Bill Text: VA SB424 | 2024 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Admission to bail; act of violence.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-28 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0243) [SB424 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SB424-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §19.2-120 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§19.2-120. Admission to bail.
A. Prior to conducting any hearing on the issue of bail, release, or detention, the judicial officer shall, to the extent feasible, obtain the person's criminal history.
A. B. A person who is held in
custody pending trial or hearing for an offense, civil or criminal contempt, or
otherwise shall be admitted to bail by a judicial officer, unless there is
probable cause to believe that:
1. He will not appear for trial or hearing or at such other
time and place as may be directed,; or
2. His liberty will constitute an unreasonable danger to himself, family or household members as defined in §16.1-228, or the public.
B. C. In making a determination
under subsection A B, the judicial officer shall
consider all relevant information, including (i) the nature and circumstances
of the offense; (ii) whether a firearm is alleged to have been used in the
commission of the offense; (iii) the weight of the evidence; (iv) the history
of the accused or juvenile, including his family ties or involvement in
employment, education, or medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment;
(v) his length of residence in, or other ties to, the community; (vi) his
record of convictions; (vii) his appearance at court proceedings or flight to
avoid prosecution or convictions for failure to appear at court proceedings;
and (viii) whether the person is likely to obstruct or attempt to obstruct
justice, or threaten, injure, or intimidate, or attempt to threaten, injure, or
intimidate, a prospective witness, juror, victim, or family or household member
as defined in §16.1-228.
D. No judicial officer shall admit a person to bail who is charged with an act of violence as defined in §19.2-297.1 without prior notification to the attorney for the Commonwealth for the jurisdiction in which such person's case is filed.
C. E. The judicial officer shall
inform the person of his right to appeal from the order denying bail or fixing
terms of bond or recognizance consistent with §19.2-124.
D. F. If
the judicial officer sets a secured bond and the person engages the services of
a licensed bail bondsman, the magistrate executing recognizance for the accused
shall provide the bondsman, upon request, with a copy of the person's Virginia
criminal history record, if readily available, to be used by the bondsman only
to determine appropriate reporting requirements to impose upon the accused upon
his release. The bondsman shall pay a $15 fee payable to the state treasury to
be credited to the Literary Fund, upon requesting the defendant's Virginia
criminal history record issued pursuant to §19.2-389. The bondsman shall
review the record on the premises and promptly return the record to the
magistrate after reviewing it.