Del. Patrick Hope

Study; Virginia State Crime Commission; effectof abolishing jury sentencing on the justice system; report.Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission to (i) identify the mostcommon charges tried before juries within the Commonwealth and determinethe average sentence per charge as recommended by a jury; (ii) comparethe jury-recommended sentence to the average sentence for each identifiedcharge, factoring in alternative sentences and suspended time, asdetermined by a judge during a bench trial; (iii) identify any perceived negative impacts to the judicial system associated with abolishingthe practice of jury sentencing and make recommendations as to howthese potential negative impacts could be avoided; and (iv) determinethe feasibility of abolishing jury sentencing for noncapital offenseswithin the Commonwealth.

Legal notices; online publications. Provides that where any ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement instead may be published in an online publication, subject to certain requirements specified in the bill.

Elections; voter-nominated open primary elections;ranked choice voting for certain elections. Establishes a voter-nominatedprimary election for the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor,and Attorney General and for the General Assembly and the UnitedStates Senate and House of Representatives. A voter-nominated primaryelection is an election held for the purpose of selecting candidatesto be on the ballot at a general election. All candidates, regardlessof political party affiliation, are on a single ballot. The fourcandidates receiving the highest numbers of votes are the candidatesfor that office at the general election. The bill provides that ageneral or special election for such offices is conducted by rankedchoice voting. Ranked choice voting is the method of casting andtabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds in whichlast-place candidates are defeated, and (iii) the candidate withthe most votes in the final round is elected.

Registration of tobacco products retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of tobacco products; penalties. The bill prohibits any person from selling any tobacco product at retail (i) without first obtaining a permit from the Department of Taxation and (ii) at a location within 1,000 feet of a youth-oriented facility, defined in the bill. The bill prohibits Internet sales of tobacco products, except to a permit-holding retailer, and prohibits the sale of tobacco products from vending machines. The bill imposes civil penalties of up to $1,500 for selling tobacco products without a permit and up to $2,000 for selling tobacco products to persons under age 21. Permits would be subject to annual renewal and subject to revocation for violations of federal, state, or local laws related to tobacco products. The bill imposes recordkeeping requirements and makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to engage in fraud or misrepresentation in connection with an application for a permit.The bill updates, for the purpose of the crime of selling or distributing tobacco products to a person younger than 21 years of age, the definition of "tobacco products" by including in such definition products currently defined as "nicotine vapor products" or "alternative nicotine vapor products." The bill also removes provisions prohibiting the attempt to purchase, purchase, or possess tobacco products by persons younger than 21 years of age.The bill provides that the punishment of a retail establishment that sells, gives, or furnishes a tobacco product to a person younger than 21 years of age or to a person who does not demonstrate that such person is at least 21 years of age is a civil penalty of $500 for a first offense, a civil penalty of $1,000 for a second offense, and a civil penalty of $2,500 and a suspension or revocation of such establishment's distributor's license for a third or subsequent offense, regardless of the type of tobacco product. Under current law, such penalties apply only to the sale, distribution, or purchase of a bidi and do not require a suspension or revocation of the establishment's distributor's license, while violations involving all other products are punishable by a civil penalty of $100 for a first offense, a civil penalty of $200 for a second offense, and a civil penalty of $500 for a third or subsequent offense. The bill also removes the exception allowing the sale, giving, or furnishing of any tobacco product, nicotine vapor product, or alternative nicotine vapor product to active-duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older. Finally, the bill requires agents of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage and Control Authority to conduct a minimum number of two compliance checks each year on any retailer selling tobacco products and to use a person younger than 21 years of age to conduct such checks.

Temporary detention; evaluation; who may perform. Expands the category of individuals who may evaluate a person whois the subject of an emergency custody order to determine whetherthe person meets the criteria for temporary detention to includeany person described in the definition of "mental health professional"in § 54.1-2400.1 who (i) is skilled in the diagnosis and treatmentof mental illness, (ii) has completed a certification program approvedby the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services,and (iii) complies with regulations of the Board of Behavioral Healthand Developmental Services related to performance of such evaluations.

Flavored tobacco products; sale prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the sale, distribution, offering for sale or distribution, or causing the sale or distribution of flavored tobacco products, as that term is defined in the bill, and imposes a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for the first violation, $1000 for a second violation, $1,500 for a third violation, and $2,000 for the fourth or subsequent violation. The bill also provides that, in addition to the civil penalties, a third violation is punishable by suspension of a permit as a stamping agent for a period of 15 days, and a fourth or subsequent violation is punishable by revocation of a permit as a stamping agent and a prohibition on reapplication for a permit to act as a stamping agent for a period of three years.

Common-law crime of suicide. Abolishes thecommon-law crime of suicide. Suicide is currently a common-law crimein Virginia, although there is no statutorily prescribed punishment.

Mandatory outpatient treatment; petition forreview; efforts of the community services board. Clarifies thata community services board must make efforts to assist a person with complying with the provisions of a mandatory outpatient treatmentorder or order authorizing discharge to mandatory outpatient treatmentfollowing inpatient treatment and that only in cases in which a personfails to comply with a mandatory outpatient treatment or order authorizingdischarge to mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatmentdespite efforts of the community services board to assist the person may the community services board petition for review of the mandatory outpatient order or order authorizing discharge to mandatory outpatient treatment following inpatient treatment.

Employment; disclosure of terms. Requires every employer of employees who are 18 years of age or older who work for daily wages or are employed to work on a project for a total of 10 days or less, with some exceptions specified in the measure, to furnish to such employees, at the time of the employee's hiring, a written disclosure of information regarding the terms of employment, including the name and address of the employer, the rate of pay and basis thereof, and the regular payday. The measure also requires employers to notify its employees in writing of any changes to this information.

Virginia State Justice Commission; purpose; membership. Renames the Virginia State Crime Commission as the Virginia State Justice Commission. The bill also expands the purpose of the Commission to include studying, reporting, and making recommendations in the areas of diversion, rehabilitation, reentry, collateral consequences of conviction, and equity and fairness in the criminal legal system. The bill reduces from six to three the number of House of Delegates members and adds to the Commission the executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission or his designee, the Superintendent of State Police or his designee, and one nonlegislative citizen member to be appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security with an expertise in offender rehabilitation, reform, and reentry.