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Courts not of Record

Passed

P HB3

Family courts. Repeals the jurisdiction and venue provisions of the experimental family court, which no longer exists, and the appeal provisions of the family court. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.
Patron - Landes

P HB160

Denial of driver's license for truancy. Modifies the current statute regarding suspension of driver's licenses for truancy to authorize courts, upon a finding of a second or subsequent truancy offense, to order the denial of a driver's license for a period of one year or until the juvenile reaches the age of 18, whichever is longer, or delay the child's ability to apply for a driver's license for a period of one year following the date he reaches the age of 16 and three months, as may be appropriate. Under current law, the first such offense may warrant a 30-day denial or delay in license application.
Patron - Lingamfelter

P HB259

Criteria for detention or shelter care. Provides that a juvenile may be detained in a secure facility pursuant to a detention order or warrant when there is probable cause to believe that he violated the terms of his probation or parole and the charge for which he was originally placed on probation would have been a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor if committed by an adult. Currently, secure detention is allowed only when the juvenile is alleged to have committed an act that would be a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor if committed by an adult.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB298

Replacement intake officers; court services unit. Provides that the chief judge may make arrangements for a replacement intake officer from another court service unit to ensure the capability of a prompt response during hours the court is closed. Additionally, the bill sets forth the procedure for the appearance of a child before an intake officer by the use of two-way electronic video and audio communication.
Patron - McDonnell

P HB310

Access of juvenile record information. Allows pretrial services agencies and community-corrections probation officers access to juvenile court records without a court order for the purpose of preparing pre- and post-sentence reports.
Patron - Howell

P HB314

Foster care plan. Modifies the current requirement that the agency consult with the child's parents in making a foster care plan to provide an exception when the agency has made diligent efforts to locate the parent(s) and the parent(s) cannot be located.
Patron - Howell

P HB361

Jurisdiction of the small claims court. Raises the jurisdiction of the small claims court from $1,000 to $2,000.
Patron - Reese

P HB420

Emergency protective orders. Requires the judge or magistrate who receives an electronic request and issues an oral order to verify the order when reduced to writing, and removes the requirement that the original copy of the order filed with the clerk be verified by the judge or magistrate who entered the order. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - Johnson

P HB488

Domestic violence; penalty. Creates a statewide facilitator for victims of domestic violence within the Office of the Attorney General. The bill redefines family abuse to include reasonable apprehension of any bodily injury rather than serious bodily injury as under current law. The bill also requires that law-enforcement agencies enter information on protective orders into the Virginia Criminal Information Network immediately upon receipt. The bill removes the provision that marital rape cannot occur unless the spouses were living apart or there was bodily injury caused by force or violence. The bill also creates a protective order registry within the State Police to be made available to all criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to SB 290.
Patron - Suit

P HB589

Performance bonds for judges and court employees. Provides for a copy of the performance bond purchased for a judge or certain other court employees to be filed with the Division of Risk Management within the Department of Treasury rather than with the State Comptroller.
Patron - Reid

P HB1000

Detention homes. Requires the Department of Juvenile Justice to establish a uniform risk assessment instrument for use when making detention decisions and when making recommendations at detention hearings for implementation by each court service unit and for distribution to each juvenile court judge by October 1, 2002.
Patron - McDonnell

P HB1061

Termination of parental rights. Provides the following additional circumstance in which the local board or other child welfare agency having custody of the child shall not be required to make reasonable efforts to reunite the child with a parent: if the court finds that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the parent has subjected any child to aggravated circumstances, or abandoned a child under circumstances which would justify the termination of residual parental rights. "Aggravated circumstances" includes torture, chronic or severe abuse, or chronic or severe sexual abuse.
Patron - Moran

P HB1205

Confidentiality of juvenile records. Allows the attorney for the Commonwealth and adult probation and parole officers access to an offender's juvenile criminal record without a court order in order to prepare presentence reports, risk assessment instruments, and discretionary sentencing guidelines worksheets.
Patron - Marrs

P HB1224

Child custody proceedings. Provides that the juvenile and domestic relations district court has the authority to order psychological or custody evaluations and drug tests of a parent, guardian, legal custodian or person standing in loco parentis to the child.
Patron - Jones, J.C.

P HB1236

Juvenile detention; adults. Provides that predispositional detention of persons 18 years of age or older shall be in an adult facility unless ordered for a violation of the terms and conditions of release from a juvenile correctional center, in which case the judge may order such detention in a juvenile facility.
Patron - Jones, J.C.

P HB1344

Confidentiality of juvenile court records; exceptions. Allows the attorneys for the Commonwealth and probation officers electronic access to offenders' juvenile delinquency records for the strictly limited purposes of preparing a presentence report, sentencing guidelines or transfer or sentencing hearing.
Patron - Hurt

P SB130

Termination of parental rights. Provides the following additional circumstance in which the local board or other child welfare agency having custody of the child shall not be required to make reasonable efforts to reunite the child with a parent if the court finds that, based on clear and convincing evidence, the parent has subjected any child to aggravated circumstances, or abandoned a child under circumstances which would justify the termination of residual parental rights. "Aggravated circumstances" includes torture, chronic or severe abuse, or chronic or severe sexual abuse.
Patron - Ticer

P SB290

Domestic violence; penalty. Creates a statewide facilitator for victims of domestic violence within the Office of the Attorney General. The bill also redefines family abuse to include reasonable apprehension of any bodily injury rather than serious bodily injury as under current law. The bill also requires that law-enforcement agencies enter information on protective orders into the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) immediately upon receipt. The bill removes the provision that marital rape cannot occur unless the spouses were living apart or there was bodily injury caused by force or violence. The bill also creates a protective order registry within the State Police to be made available to all criminal justice agencies in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to HB 488.
Patron - Norment

P SB467

Criteria for detention or shelter care. Provides that a juvenile may be detained in a secure facility pursuant to a detention order or warrant when there is probable cause to believe that he violated the terms of his probation or parole and the charge for which he was originally placed on probation or parole would have been a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor if committed by an adult. Currently, secure detention is allowed only when the juvenile is alleged to have committed an act that would be a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor if committed by an adult.
Patron - Puller

P SB474

General district courts; jurisdictional amounts; exception. Provides an exception to the $15,000 jurisdictional limit in general district courts for cases involving liquidated damages for violation of vehicle weight limits. In 2001 the General Assembly amended § 46.2-1135 (which refers to general district courts) to increase liquidated damages, which means that cases will more frequently exceed $15,000.
Patron - Quayle

P SB533

Court services units. Allows localities with a state-operated juvenile court services unit to establish a locally operated unit instead.
Patron - Mims

P SB534

Violent juvenile felonies. Provides that the court may impose an adult sentence on a juvenile tried as an adult and convicted of a violent juvenile felony but may order that a portion of it be served in a juvenile correctional facility.
Patron - Mims

P SB537

Child dependency cases; appointment of counsel. Affords the right of counsel to a parent or guardian of a child who is alleged to be abused or neglected or at risk of abuse or neglect, a parent that could be subjected to the loss of residual parental rights, or any other adult charged with abuse or neglect of a child. If the identity or location of a parent or guardian is not reasonably ascertainable or if a parent or guardian fails to appear at one of the specified hearings, the court shall consider appointing an attorney-at-law to represent the interests of this absent party, and the hearing may be held. For proceedings related to a child's placement in foster care, the court is required to consider appointing counsel to represent the child's parent or guardian. The court currently has discretion to appoint counsel for these hearings. Existing law is also amended to match the current practice of appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child who is the subject of a petition filed in the juvenile court in connection with a parental placement adoption consent hearing. This bill has been endorsed by the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - Mims

P SB538

Permanency planning; children in foster care. Requires the court to make a finding concerning whether reasonable efforts have been made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the foster care plan and to take the steps necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child at the actual hearing at which the court orders the child's permanent placement and annually thereafter. The bill requires an annual foster care review hearing for children in permanent foster care. Permanent foster care is given a higher priority than independent living, to promote attachment to an adult caregiver. This bill has been endorsed by the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - Mims

P SB655

Driving privileges. Amends provisions regarding the juvenile court's authority to deny driver's licenses for six months past the age of 16 years so that the court has the authority to deny a driver's license for six months past the age of 16 years and three months. The bill also changes provisions allowing nonresidents over the age of 16 years to drive in Virginia to reflect the 2001 change in the driving age to 16 years and three months.
Patron - Mims

Failed

F HB261

Incomplete appeal of a district court case. Provides that if a child or adult withdraws his appeal from any district court before final adjudication by the circuit court, the circuit court shall remand the person to the jurisdiction of the juvenile and domestic relations district court for its supervision, under the terms of its original order or judgment.
Patron - McQuigg

F HB277

Juvenile fingerprinting. Allows police to fingerprint juveniles issued a summons for possession of marijuana.
Patron - Broman

F HB283

Failure to comply with court-ordered visitation. Provides that in cases involving failure to comply with court-ordered visitation, the aggrieved parent may initiate a complaint with the attorney for the Commonwealth in the jurisdiction where the order was entered or in the jurisdiction where the failure to comply occurred.
Patron - Louderback

F HB591

Child custody and visitation; education seminars. Amends provisions requiring parental education seminars in cases of contested custody or visitation to require any person who is a party, not just a parent, to attend an educational program on the effects of separation and divorce on children, parenting responsibilities, options for conflict resolution and financial responsibilities. The bill also allows the court to exempt low-income persons if there is no program available for such person.
Patron - Reid

F HB601

Parental consent for abortion. Requires a physician to obtain parental consent prior to performing an abortion on an unemancipated minor. Under current law, the parents of the minor must be notified of the abortion, but do not have to give consent.
Patron - Black

F HB702

Local judicial nominations committees. Establishes a judicial nominations committee in each circuit, composed of citizens and lawyers appointed by majority vote of the members of the General Assembly who represent any portion of the circuit. The committees are to investigate candidates (including incumbent judges) for circuit and district court vacancies and submit reports on up to three nominations per vacancy to the General Assembly. There is an opt-out provision for those delegations that already have nomination procedures in place.
Patron - Armstrong

F HB830

Juvenile and domestic relations district court; jurisdiction. Adds a preface to the jurisdictional statute of the juvenile and domestic relations district court that reads "after giving due regard to the primacy of the parent-child relationship and upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the best interests of the child would be served in protecting the child's health or welfare, the State has a compelling interest to act."
Patron - Nixon

F HB964

Local court service units; compensation of local probation officers, court service staff members, etc. Requires the State to pay the compensation of local court service unit personnel. Currently, the state share is one-half in certain localities that have chosen to retain a local court service staff.
Patron - Almand

F HB1142

Authority to hire court services staff and directors. Clarifies the roles of the Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice and the juvenile and domestic relations district court judges to hire, transfer and terminate probation officers and supervisors in state-operated court service units and clarifies the juvenile court's authority to appoint a court services unit director for each locally operated court services unit. This bill passed during the 2001 General Assembly Session with a second enacting clause that provided that it must be reenacted by the 2002 Session of the General Assembly to become effective.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1218

Criteria for detention of juveniles. Provides that a juvenile who has run away from home on a previous occasion may be placed in shelter care until the initial court appearance.
Patron - Carrico

F HB1240

Assignment of judges. Authorizes the Chief Justice to designate and temporarily assign any judge or retired judge to sit at any trial court level. Current law allows circuit court judges (including retired judges) to sit on assignment in circuit court and district court judges (including retired judges) to sit on assignment in district court.
Patron - Johnson

F HB1309

Prepayable traffic infractions and nontraffic offenses. Removes the Supreme Court's authority to set the minimum fines for prepayable infractions and offenses and provides for these under statute instead. The bill also increases each minimum fine by $10 except for those applicable to speeding, which are increased by one dollar to four dollars for each mile over the speed limit.
Patron - Barlow

F SB168

Affirmative defense to prosecution for abuse and neglect; infant-receiving facilities; emergency custody of abandoned children. Provides that when a parent voluntarily delivers a child no older than 72 hours to an infant-receiving facility, the parent will have an affirmative defense to prosecution for abuse or neglect, if the abuse or neglect prosecution is based solely upon the parent's delivery of the child to an infant-receiving facility. Infant-receiving facilities include hospitals, physicians' offices, local departments of health, local departments of social services, and rescue squads or fire departments that include emergency medical technicians. Acute care hospitals offering 24-hour emergency service are required to become infant-receiving facilities; becoming an infant-receiving facility is discretionary with the other entities listed. The parents may remain anonymous. However, the parents will be given a personal identification number and a toll-free telephone number so that they may contact social services to provide information about the health or family history of the infant. By delivering the child to an infant-receiving facility, the parents are presumed to have consented to termination of their parental rights. Personnel who accept these children would be immune from liability absent gross negligence or willful misconduct. The Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the Department of Health, is required to develop guidelines for establishing and maintaining an infant-receiving facility. The Department of Social Services is required to launch a media campaign to publicize the emergency custody procedures for abandoned children. The bill has an 8-year sunset clause.
Patron - Byrne

F SB278

Failure to pay child support. Provides that the failure to pay child or spousal support must be done knowingly, willfully or intentionally before penalties are imposed. The court must follow an order of preference in imposing penalties, and persons are to be confined in local correctional facilities only on days they are not scheduled to work. Continuous confinement in a local correctional facility will occur only if the court determines that no lesser punishment is proper. The court is directed to endeavor to enable the party to work at his present job, attend school or secure employment.
Patron - Marsh

F SB381

F SB464

Withdrawn appeal of a district court case. Provides that if a child or adult withdraws his appeal from any district court before final adjudication by the circuit court, the circuit court shall remand the person to the jurisdiction of the district court for its supervision, under the terms of its original order or judgment.
Patron - Puller

F SB539

Permanent foster care; court review. Requires annual court review of permanent foster care cases.
Patron - Mims

F SB645

Parental consent for abortion. Requires a physician to obtain parental consent prior to performing an abortion on an unemancipated minor. Under current law the parents of the minor must be notified of the abortion but do not have to give consent.
Patron - Colgan

Carried Over

C HB25

Juvenile not guilty by reason of insanity. Recognizes the finding of "not guilty by reason of insanity" for a child charged with a delinquent act in juvenile court proceedings. The bill closely parallels the adult statute on not guilty by reason of insanity. If the court finds a child not guilty, and the child poses an unreasonable risk to the community, the court may commit the child to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services for treatment. If the child does not pose a risk, the court may refer the child as one in need of services to the local family assessment and planning team for services under the Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families. The bill adds such children to the mandated service pool under the Act. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Bar Association, which was requested by the General Assembly (see HJR 680, 1999) to review this area of the law. See also Commonwealth v. Chapman, 30 Va. App, 593, 601, 518 S.E.2d 847, 851 (1999) rev'd Virginia Supreme Court, November 3, 2000, Record No. 992706, where the Supreme Court held that the insanity defense is not available to juveniles absent specific statutory authority.
Patron - Darner

C HB311

Number of juvenile judges. Adds one judge each to the Fifteenth Judicial District (Fredericksburg, Caroline, Essex, Hanover, King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond County, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Westmoreland) and the Twenty-seventh Judicial District (Galax, Radford, Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe).
Patron - Howell

C HB424

Juveniles; duty of person taking child into custody. Requires that whenever a child who is under 15 years old is taken into custody regarding the commission or alleged commission of certain acts and such child is deprived of his freedom, the person taking the child into custody shall (i) advise the child of such deprivation of freedom, (ii) advise the child that he has the right to counsel and to have present his parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, (iii) notify such counsel or parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, and (iv) not interrogate the child until such parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis is present.
Patron - McQuigg

C HB590

Minor children; custody and visitation. Removes the concepts of custodial parents, custody and visitation from the Code and replaces them with managing parent, associate parent and parenting arrangements.
Patron - Reid

C HB672

Court-appointed counsel. Provides for court-appointed counsel to represent a parent, guardian or other adult in an abuse and neglect case to receive compensation equivalent to that received by the guardian ad litem representing the child.
Patron - Watts

C HB920

Affirmative defense to prosecution for abuse and neglect; infant-receiving facilities; emergency custody of abandoned children. Provides that when any person voluntarily delivers a child no older than 72 hours to an infant-receiving facility, the person will have an affirmative defense to prosecution for abuse or neglect, if the abuse or neglect prosecution is based solely upon the delivery of the child to an infant-receiving facility. Infant-receiving facilities include hospitals and police departments. Other facilities may opt-in by complying with standards set up by the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services. The person may remain anonymous. Personnel who accept these children would be immune from liability absent gross negligence or willful misconduct. The Department of Social Services, in conjunction with the Department of Health, shall launch a media campaign to promote safe placement alternatives for newborn infants and publicize the emergency custody for certain abandoned children procedures.
Patron - Griffith

C HB953

Assault and battery against a family or household member; penalty. Provides that upon conviction for an assault and battery against a family or household member, where it is alleged that (i) such person has been previously convicted of assault and battery against a family member and (ii) within 72 hours of that person's release from incarceration serving a sentence for such conviction that person commits another such violation, such person shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony. The bill also requires trial for violation of a family protective order or family assault and battery within 45 days where practical.
Patron - Baskerville

C HB1246

Juvenile placement in a secure facility. Lowers the age from 14 to older than 10 in which a court may order a juvenile confined in a secure facility if found to have committed certain offenses.
Patron - Darner

C SB288

Appointment of counsel; compensation. Allows a court-appointed attorney representing a juvenile on a felony charge the same fee as if representing an adult on a felony charge and requires the court, when appointing counsel in an indigent case, to appoint an attorney who has been deemed qualified pursuant to established standards. The bill also repeats in Title 19.2 those provisions from Title 16.1 governing standards for guardians ad litem.
Patron - Norment

C SB641

Protective orders; dating violence. Creates a provision for issuing protective orders to persons in a dating relationship. A dating relationship is defined as a romantic relationship between individuals that exists or has existed for a reasonably continuous period of time. Jurisdiction is in the general district court unless the respondent is a minor, in which case jurisdiction is in the juvenile and domestic relations district court.
Patron - Watkins

C SB653

Juvenile fingerprints and DNA. Requires, in cases where juvenile fingerprints are taken under current law, retention of the fingerprints if the original charge against the juvenile was reduced to a misdemeanor or if there was no finding of guilt pursuant to a deferred disposition. Under current law the only situation in which fingerprints retained on a juvenile who is found not guilty is if the juvenile is charged with a violent juvenile felony.
Patron - Mims

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