General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Courts not of Record

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Courts not of Record

Passed

P HB 1738

Issuance of emergency protective orders with assault warrants. The bill creates the presumption of further family abuse when there already exists, or there is issued, a warrant for domestic assault. Such presumption may be rebutted by the alleged abused person.
Patron - Fralin

P HB 1982

Violation of provisions of protective orders; penalty. Provides that the punishment for any person convicted of a second violation of a protective order, when the offense is committed within five years of a conviction for a prior offense and when either the instant or prior offense was based on an act or threat of violence, shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of 60 days. The bill also provides that any person convicted of a third offense, when the third such offense is committed within 20 years of the first conviction and when either the instant or any of the prior offenses was based on an act or threat or violence, is guilty of a Class 6 felony, and punishment shall include a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months. The bill also provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that bail should be denied to any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of a protective order.
Patron - Lohr

P HB 2053

Sentencing of juvenile convicted of capital murder. Provides that, upon a finding of guilty of any felony charge, the court shall fix the sentence of a juvenile defendant without the intervention of a jury. Currently, the Code provides for involvement of a jury in a capital case. In Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB 2061

Appeal bonds. Provides that no service or filing fees shall be assessed or collected for any appeal from an order denying bail or fixing terms of bond or recognizance. This bill is identical to SB 825.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB 2073

District court appeal bond; juvenile courts. Provides that in appeals or removals from a district court, including juvenile and domestic relations district court, when an appeal bond or other security is required, and there was a failure to post such a bond or other security or a failure to cure defects in a bond or other security, the district court shall order that the appellant or applicant for removal post the required bond or security or cure any defect within a period not longer than the initial period of time for posting the bond or other security. If the error is discovered by the circuit court, then the file shall be remanded to the general district court. Failure to comply with an order to post a bond or other security or to cure a defect shall result in the disallowance of the appeal or denial of the application for removal. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd Graves Conference.
Patron - Armstrong

P HB 2144

General district court judgments; satisfaction. Establishes a procedure for the satisfaction of judgments in general district court when the judgment creditor cannot be located. The bill provides that a judgment debtor wishing to discharge a judgment pursuant to the provisions of § 8.01-456 when the creditor cannot be located, may docket the general district court judgment in the circuit court having jurisdiction in the same geographic area as the general district court. An Attorney General's Opinion (May 16, 2006) stated that § 8.01-456 applied only to circuit courts. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and is identical to SB 922.
Patron - Kilgore

P HB 2201

Interstate Compact for Juveniles. Repeals the Interstate Compact Relating to Juveniles located in Article 14 (§ 16.1-323 et seq.) of Chapter 11 of Title 16.1 and replaces it with the current version of the Interstate Compact for Juveniles, which has already been enacted in 30 states and provides for enhanced accountability, enforcement, visibility, and communication in relation to tracking and supervising juveniles moving across state borders. Provides for an appointed five-member State Council to exercise oversight of Virginia's participation in the Compact. This bill as passed is identical to SB 1290.
Patron - McQuigg

P HB 2530

Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act. Clarifies that certain retired judges, substitute judges, and special justices are authorized to perform hearings under the Act and to receive compensation therefor. In order to be authorized to perform hearings, such judges or justices are required to complete a training program, prescribed by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, regarding the provisions of the Act. Specifies that special justices shall serve under the supervision and at the pleasure of the chief judge making the appointment for a period of up to six years, and that such special justices may be reappointed and may serve additional periods of up to six years, at the pleasure of the chief judge.
Patron - Iaquinto

P HB 2576

Protective orders; extension. Provides that a court may extend a preliminary protective order where the party subject to the order fails to attend the hearing because he was not personally served. The extended protective order must be served as soon as possible and the extension period is limited to six months. The bill also amends provisions relating to protective orders issued pending suit for divorce, custody or visitation to provide that if the party subject to the order fails to appear at the hearing the court may extend the order for a period not to exceed six months.
Patron - Shannon

P HB 2646

Emergency protective orders. Provides that when an emergency protective order is issued, the judge or magistrate shall provide the protected person or the law-enforcement officer seeking the emergency protective order with the form used to file a petition for a preliminary protective order and written information regarding protective orders that shall include the telephone numbers of domestic violence agencies and legal referral sources on a form prepared by the Supreme Court. If the forms are provided to a law-enforcement officer the officer may provide the forms to the person who is the subject of the protective order.
Patron - Marsden

P HB 2660

Investigation of the social history of juveniles at the time of commitment. Requires the court to order an investigation of a juvenile's social history at the time of the juvenile's commitment if one has not been previously completed. The investigation shall be completed within 15 days of the commitment. Currently such an investigation is permissive.
Patron - Marsden

P HB 2661

Release of confidential records of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Adds group homes, residential facilities, and post dispositional facilities to the list of those eligible to review social, medical, psychiatric, and psychological reports and records of children who are or have been (i) before the court, (ii) under supervision, or (iii) receiving services from a court service unit or who are committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Any copies of those records in the custody of the newly added review-eligible facilities shall be destroyed if the juvenile is not admitted to such a facility.
Patron - Marsden

P HB 2788

Money to be deposited in lieu of bond. Adds surety bonds, bank checks, and drafts from an attorney's escrow account to the type of payment that would be accepted in lieu of posting a bond for a civil appeal from district court. Currently only cash or a check from the court is accepted.
Patron - Joannou

P HB 3007

Juvenile conviction in circuit court. Provides that the juvenile court is precluded from taking jurisdiction over a juvenile for subsequent offenses only if the juvenile is convicted as an adult. Under current law once a juvenile is tried or treated as an adult for an offense the juvenile court is precluded from taking jurisdiction for subsequent offenses.
Patron - Marsden

P HB 3182

Medical evidence; appeals to circuit court. Allows the procedure for introducing medical reports at the general district court level to be used in matters that are appealed to the circuit court.
Patron - Peace

P SB 738

Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act; special justices. Clarifies that certain retired judges, substitute judges, and special justices are authorized to perform hearings under the Act and to receive compensation therefor. In order to be authorized to perform hearings, such judges or justices are required to complete a training program, prescribed by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, regarding the provisions of the Act. Specifies that special justices shall serve under the supervision and at the pleasure of the chief judge making the appointment for a period of up to six years and may be reappointed. This bill incorporates SB 1269.
Patron - Cuccinelli

P SB 825

P SB 922

P SB 1236

Punishment for certain juvenile offenses. Clarifies that a judge may impose all penalties allowable by law for juveniles found delinquent of offenses that require the loss of driving privileges as set forth in § 16.1-278.9.
Patron - Obenshain

P SB 1237

P SB 1290

Failed

F HB 1693

Recording of interrogations of juveniles. Requires that statements made by a juvenile criminal defendant accused of committing a violent juvenile felony are to be electronically recorded and that failure to record such statements shall be a factor to be considered by the court re admissibility.
Patron - Eisenberg

F HB 1726

Enforcement of protective orders. Provides that protective orders prohibiting contact between the petitioner and respondent may be enforced against either of them.
Patron - Lohr

F HB 1734

Number of juvenile and domestic relations district court judges; 23rd District. Adds one juvenile and domestic relations district court judge to the 23rd Judicial District (Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County).
Patron - Fralin

F HB 1770

Fingerprints and photographs of juveniles; destruction. Provides that if a petition or warrant is not ultimately filed against a juvenile whose fingerprints or photographs are taken when the juvenile is taken into custody and charged with an act that, if committed by an adult, would be required to be reported to the Central Criminal Records Exchange, the fingerprints and photographs must be destroyed within 60 days.
Patron - Cosgrove

F HB 1898

Juveniles; records. Allows law-enforcement agency access to a child who is detained in a detention home in order to investigate an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult and is unrelated to the matters upon which the child is being detained, unless the child refuses.
Patron - Albo

F HB 1925

Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act; special justices. Clarifies that retired judges, substitute judges, and special justices are authorized to perform hearings under the Act and to receive compensation therefor. This bill was incorporated into HB 2530.
Patron - Griffith

F HB 2044

Temporary detention orders; facility of temporary detention. Removes the requirement that the facility of temporary detention be identified in the temporary detention order.
Patron - McQuigg

F HB 2047

Juveniles; duty of person taking child into custody. Requires that whenever a child who is under 14 years of age is taken into custody regarding the commission or alleged commission of certain acts, the person taking the child into custody shall advise the child whether the child is at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave. If the child is not at liberty to leave, the person taking the child into custody shall 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.
Patron - McQuigg

F HB 2057

Civil procedure; district courts. Replaces Title 16.1 references to "motion for judgment" with "complaint" to be consistent with the single form of action created by the General Assembly in 2005. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - McQuigg

F HB 2074

Withdrawal of appeals from district courts; civil proceedings. Establishes procedures for parties who appeal decisions from district courts in civil actions to withdraw such appeals. Currently there are only procedures for the withdrawal of appeals from district courts in certain criminal cases. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd Graves Conference. This bill was incorporated into HB 2566.
Patron - Armstrong

F HB 2150

Foster care services. Indicates that the term "foster care services" means the provision of services to a child and his family when the child has been identified as needing services to prevent or eliminate the need for custody relinquishment.
Patron - Fralin

F HB 2170

Fixed fee for misdemeanors; local fee for law-enforcement training. Provides for a local fee of $5.00 upon conviction of a misdemeanor that shall be deposited into a fund maintained by the county, city, or town wherein the court sits for the express purpose of training law-enforcement employees.
Patron - BaCote

F HB 2505

Number of district court judges. Increases the number of general district court judges by one in each of the following districts: 2nd (Virginia Beach); 11th (Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Powhatan, Amelia, Nottoway); 26th (Harrisonburg, Winchester, Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham) and increases the number of juvenile and domestic relations district court judges by one in each of the following districts: 1st (Chesapeake); 28th (Bristol, Smyth, Washington). This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - Albo

F HB 2566

F HB 2658

Nonpayment of child support; probation. Provides that courts have the option to order that a party held in contempt for failure to pay child support be placed on probation instead of being sentenced to confinement if such an order is in the best interests of all parties, including the child.
Patron - Marsden

F HB 2827

Delinquent children; prior adjudications of delinquency. Provides that the court shall only discharge a delinquent child and dismiss the proceedings against him, where the finding of delinquency is based upon (i) the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol, (ii) the unlawful drinking or possession of alcohol on school grounds, or (iii) the unlawful use or possession of a handgun or "streetsweeper," if the child has not previously been adjudicated delinquent for a like offense, had a proceeding for a like offense dismissed, or had an adjudication of delinquency for a like offense deferred.
Patron - Gilbert

F HB 3063

General district court judges; 11th Judicial District. Adds one judge to the general district court of the 11th Judicial District (Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Amelia, Powhatan). This seat has been recommended by the Committee on District Courts.
Patron - Ware, R.L.

F HB 3095

Support orders; purging civil contempt. Provides that any order holding a party in civil contempt of court for failing to perform or comply with a support order must detail how the party may purge himself of the contempt. The party cannot be held in civil contempt if he does not have the ability to purge the contempt and he bears the burden of proof to show that he lacks the ability to do so. The bill codifies the law of Virginia concerning the power to hold a party in civil contempt.
Patron - Lohr

F SB 739

Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act; special justices. Clarifies that retired judges, substitute judges, and special justices are authorized to perform hearings under the Act. This bill also authorizes the chief judge of the 2nd Judicial Circuit (Virginia Beach, Northampton, and Accomack) and the chief judge of the 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County) to appoint special justices for the purpose of performing duties required of a judge under this Act. Such appointed judges are to be paid by the locality in which the special justice was appointed. This bill also states that an emergency exists and that the bill shall go into effect from its passage.
Patron - Cuccinelli

F SB 928

Termination of parental rights. Replaces language throughout § 16.1-283, dealing with the termination of residual parental rights, which formerly provided that the court "may" terminate parental rights if the requisite conditions are met with language providing that the court "shall" terminate parental rights if the conditions are met. This bill allows consideration of the efforts made to rehabilitate the parent in response to the parent's abuse and neglect of other children in determining whether to terminate a parent's rights. This bill also provides that a court shall consider whether custody of a child should be granted to the relatives of a child when a parent's parental rights have been terminated. This bill also clarifies that reasonable efforts to reunite a parent with a child need not be made if any of the grounds for termination of parental rights under subsection E of § 16.1-283 exist.
Patron - Ticer

F SB 929

Termination of parental rights. Provides that the parental rights of a parent, when the child has been placed in foster care, may be terminated based on a finding that the parent has abused or neglected another child. Current law only permits termination upon a finding that the child in question has been abused or neglected. This bill also permits the termination of parental rights of a child less than one year old who is in the custody of a local board or child-placing agency when the parent is incarcerated and expected to remain so for more than one year or when two or more of the parent's other children are in the custody of a local board or child-placing agency in Virginia or a similar agency in any other state. This bill also allows consideration of the efforts made to rehabilitate the parent in response to the parent's abuse and neglect of other children in determining whether to terminate a parent's rights. This bill also clarifies that reasonable efforts to reunite a parent with a child need not be made if any of the grounds for termination of parental rights under subsection E of § 16.1-283 exist.
Patron - Ticer

F SB 932

Protective orders; companion animals and livestock. Provides that a court may include in a protective order entered under §§ 16.1-253, 16.1-253.1, 16.1-253.4, and 16.1-279.1 provisions for the protection of companion animals and livestock owned, possessed, leased, kept or held by the party, or his family or household members, for whose benefit the protective order was entered.
Patron - Ticer

F SB 956

F SB 1175

F SB 1178

Department of Juvenile Justice records; confidentiality. Deletes the requirement that a law-enforcement agency, attorney for the Commonwealth, school administration, or probation office having a legitimate interest in the case, the juvenile, or the work of the court obtain a court order to inspect social, medical, psychiatric, and psychological reports and records of children who are or have been before the court, under supervision, receiving services from a court service unit, or committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Patron - Stolle

F SB 1244

Filing fees; custody and visitation cases. Provides that in addition to the filing fee charged in custody or visitation cases brought in the juvenile and domestic relations district court set forth in § 16.1-69.48:5, a locality may also assess a fee pursuant to § 42.1-70, as part of the costs incident to each action filed, a sum for the establishment and maintenance of a law library in the locality. Currently, § 16.1-69.48:5 precludes the charging, in custody or visitation cases brought in the juvenile and domestic relations district courts, of any fees in addition to the filing fee set forth therein.
Patron - Herring

F SB 1248

Driving without a license; juveniles. Specifies that a juvenile who drives without a license after the juvenile court has issued an order denying the juvenile the ability to apply for a license, is guilty of a violation of § 46.2-300 (driving without a license), which is a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Patron - Herring

F SB 1269

F SB 1388

Mental health courts; pilot program. Directs the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to establish by January 1, 2008, no less than two and no more than five mental health courts in Virginia for nonviolent offenders with serious mental illnesses.
Patron - Edwards

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Courts not of Record

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