Bills, 2010
School Divisions to Decide English Proficiency Assessments
SB 354 (Obenshain) Allows individual school districts to design English proficiency assessments in accordance with No Child Left Behind. The assessments must be approved by the Board of Education. read more »
Ex-parte Experts in Capital Cases
SB 248 (Watkins) Provides a mechanism for the lawyer for an indigent defendant to seek the appointment of certain experts without divulging the expert to the prosecutor. A judge must approve the appointment and determine that the confidential assistance of an expert is necessary for a fair trial. read more »
Excused Absence from School for Religious Holidays
SB 361 (Barker) Adds observance of a religious holiday to the list of reasons students shall be excused from attendance at school. Students who have a written note from a parent or legal guardian will have their absence excused and will not be penalized. read more »
Fees for Expert Witnesses in FOIA Cases
HB 431 (Griffith) Allows a court to award a petitioner compensation for the costs of expert witnesses in a FOIA action. read more »
Deadline for Making Absentee Ballots Available
HB 1235 (Anderson) Requires the electoral board to make absentee ballots available 50 days (instead of 45 days)prior to any November general election, and 35 days (instead of 30 days) prior to any other general, special, or primary election. Absentee ballots must be provided to absentee voters within three days of receiving the voter’s application read more »
Detention of Juveniles Being Tried as Adults
SB 259 (Lucas) Provides that juveniles whose criminal cases are transferred to circuit court (where they will be tried as adults) be detained in juvenile detention centers rather than adult correctional facilities. Juveniles deemed to be a threat to security or the safety of other juveniles may be moved to an adult facility when authorized by a judge. Status: Assigned to Criminal subcommittee read more »
Life Sentences in Capital Cases
SB 162 (Edwards) As amended, the bill removes the mandatory sentencing forms used in capital cases from Virginia law and allows judges to notify juries of the proper instructions for a finding of a sentence of death or life imprisonment. Currently, the court must use forms explicitly set out in Virginia law and there is no form that permits a jury to impose a sentence of life imprisonment, instead of death, when a jury makes a determination future dangerousness and vileness. read more »
Right to Record Public Meetings
HB 1028 (Pollard) Prohibits any public body conducting a meeting that is required to be open from holding that meeting in any building or facility that prohibits the use of recording devices. read more »
Certificates of Analysis at Preliminary Hearing without Expert Testimony
HB 500 (Gilbert); HB 456 (Herring) In preliminary hearings, allows certificates of analysis and reports to be admitted as evidence without the testimony of the lab analyst who produced the reports. read more »
Video-Conferencing to Confront Lab Analysts
SB 387 (Obenshain) The U.S. Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts ruled that a defendant has the constitutional right to confront the lab analysts and breath test operators who perform the tests on evidence used against the defendant at trial. SB 387 allows the state to use two-way video conferencing, unless the defendant specifically objects. read more »
