompetent party. Repeals the "dead man's statute," which provides that no judgment shall be entered against a person incapable of testifying based upon the uncorroborated testimony of the adverse party.
A BILL to repeal § 8.01-397 of the Code of Virginia, relating to admissibility of statements of a deceased or incompetent party.22102696D
Patron: Norment
Public health emergencies; immunity for health care providers. Expands immunity provided to health care providers responding to a disaster to include actions or omissions taken by the provider as directed by any order of public health in response to such disaster when a local emergency, state of emergency, or public health emergency has been declared.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-225.01 and 8.01-225.02 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public health emergencies; immunity for health care providers.22102585D
Patron: Petersen
Historic preservation. Provides that the filing of a historic designation application shall stay a locality from issuing any permit to raze or demolish a proposed historic landmark, building, or structure until 30 days after the rendering of the final decision of the governing body of the locality. The bill also specifies that the affected property owner, the applicant, or any resident of the locality who provided public input on the locality's historic district plan may appeal to the circuit court for review of any final decision of the governing body pursuant to such application.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2306 of the Code of Virginia, relating to historic preservation.22100941D
Patron: Obenshain
Deferred disposition; persons with autism or intellectual disabilities; offenses against minors. Provides that certain felony offenses, including child pornography, obscenity, electronic solicitation of a minor, indecent liberties with children, and displaying child pornography or grooming materials to a child, are ineligible for deferred and dismissed disposition where the defendant has been diagnosed with autism or an intellectual disability.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-303.6 of the Code of Virginia, relating to deferred disposition; persons with autism or intellectual disabilities; offenses against minors.22103000D
Patron: Deeds
Responsibilities of local pretrial services officers; behavioral health dockets. Provides that a local pretrial services officer may facilitate the placement of a defendant in a behavioral health docket as a treatment service.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-152.4:3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to duties and responsibilities of local pretrial services officers; behavioral health dockets.22100540D
Patron: Deeds
Sentencing proceeding by jury after conviction; relevant mitigating evidence. Provides that relevant evidence that may be admissible by the defendant during the sentencing phase by a jury may include the circumstances surrounding the offense, the history and background of the defendant, and any other facts in mitigation of the offense. The bill also provides various examples of facts in mitigation of the offense.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-295.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to sentencing proceeding by jury after conviction; relevant mitigating evidence.22102451D
Patron: Deeds
Natural guardianship of permanently incapacitated persons. Provides that the parents are the natural guardians of an incapacitated person who was deemed permanently incapacitated by a licensed physician prior to his eighteenth birthday and that in such cases no petition for the appointment of a guardian or conservator need be filed.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 64.2-2001 of the Code of Virginia, relating to natural guardianship of permanently incapacitated persons.22100252D
Patron: Ebbin
Real property; title insurance and duty to disclose ownership interest and lis pendens. Provides that a real estate licensee has an affirmative duty, upon having substantive discussions about specific real property, to disclose in writing to the purchaser, seller, lessor, or lessee if he, any member of his family, his firm, any member of his firm, or any entity in which he has an ownership interest has or will have an ownership interest to the other parties to the transaction. The bill requires a settlement agent, in connection with any transaction involving the purchase or sale of an interest in residential real property, to obtain from the purchaser a statement in writing that he has been notified by the settlement agent that the purchaser may wish to obtain owner's title insurance coverage including affirmative mechanics' lien coverage, if available, and of the general nature of such insurance coverage in accordance with the standards of the American Land Title Association, and that the purchaser does or does not desire such coverage or desires coverage not consistent with the standards of the American Land Title Association. The bill requires such written notification to substantially comply with language provided in the bill. The bill requires that an owner of residential dwelling unit who has actual knowledge of a lis pendens filed against the dwelling unit to provide to a prospective purchaser a written disclosure of such fact to the purchaser on a form provided by the Real Estate Board on its website.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 38.2-4616 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 54.1-2138.2 and 55.1-706.1, relating to real property; title insurance and duty to disclose ownership interest and lis pendens.22103554D
Patron: Morrissey
Termination of parental rights; murder of child. Requires the court to terminate the parental rights of a parent upon finding, based upon clear and convincing evidence, that termination of parental rights is in the best interests of the child and that the parent has been convicted of an offense under the laws of the Commonwealth or a substantially similar law of any other state, the United States, or any foreign jurisdiction that constitutes murder or voluntary manslaughter, or a felony attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit any such offense, and the victim of the offense was the child of the parent over whom parental rights would be terminated. The bill also requires local boards of social services to file a petition to terminate parental rights in such instances.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 16.1-283 and 63.2-910.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to termination of parental rights; murder of child.22103115D
Patron: DeSteph
Division of marital property; military retainer pay. Provides that, for the purposes of dividing marital property, military retainer pay shall be classified as separate property.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 20-107.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to division of marital property; military retainer pay.22101328D
Patron: Boysko
Sealing of offenses resulting in a deferred and dismissed disposition or conviction by petition; defendant with a disorder or disability. Provides that a defendant with a disorder or disability, as defined in the bill, may file a petition that requests the sealing of the criminal history record information and court records of a Class 4 felony conviction or deferred and dismissed disposition. Under current law, Class 4 felony convictions or deferred and dismissed dispositions are ineligible to be sealed.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-392.12, as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to sealing of offenses resulting in a deferred and dismissed disposition or conviction by petition; defendant with a disorder or disability.22103094D
Patron: Boysko
Assault and battery; persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or mental illness; penalties. Provides that any person charged with a simple assault and battery offense who has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist with an autism spectrum disorder, an intellectual disability, or mental illness and the violation was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the person's disorder or disability is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and shall not be subject to mandatory minimum punishment. Under current law, certain simple assault and battery offenses carry a mandatory minimum punishment when such offenses are committed against certain groups of people.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-57 of the Code of Virginia, relating to assault and battery; persons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or mental illness; penalties.22102307D
Patron: McClellan
Requirement for appeals bond; indigent parties; appeal of unlawful detainer. Removes the requirement for an indigent defendant in civil actions to post an appeal bond in any civil case appealed from the general district court. The bill also removes provisions of the Code allowing a plaintiff in an unlawful detainer case that has been appealed to the circuit court to request the judge to order a writ of eviction immediately upon entry of judgment for possession.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-129 and 16.1-107 of the Code of Virginia, relating to requirement for appeals bond; indigent parties; appeal of unlawful detainer.22102455D
Patron: McClellan
Unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit visual material to another; penalty. Provides that any person 18 years of age or older who knowingly transmits sexually explicit visual material by computer or other electronic means to another person 18 years of age or older when such other person has not requested or consented to the transmittal of such material or has expressly forbidden the transmittal of such material is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $250 for a first offense and not more than $500 for a second offense or subsequent offense.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-1627 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 18.2-386.3, relating to unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit visual material to another; penalty.22102813D
Patron: Obenshain
Will contest; presumption of undue influence. Provides that in any case contesting the validity of a decedent's will where a presumption of undue influence arises, the burden of producing evidence and the burden of persuasion as to the factual issue that undue influence was exerted over the testator shall be on the party against whom the presumption operates.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 5 of Chapter 4 of Title 64.2 a section numbered 64.2-454.1, relating to will contest; presumption of undue influence.22101897D
Patron: Hanger
Cannabis; shape prohibitions. Requires the Board of Directors of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority to promulgate regulations that prohibit the production and sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products that depict or are in the shape of a human, animal, vehicle, or fruit.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 4.1-606 of the Code of Virginia, relating to cannabis; shape prohibitions.22101413D
Patron: Stuart
Military honor guards and veterans service organizations; paramilitary activities; exception. Exempts members of a lawfully recognized military color guard, honor guard, or similar organization, and members of a veterans service organization that is congressionally chartered or officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, when such member is participating in a training or education exercise, funeral, or public ceremony on behalf of such military honor guard or veterans service organization, from the crime of unlawful paramilitary activity unless such member engages in such activity with malicious intent.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-433.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to military honor guards and veterans service organizations; paramilitary activities; exception.22104199D
Patron: Morrissey
Arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Clarifies that the immunity afforded to the seeking of emergency help for an overdose also applies to a show cause, a probation revocation, or a parole violation.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-251.03 of the Code of Virginia, relating to arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses.22103752D
Patron: Morrissey
Preliminary analysis of breath to determine alcoholic content of blood; failure to advise person of rights. Provides that if a police officer or a member of any sheriff's department fails to advise a person of his rights to refuse a preliminary breath test, any preliminary breath test sample shall not be admissible for the purpose of determining probable cause or used in evidence at any hearing or trial.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-267 of the Code of Virginia, relating to preliminary analysis of breath to determine alcoholic content of blood; failure to advise person of rights.22103755D
Patron: Hanger
Juvenile law-enforcement records; disclosures to school principals. Changes from discretionary to mandatory that the chief of police of a city or chief of police or sheriff of a county disclose to a school principal all instances where a juvenile at the principal's school has been charged with a violent juvenile felony, an arson offense, or a concealed weapon offense and adds an offense that requires a juvenile intake officer to make a report with the school division superintendent to the list of such instances that must be disclosed to a school principal for the protection of the juvenile, his fellow students, and school personnel.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 16.1-301 of the Code of Virginia, relating to juvenile law-enforcement records; disclosures to school principals.22103350D
Patron: Surovell
Alleged wrongdoing of law-enforcement employees. Requires that all law-enforcement agencies that employ at least two law-enforcement officers, reduced from at least 10 under current law, ensure that, in the case of all written citizen complaints or complaints submitted in an electronic format, the agency (i) allows for the submission of citizen complaints through the agency's website or other electronic format; (ii) provides a receipt or written acknowledgment confirming the submission of the complaint to the individual filing such complaint; (iii) provides a written response to any individual who has filed a complaint within 30 days of the filing of such complaint indicating the status of such complaint; (iv) provides a written response to any individual who has filed a complaint within 60 days of the filing of such complaint indicating the final disposition of such complaint and if any action, including disciplinary action, was taken as a result of such complaint or, if after 60 days a resolution of the complaint has not occurred, the law-enforcement agency provides a written response indicating the reason for the delay in reaching a final disposition and an anticipated date of completion; (v) for any complaint that is not resolved within 60 days, provides a written response to any individual who has filed a complaint upon the resolution of such complaint indicating the final disposition of such complaint and if any action, including disciplinary action, was taken as a result of such complaint; and (vi) provides notice to any individual who has filed a complaint if an investigation into a previously filed complaint has been reopened upon the submission of new materials after a final resolution for the previously filed complaint has been reached. The bill also provides that all complaints, investigative materials associated with such complaints, and any dispositional information may be disclosed to the attorney for the Commonwealth when such materials are requested by the attorney for the Commonwealth and relate to a law-enforcement officer's credibility, integrity, or honesty or may constitute exculpatory or impeachment evidence.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 9.1-600 of the Code of Virginia, relating to alleged wrongdoing of law-enforcement employees.22104590D
Patron: Hanger
Pretrial Intervention and Diversion Program. Authorizes the attorney for the Commonwealth for each judicial circuit of the Commonwealth to create and administer a Pretrial Intervention and Diversion Program for the purpose of providing an alternative to prosecuting offenders in the criminal justice system. The bill provides that entry into such program shall be at the discretion of the attorney for the Commonwealth based upon written guidelines and that no attorney for the Commonwealth shall accept any offender into such program for an offense for which punishment includes a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 19.2-298.03, relating to Pretrial Intervention and Diversion Program.22103733D
Patron: Mason
Determination of competency; report to Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Provides that a copy of the competency report shall be sent to the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services for the purpose of (i) conducting peer review and (ii) monitoring use of forensic assessments by the courts and their impact on the defendants and the public. Under current law, copies of such reports are sent to the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services for the purposes of establishing and maintaining the list of approved evaluators.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-169.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to determination of competency; report to Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.22104203D
Patron: Kiggans
Marijuana criminal history information; disclosure to state and local governments by job applicants. Allows the Commonwealth or a locality to require a job applicant or other applicant who is seeking a license, permit, registration, or other government service to disclose his prior criminal history for marijuana offenses. Under current law, the Commonwealth and its localities are prohibited from requiring the disclosure of such information for such purposes.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-389.3, as it is currently effective and as it may become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to marijuana criminal history information; disclosure to state and local governments by job applicants.22104007D
Patron: Deeds
Emergency custody order; duration. Provides that a law enforcement officer may transfer custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order to a facility or location that has been authorized by the Department to accept custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order upon a finding by the Department that the facility or location is capable of providing the level of security necessary to protect such person and others from harm and that in cases in which custody of a person who is the subject of an emergency custody order has been transferred to a facility licensed to provide up to 23 hours of crisis stabilization services, the emergency custody order shall be valid for a period not to exceed 23 hours from the time of execution. Currently, all emergency custody orders are valid for a period of up to 8 hours.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 37.2-808 of the Code of Virginia, relating to emergency custody order; duration.22104395D
Patron: Petersen
Injunctions; review by the Supreme Court of Virginia. Restores the Supreme Court of Virginia's jurisdiction over appeals of injunctions. Under current law, injunctions must first be appealed to the Court of Appeals.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 8.01-626 of the Code of Virginia, relating to injunctions; review by the Supreme Court.22104872D
Patron: Surovell
Prohibition of deceptive tactics during the custodial interrogation of a minor. Provides that any confession of a minor, made as a result of a custodial interrogation conducted at a place of detention on or after July 1, 2022, shall be presumed to be inadmissible as evidence against such minor making such confession in any adjudication of delinquency or criminal proceeding for an act that if committed by an adult would be a criminal offense if, during the custodial interrogation, a law-enforcement officer knowingly engages in deception, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that the presumption of inadmissibility for such confession of a minor may be overcome if the confession was voluntarily given.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 19.2-268.4, relating to the prohibition of deceptive tactics during the custodial interrogation of a minor.22100071D
Patron: Pillion
Selling or possessing switchblade. Eliminates the prohibition for selling, bartering, giving, furnishing, or possessing with the intent of selling, bartering, giving, or furnishing a switchblade.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-311 of the Code of Virginia, relating to selling or possessing switchblade.22103908D
Patron: Marsden
Places of confinement for juveniles. Provides that there shall be a presumption prohibiting the incarceration of a juvenile offender, who has been convicted and sentenced as an adult in circuit court, in an adult correctional facility prior to his or her eighteenth birthday; however, this presumption may be overcome if the judge determines that the juvenile's behavior while incarcerated poses a continued threat to the security and safety of other juveniles or staff at the juvenile facility where he or she is confined.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 16.1-249 of the Code of Virginia, relating to places of confinement for juveniles.22104982D