Bill Text: VA HB1147 | 2024 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: General Assembly; threats to members, obstruction of justice, penalties.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-02-13 - Left in Courts of Justice [HB1147 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB1147-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§18.2-60.1, 18.2-60.2, and 18.2-460 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§18.2-60.1. Threatening the Governor or his immediate family or a member of the General Assembly or his immediate family.
Any person who shall knowingly and willfully send, deliver or convey, or cause to be sent, delivered, or conveyed, to the Governor or his immediate family or to a current member of the General Assembly or his immediate family any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon the Governor or his immediate family or a current member of the General Assembly or his immediate family, whether such threat be oral or written, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
§18.2-60.2. Members of the Governor's or a General Assembly member's immediate family.
As used in §18.2-60.1, the immediate family of the Governor or a current member of the General Assembly shall include any parent, sibling, child, grandchild, spouse, parent of a spouse, and spouse of a sibling, child, or grandchild who resides in the same household as the Governor or the current member of the General Assembly.
§18.2-460. Obstructing justice; resisting arrest; fleeing from a law-enforcement officer; penalties.
A. If any person without just cause knowingly obstructs a judge, magistrate, justice, juror, attorney for the Commonwealth, witness, any law-enforcement officer, any elected official, or animal control officer employed pursuant to §3.2-6555 in the performance of his duties as such or fails or refuses without just cause to cease such obstruction when requested to do so by such judge, magistrate, justice, juror, attorney for the Commonwealth, witness, law-enforcement officer, elected official, or animal control officer employed pursuant to §3.2-6555, he is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. Except as provided in subsection C, any person who, by threats or force, knowingly attempts to intimidate or impede a judge, magistrate, justice, juror, attorney for the Commonwealth, witness, any law-enforcement officer, or an animal control officer employed pursuant to § 3.2-6555 lawfully engaged in his duties as such, or to obstruct or impede the administration of justice in any court, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
C. If any person by threats of bodily harm or force knowingly attempts to intimidate or impede a judge, magistrate, justice, juror, attorney for the Commonwealth, witness, any law-enforcement officer, lawfully engaged in the discharge of his duty, or to obstruct or impede the administration of justice in any court relating to a violation of or conspiracy to violate § 18.2-248 or subdivision (a)(3), (b) or (c) of §18.2-248.1, or §18.2-46.2 or § 18.2-46.3, or relating to the violation of or conspiracy to violate any violent felony offense listed in subsection C of §17.1-805, he is guilty of a Class 5 felony.
D. Any person who knowingly and willfully makes any materially false statement or representation to a law-enforcement officer or an animal control officer employed pursuant to §3.2-6555 who is in the course of conducting an investigation of a crime by another is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
E. Any person who intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a law-enforcement officer from lawfully arresting him, with or without a warrant, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. For purposes of this subsection, intentionally preventing or attempting to prevent a lawful arrest means fleeing from a law-enforcement officer when (i) the officer applies physical force to the person, or (ii) the officer communicates to the person that he is under arrest and (a) the officer has the legal authority and the immediate physical ability to place the person under arrest, and (b) a reasonable person who receives such communication knows or should know that he is not free to leave.
2. That the provisions of this act may result in a net increase in periods of imprisonment or commitment. Pursuant to §30-19.1:4 of the Code of Virginia, the estimated amount of the necessary appropriation cannot be determined for periods of imprisonment in state adult correctional facilities; therefore, Chapter 1 of the Acts of Assembly of 2023, Special Session I, requires the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission to assign a minimum fiscal impact of $50,000. Pursuant to §30-19.1:4 of the Code of Virginia, the estimated amount of the necessary appropriation cannot be determined for periods of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
