Del. Mark L. Cole

Forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of crimes; finding of guilt required. Requires that any action for the forfeiture of property used in connection with the commission of a crime be stayed until the person whose property is the subject of the forfeiture action has been found guilty of the crime authorizing the forfeiture, regardless of whether he has been sentenced. The bill provides that property may be forfeited even though no finding of guilt is made if (i) the forfeiture is ordered by the court pursuant to a plea agreement or (ii) the owner has not submitted a written demand for the return of the property within 21 days from the date the stay terminates. This bill was incorporated into HB 1522.

Deferred dispositions; larceny. Provides that a court, upon a plea of guilty or not guilty to a first offense misdemeanor larceny charge, if the facts found by the court would justify a finding of guilt, without entering a judgment of guilt and with the consent of the accused, may defer further proceedings and place the accused on probation subject to terms and conditions set by the court, provided that such person has not previously been convicted of any felony. This bill was incorporated into HB 660.

Transportation agreements. Recognizes that public-private transportation partnership agreements that containprovisions prohibiting or frustrating the construction of non-tolledtransportation facilities as alternatives to tolled facilities througheconomic disincentives are against public policy.

Expungement of police and court records.Provides that a court that enters a nolle prosequi for a criminalcharge or dismisses such charge for any reason may, upon motion ofthe person charged, enter an order requiring the expungement of thepolice and court records relating to the charge.

Celebrating the life of the Reverend SydneyStrother Smith III.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; public institutionsof higher education; disclosure required by certain offerors; civilpenalty. Requires every offeror who submits a proposal to a public institution of higher education for any construction project that(i) has a total cost of $5 million or more and (ii) uses a procurementmethod other than competitive sealed bidding to disclose any contributionsthe offeror has made within the previous five-year period to the public institution of higher education or any private foundation that existssolely to support the public institution of higher education. The bill imposes a $500 civil penalty on any offeror that knowingly failsto submit the required disclosure.

Commending the Saint Michael the Archangel HighSchool football team.

Window tinting; vehicles used in the courseof business by private investigators, bail bondsmen, and bail enforcementagents. Allows licensed private investigators, licensed bailbondsmen, and licensed bail enforcement agents to apply tinting filmsto darken certain windows of vehicles used in the course of businessto a minimum of 20 percent light transmittance. Current law allowslight transmittance minimums of 50 or 35 percent, depending on the window. The bill contains technical amendments.

Expungement of police and court records; misdemeanor and felony convictions. Allows a person convicted of a criminal offense to file a petition requesting expungement of the police and court records relating to the conviction if such person (i) has been free from any term of incarceration, probation, and postrelease supervision imposed as a result of such conviction for (a) at least eight years for a misdemeanor offense or (b) at least 12 years for a felony offense; (ii) has no subsequent convictions other than traffic infractions; and (iii) has no pending criminal proceeding.

Income tax; subtraction for low-income military veterans with a permanent service-connected disability. Provides an income tax subtraction for the military retirement income received by a veteran who has been rated with a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability. The bill provides that the subtraction is available only to those taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income is no greater than 150 percent of the federal poverty level for a four-person household.