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Virginia Poised to Raise the Felony Theft Threshold.

  • Devanshi Patel,
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Virginia is poised to raise the felony theft threshold from $200 to $500 according to Governor Ralph Northam and House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox.  Despite repeated attempts by Democrats, this will be the first increase to the archaic threshold since 1980.

As we previously posted, the Senate had passed legislation reforming the felony theft threshold last month; however, concern remained whether the House would do the same.  Ultimately, a compromise was reached with Governor Northam stating, “Both sides have gotten something we fought for.”  Increasing the felony theft threshold comes with agreement to support Republican-backed victim restitution legislation.

Senate Bill 608 Prohibiting Waiver of Right to Petition for Expungement Provisions in Plea Agreements Passes Virginia Senate.

Senate Bill 608 proposed by Senator Scott Surovell provides that any provision in any plea agreement that purports to waive, release, or extinguish the right of a person to file a petition requesting the expungement of police and court records shall be void and unenforceable as against public policy.  SB 608 passed the Senate on February 1, 2018,and the breakdown of the 29-11 vote is as follows:

YEAS–Barker, Carrico, Chafin, Chase, Dance, Dunnavant, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola, Hanger, Howell, Lewis, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Mason, McClellan, McDougle, McPike, Obenshain, Petersen, Saslaw, Spruill, Stanley, Sturtevant, Suetterlein, Surovell, Vogel, Wexton

NAYS–Black, Cosgrove, Deeds, DeSteph, Newman, Norment, Peake, Reeves, Ruff, Stuart, Wagner

Senate Bill 111 to Decriminalize Simple Possession of Marijuana Defeated in Courts of Justice Committee.

On January 29, 2018, the Virginia Senate’s Courts of Justice Committee voted against SB111, sponsored by Adam Ebbin, which would decriminalize simple marijuana possession and provide a civil penalty of no more than $50 for a first violation, $100 for a second violation, and $250 for a third or subsequent violation.

The 9-6 vote breakdowns as follows:

YEAS:  Saslaw (D), Howell (D), Lucas (D), Edwards (D), Deeds (D), Petersen (D)

NAYS:  Obenshain (R), Norment (R), McDougle (R), Stuart (R), Stanley (R), Reeves (R), Chafin (R), Sturtevant (R), Peake (R)

House Bill 1063 to Decriminalize Possession of One-Half Ounce or Less of Marijuana Fails in Virginia.

HB 1063, sponsored by Delegate Steve Heretick, sought to decriminalize possession of no more than one-half ounce of marijuana and provide a civil penalty of no more than $250 for a first violation and $1,000 for a second or subsequent violation.  The Bill has failed to advance from Subcommittee #1 of the Committee for the Courts of Justice.  The members of the Subcommittee are:  Chairman C. Todd Gilbert (R-15th District), Robert B. Bell (R-58th District), Benjamin Cline (R-24th District), Les Adams (R-16th District), Christopher Collins (R-29th District), Vivian Watts (D-39th District), Charniele Herring (D-46th District), and Michael Mullin (D-93rd District).  The lone vote to advance the Bill was cast by Delegate Herring.