Juvenile Justice Legislation – 2009

JUVENILE RECORDS

SB 1218 (Obenshain) Juvenile probation and parole reports; transmission to school superintendent. 
SB 1377 (Stolle) Juvenile arrest information. 
HB 2513 (Marsden) Mob violence reportable by intake officers to schools. 
SB 928 (Marsh) Confidentiality of court records; person inspecting is authorized to have copies made of records. 
HB 2310 (Melvin) Confidentiality of court records 
HB 1843 (Griffith) Civil commitment of sexually violent predators; changes including access to sealed records, etc.

OTHER JUVENILE JUSTICE

SB 1149 (Howell) Juvenile code; eliminates and cleans up the code.
SB 1290 (Edwards) Appeal from juvenile and domestic relations district court.  
HB 1868 (Janis) Driving under influence of alcohol; eliminates sunset date that provides zero tolerance (Baby DUI).
HB 2578  (A. Howell) Novelty cigarette lighters; prohibiting purchase, distribution, etc., to persons under age of 18.

PROTECTIVE ORDERS

HB 1842 (Griffith) Emergency protective order; expands authority of magistrate when warrant for sexual battery. 
HB 1857 (Shannon) Protective orders; issuance upon conviction for certain crimes. 
SB 1439 (Edwards) Protective orders; removes provision allowing protective order to contain identifying information. 

SCHOOLS/EDUCATION

HB 1794 (Brink) Suspensions; sufficient cause necessary to suspend student cannot rest solely on tardiness, etc. 
HB 1826 (Fralin) Driver’s licenses and learner’s permits; suspension thereof for minor with 10 unexcused absences.
HB 1945 (Peace) Regional alternative education programs; school division may assign at-risk student to suspension. 
HB 2341 (Amundson) Suspension of a student, short-term; pending superintendent’s decision on alternative education. 
HB 1624 (Englin) Bullying, harassment, etc.; provides specific information for Bd. Of Education in its model policy. 
HB 1679 (Orrock) Child abuse and neglect data; school board applicants.

SPECIALITY COURTS

HB 2275 Drug Treatment Court Act; County of Franklin 
SB 1304 Drug treatment court; authorized for County of Franklin 
SB 1462 Drug Treatment Court Act; authorized for County of Tazwell

Social Services/Foster Care

SB 1012 (Edwards) Foster care; placement of a child pursuant to an agreement. 
SB 1000 (Quayle) History of sexual abuse; custody and visitation. 
HB 1904 (Armstrong) Virginia Child Protection Accountability System; established. 
HB 1914 (BaCote) Foster care; deletes certain Code references, guidelines for continuation thereof. 
HB 2500 (Ward) ‘A Place of My Own’ Program

Comprehensive Services Act

SB 1179 (Hanger) State executive council; increase local government membership. Adds two local government representatives, the Governor’s Special Advisor of Children’s Services, a public provider, and two private providers.
SB 1180 (Hanger) State Executive Council for Comprehensive Services; powers and duties. Requires the State Executive Council to report and analyze expenditures associated with children who do not receive pool funding and have emotional and behavioral problems.
SB 1181 (Hanger) Office of Comprehensive Services; report expenditures on children receiving pool-funded services. 
SB 1506 (Hanger) Comprehensive Services Act Program; judicial assignment of services for children.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

HB 2178 (Scott) Possession of ammunition by convicted felons; prohibited 
SB 1369 (Barker) Graffiti abatement; permits localities to charge 
HB 2424 (May) Graffiti; restitution for abatement costs. 
HB 2397 (Bell) Child pornography; venue for prosecution where unlawful act thereof is produced, stored, etc. 
HB 2400 (Bell) Criminal sexual assault; establishment of a multidisciplinary response thereto. 
SB 1294 (Edwards) Crisis intervention team pilot programs; established, report. 
SB 965 (Blevins) Preventive medications for sexual assault victims; may authorize registered nurses to administer.

Mental Health Bills

HB 2061 (Hamilton) Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act; outpatient treatment; etc. 
SB 1122 (Lucas) Psychiatric Inpatient Treatment of Minors Act; outpatient treatment; etc.

House Bill 1868, which extends the zero tolerance policy for underage drinking and driving indefinitely, passed the Senate on February 26, 2009 with 97 yeas and 0 nays.

SB 1329 was left in the House Courts of Justice Committee.

SB 1329 requires the Attorney General to identify, collect, and make available on the Internet a list of constitutional, statutory and regulatory collateral consequences of a criminal conviction.  Collateral consequences are those consequences that arise as a result of a criminal conviction (such as employment barriers) but are not imprisonment, parole, probation, fines, forfeiture, restitution, etc.

HB 2310 was approved by the governor and will take effect on July 1, 2009.

This bill provides that any person, agency, or institution that may inspect juvenile case files shall be authorized to have copies made of such records, subject to any restrictions, conditions, or prohibitions that the court may impose. HB 2310 is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts.

SB1218, which allows the Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice to notify the appropriate school division superintendent when a juvenile who poses a credible danger of serious bodily injury or death to students, school personnel or others on school property is released from a juvenile correctional center, has passed the House of Delegates unanimously.

The bill will now go before the Governor for his signature or veto.

SB1377, which provides that police and sheriff departments may release current information on juvenile arrests to law-enforcement agencies in other states, has passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 99-0. 

The bill will now go to the Governor for his signature or veto.

House Bill 1868, which extends the no tolerance rule on underage drinking and driving indefinitely, was reported from the Senate Courts of Justice to the Senate Floor.  It passed it’s first constitutional vote 39-0.

Senator Edward’s bill, S.B. 1290, was reported by the House Courts of Justice to the full House yesterday by a vote of 20 to 2.

Although Edward’s proclaimed the bill to be a clarifying bill for the juvenile code, Chairman Albo noted that if the Code was clarified in the juvenile section of the Code only, then that might lead to some discrepancy in the civil and criminal sections.  S.B. 1290, if passed, would ensure that a trial from the J&DR court (not a court of record) to the circuit court would be a de novo trial.  Currently this was the practice, but it was not written into the code.

The House Courts of Justice amended the bill to include such a clarifying clause in the civil section of the Code as well, for those cases tried in a civil court not of record.  After researching the issue yesterday, the Courts Committee concluded that the criminal Code already had such a provision.

YEAS–Albo, Kilgore, Athey, Janis, Bell, Cline, Fralin, Iaquinto, Gilbert, Peace, Loupassi, Johnson, Melvin, Armstrong, Barlow, Toscano, Watts, Marsden, Valentine, Herring–20.

NAYS–Griffith, Miller, J.H.–2