Bill Text: VA HB1545 | 2015 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: United States Postal Service; inspectors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-03-16 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0126) [HB1545 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2015-HB1545-Prefiled.html
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15102354D Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §§19.2-12, 19.2-56, 19.2-187, and 19.2-187.01 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows: §19.2-12. Who are conservators of the peace. Every judge and attorney for the Commonwealth throughout the
Commonwealth and every magistrate within the geographical area for which he is
appointed or elected, shall be a conservator of the peace. In addition, every
commissioner in chancery, while sitting as such commissioner; any special agent
or law-enforcement officer of the United States Department of Justice, National
Marine Fisheries Service of the United States Department of Commerce,
Department of Treasury, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense,
Department of State, Office of the Inspector General of the Department of
Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Interior;
any inspector, law-enforcement official or police personnel of the United
States Postal §19.2-56. To whom search warrant directed; what it shall command; warrant to show date and time of issuance; copy of affidavit to be part of warrant and served therewith; warrants not executed within 15 days. The judge, magistrate or other official authorized to issue criminal warrants, shall issue a search warrant if he finds from the facts or circumstances recited in the affidavit that there is probable cause for the issuance thereof. Every search warrant shall be directed to (i) the sheriff,
sergeant, or any policeman of the county, city or town in which the place to be
searched is located, (ii) any law-enforcement officer or agent employed by the
Commonwealth and vested with the powers of sheriffs and police, or (iii)
jointly to any such sheriff, sergeant, policeman or law-enforcement officer or
agent and an agent, special agent or officer of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of the United States
Treasury, the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United
States Department of Homeland Security, any inspector, law-enforcement official
or police personnel of the United States Postal The warrant shall command that the place be forthwith searched, either in day or night, and that the objects or persons described in the warrant, if found there, be seized. An inventory shall be produced before a court having jurisdiction of the offense in relation to which the warrant was issued as provided in §19.2-57. Any such warrant as provided in this section shall be executed by the policeman or other law-enforcement officer or agent into whose hands it shall come or be delivered. If the warrant is directed jointly to a sheriff, sergeant, policeman or law-enforcement officer or agent of the Commonwealth and a federal agent or officer as otherwise provided in this section, the warrant may be executed jointly or by the policeman, law-enforcement officer or agent into whose hands it is delivered. No other person may be permitted to be present during or participate in the execution of a warrant to search a place except (i) the owners and occupants of the place to be searched when permitted to be present by the officer in charge of the conduct of the search and (ii) persons designated by the officer in charge of the conduct of the search to assist or provide expertise in the conduct of the search. Any search warrant for records or other information pertaining to a subscriber to, or customer of, an electronic communication service or remote computing service, whether a domestic corporation or foreign corporation, that is transacting or has transacted any business in the Commonwealth, to be executed upon such service provider may be executed within or without the Commonwealth by hand, United States mail, commercial delivery service, facsimile, or other electronic means upon the service provider. Notwithstanding the provisions of §19.2-57, the officer executing a warrant pursuant to this paragraph shall endorse the date of execution thereon and shall file the warrant, with the inventory attached (or a notation that no property was seized) and the accompanying affidavit, unless such affidavit was made by voice or videotape recording, within three days after the materials ordered to be produced are received by the officer from the service provider. The return shall be made in the circuit court clerk's office for the jurisdiction wherein the warrant was issued. Saturdays, Sundays, or any federal or state legal holiday shall not be used in computing the three-day filing period. Electronic communication service or remote computing service providers, whether a foreign or domestic corporation, shall also provide the contents of electronic communications pursuant to a search warrant issued under this section and §19.2-70.3 using the same process described in the preceding paragraph. Every search warrant shall contain the date and time it was issued. However, the failure of any such search warrant to contain the date and time it was issued shall not render the warrant void, provided that the date and time of issuing of said warrant is established by competent evidence. The judge, magistrate, or other official authorized to issue criminal warrants shall attach a copy of the affidavit required by §19.2-54, which shall become a part of the search warrant and served therewith. However, this provision shall not be applicable in any case in which the affidavit is made by means of a voice or videotape recording or where the affidavit has been sealed pursuant to §19.2-54. Any search warrant not executed within 15 days after issuance thereof shall be returned to, and voided by, the officer who issued such search warrant. For the purposes of this section: "Foreign corporation" means any corporation or other entity, whose primary place of business is located outside of the boundaries of the Commonwealth, that makes a contract or engages in a terms of service agreement with a resident of the Commonwealth to be performed in whole or in part by either party in the Commonwealth, or a corporation that has been issued a certificate of authority pursuant to §13.1-759 to transact business in the Commonwealth. The making of the contract or terms of service agreement or the issuance of a certificate of authority shall be considered to be the agreement of the foreign corporation or entity that a search warrant or subpoena, which has been properly served on it, has the same legal force and effect as if served personally within the Commonwealth. "Properly served" means delivery of a search warrant or subpoena by hand, by United States mail, by commercial delivery service, by facsimile or by any other manner to any officer of a corporation or its general manager in the Commonwealth, to any natural person designated by it as agent for the service of process, or if such corporation has designated a corporate agent, to any person named in the latest annual report filed pursuant to § 13.1-775. §19.2-187. Admission into evidence of certain certificates of analysis. In any hearing or trial of any criminal offense or in any
proceeding brought pursuant to Chapter 22.1 (§19.2-386.1 et seq.), a
certificate of analysis of a person performing an analysis or examination, duly
attested by such person, shall be admissible in evidence as evidence of the
facts therein stated and the results of the analysis or examination referred to
therein, provided (i) the certificate of analysis is filed with the clerk of
the court hearing the case at least seven days prior to the proceeding if the
attorney for the Commonwealth intends to offer it into evidence in a
preliminary hearing or the accused intends to offer it into evidence in any
hearing or trial, or (ii) the requirements of subsection A of §19.2-187.1 have
been satisfied and the accused has not objected to the admission of the
certificate pursuant to subsection B of §19.2-187.1, when any such analysis or
examination is performed in any laboratory operated by the Division of
Consolidated Laboratory Services or the Department of Forensic Science or
authorized by such Department to conduct such analysis or examination, or
performed by a person licensed by the Department of Forensic Science pursuant
to §18.2-268.9 or 46.2-341.26:9 to conduct such analysis or examination, or
performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the In a hearing or trial in which the provisions of subsection A of §19.2-187.1 do not apply, a copy of such certificate shall be mailed or delivered by the clerk or attorney for the Commonwealth to counsel of record for the accused at no charge at least seven days prior to the hearing or trial upon request made by such counsel to the clerk with notice of the request to the attorney for the Commonwealth. The request to the clerk shall be on a form prescribed by the Supreme Court and filed with the clerk at least 10 days prior to the hearing or trial. In the event that a request for a copy of a certificate is filed with the clerk with respect to a case that is not yet before the court, the clerk shall advise the requester that he must resubmit the request at such time as the case is properly before the court in order for such request to be effective. If, upon proper request made by counsel of record for the accused, a copy of such certificate is not mailed or delivered by the clerk or attorney for the Commonwealth to counsel of record for the accused in a timely manner in accordance with this section, the accused shall be entitled to continue the hearing or trial. The certificate of analysis of any examination conducted by the Department of Forensic Science relating to a controlled substance or marijuana shall be mailed or forwarded by personnel of the Department of Forensic Science to the attorney for the Commonwealth of the jurisdiction where such offense may be heard. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall acknowledge receipt of the certificate on forms provided by the laboratory. Any such certificate of analysis purporting to be signed, either by hand or by electronic means, by any such person shall be admissible as evidence in such hearing or trial without any proof of the seal or signature or of the official character of the person whose name is signed to it. The attestation signature of a person performing the analysis or examination may be either hand or electronically signed. For the purposes of this section and §§19.2-187.01, 19.2-187.1, and 19.2-187.2, the term "certificate of analysis" includes reports of analysis and results of laboratory examination. §19.2-187.01. Certificate of analysis as evidence of chain of custody of material described therein. A report of analysis duly attested by the person performing
such analysis or examination in any laboratory operated by (i) the Division of
Consolidated Laboratory Services, the Department of Forensic Science or any of
its regional laboratories, or by any laboratory authorized by such Division or
Department to conduct such analysis or examination; (ii) the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; (iii) the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; (iv)
the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; (v) the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration; (vi) the United States Postal
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