Bill Text: VA HB641 | 2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Relief; Kingrea, David Wayne, compensation for wrongful inclusion on sex offender registry.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-26 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0143) [HB641 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB641-Chaptered.html
Whereas, David Wayne Kingrea (Mr. Kingrea) was convicted in 2014 in the Montgomery County Circuit Court of the felony offense of taking indecent liberties with Mr. Smith, the minor son of his then-girlfriend, a crime that he did not commit; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea was sentenced to 12 months in jail for such conviction and was required to register as a sex offender; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea served 12 months in the custody of the Virginia Department of Corrections; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea spent over 8 years as a registered sex offender; and
Whereas, Mr. Smith testified at Mr. Kingrea's trial that Mr. Kingrea sexually abused him on multiple occasions; and
Whereas, Mr. Smith recanted his testimony in October 2020; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea began pursuing exoneration at that time; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea pursued a writ of actual innocence in the Virginia Court of Appeals on August 19, 2021; and
Whereas, the Virginia Court of Appeals granted Mr. Kingrea's petition and issued a writ of actual innocence, vacating his convictions on June 6, 2022, pursuant to Chapter 19.3 (§19.2-327.10 et seq.) of Title 19.2 of the Code of Virginia; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea, as a result of his wrongful registration on the sex offender registry, lost countless life experiences and opportunities, including relationships with friends and family, and suffered unjustified discrimination as a result of such registration; and
Whereas, Mr. Kingrea has no other means to obtain adequate relief except by action of this body; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. §1. That there is hereby appropriated from the general fund of the state treasury the sum of an amount to be provided in the appropriation act for the relief of David Wayne Kingrea, to be paid by check issued by the State Treasurer on warrant of the Comptroller in accordance with the provisions of Article 18.2 (§8.01-195.10 et. seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01 of the Code of Virginia.
2. That the provisions of §8.01-195.12 of the Code of Virginia shall apply to any compensation awarded under this act.
