Virginia House Bill 1865

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 6 2025 - 25% progression
Action: 2025-01-06 - Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
Pending: House Courts of Justice Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [HTML]

Virginia Access to Justice Act. Establishes a public defender office in each judicial circuit. Currently, public defender offices have been established in certain localities. The bill also establishes an appellate defender office to represent indigent persons in appeals of their convictions to the Court of Appeals of Virginia or Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill raises the limitation of fees that court-appointed counsel can receive for representation on various offenses in district and circuit courts. Further, the bill requires the attorney for the Commonwealth and assistant attorney for the Commonwealth to prosecute Class 1, 2, and 3 misdemeanors, or any other violation, the conviction of which carries a penalty of confinement in jail, or a fine of $500 or more, or both such confinement and fine. Current law allows discretion for prosecuting such misdemeanors and violations. Lastly, the bill expands the definition of "victim" as it relates to compensating victims of crime to include persons awarded restitution pursuant to relevant law.

Virginia Access to Justice Act.

Del. Katrina Callsen [D]

Date	Chamber	Action
2025-01-06	House	Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
2025-01-06	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-13-2025 25100088D

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1865
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB1865/text/HB1865