The Richmond Times Dispatch has posted the new laws that will go in effect July 1.
ABC
Drinking and driving: Teens who drink and drive will face harsher penalties, including loss of their license for a year and either a $500 minimum fine or 50 hours of community service. Currently, the punishment is loss of license for six months and a maximum fine of $500.
On Friday, some Virginia restaurants will have the option of going BYOW — bring your own wine.
It’s just one of nearly 900 bills — out of 2,968 proposed — that passed during this year’s winter General Assembly session. Most of the new laws take effect July 1.
The wide array of new laws ranges from an expansion of the availability of protection orders to new measurement standards for selling shelled oysters. Here are some of the highlights.
Booze towns: Residents of towns with a population of more than 1,000 will now be able to vote on whether their county should allow the sale of mixed drinks. Previously, town residents could not vote in such county referendums. The law is meant to address situations where a “dry” town is located in a “wet” county, or vice-versa.
Bring your own wine: A new law will allow restaurants to permit patrons to bring their own wine. The catch? The restaurants will be allowed to charge a “corkage” fee for the privilege.
Underage drinking: Anyone who purchases alcoholic beverages for or otherwise helps someone who they know or have reason to believe is younger than 21 obtain or consume alcohol is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Current law does not address consumption or “reason to believe” that the person is underage.
BudgetState workers’ retirement: As part of adjustments to the state’s two-year, $32 billion general fund budget, state workers will be required to pay 5 percent of their salary toward their retirement, but the full 5 percent will be reimbursed in a pay raise.
Business
Chinese drywall disclosure: Real estate licensees and landlords who know of defective Chinese drywall in a dwelling unit must disclose the information to a prospective tenant or buyer. A tenant can terminate the lease if the disclosure is not made within 60 days of the discovery.
Homestead exemptions: A new law adds one family firearm, not exceeding $3,000 in value, to the list of items exempt from creditors. It also increases the maximum exemption for a motor vehicle from $2,000 to $6,000.
Civil law
Protective orders: A law expands the availability of protective orders to any violent, forceful or threatening behavior that results in injury or places one at reasonable risk of death, sexual assault or injury. The orders will now be available regardless of the relationship of the parties involved, removing barriers for non-family members, such as people in dating relationships.
Foreign adoptions: In some cases, adoption of a child in a foreign country will be recognized in Virginia and the parents will not be required to readopt the child. The law also streamlines the process to obtain a certificate of birth for a child adopted in another country and brought into the U.S.
Sexual abuse: Minors who are victims of sexual abuse will now have 20 years from the time of the incident to file a civil lawsuit. The previous statute of limitations was two years.
Criminal justice
Correctional facilities: The Department of Corrections must offer to test an inmate, who does not have a record of a positive test result, for infection with HIV within 60 days of his scheduled discharge. An inmate may decline being tested.
Reckless handling of firearms: For a first offense of reckless handling of firearms, a person’s hunting or trapping license can be revoked for up to five years and for one year to life for a second offense. Currently, a first offense results in a revocation for one year to life and a second offense results in a revocation for an additional period not to exceed five years.
Bond: Use of GPS technology will be allowed for tracking people on secured bond or as a condition of probation or suspended sentence.
Search warrants: Makes the affidavit for a search warrant publicly available only after the warrant has been executed, or 15 days after issuance of the warrant, whichever is earlier.
Education
School year: A school district may begin classes before Labor Day if it is surrounded by other districts that already have a waiver from the state to begin school early. The law was proposed on behalf of the city of Roanoke.
Environment and natural resources
Oysters: The law provides that oysters in the shell may be bought or sold by half bushel or one bushel metallic containers or a container of not less than 2,800 cubic inches and not more than 3,000 cubic inches, the make and model of which has been approved by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Current law prohibits buying or selling oysters in the shell by any measure other than metallic circular tubs with specific dimensions established by law.
Hunting/fishing licenses: Hunters, fishers and trappers will be able to obtain multiple year licenses from the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries. The cost for each year cannot exceed the cost of a single-year license.
Taxes
Produce: Agricultural produce or eggs will be exempt from the sales and use tax when sold in farmers markets and at roadside stands if the seller’s annual income from sales does not exceed $1,000.
Transportation
Funding: The new Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank will make loans to private or public entities and grants to localities for transportation projects.
Traffic lights: Motorcycles, mo-peds and bicycles will be allowed to proceed through red lights so long as the rider comes to a complete stop for 120 seconds, treats the light as a stop sign and determines that it is safe to proceed.
Other
Jury duty: Firefighters, which include emergency medical technicians, lifesaving and rescue squad members and arson investigators, will be exempt from jury service if they request.
Deceased voters: Even if an absentee voter dies before Election Day, the vote still will count so long as the voter was entitled to vote when he cast the ballot.
License plates: Several series of special license plates were authorized by this year’s General Assembly, including the tea-party-themed “Don’t Tread On Me” and “In God We Trust” plates. Others approved include Blue Ridge Parkway, James River Park System and War of 1812 bicentennial plates.
Of course these are just the highlights. Even so, it doesn’t seem like much got accomplished. I am glad to see sex abuse victims have more time to come forward. I question who really will get fined if a teen is caught drinking. Will the court provide a job for that teen to earn the money?
Is the Tea Party laying legal claim to the Gadsden flag now? I am not sure that can be done, any more than the Daughters of the Confederacy can lay claim to the ‘Bonnie Blue Flag.’ Those are flags of our nation’s history. They belong to all of us. Somehow the license plate legislation codifies ownership. I don’t think I like that. Let the Tea Party design its own flag.
The egg exemption? Where on earth did that come from? Meanwhile PWC is in a pissing contest with some lady living on 2o acres because she wants to raise a few chickens. Several live over on King George. bok bok bok.
Transportation came up a little scant. So did the budget. Is this all we get? Where is that wascally new abortion clinic = hospital law? Virginia lawmakers should just be ashamed of themselves over that one.
One other thing the legislators overlooked. They want to allow dead people to vote, well, sorta. If you vote early and die, your vote should count. Ok. That seems fair. What doesn’t seem fair and what should be fixed is the fact that dead people stay on the voter registration lists for years afterwards. What is done to remove the names of the deceased? No wonder we get dead people voting. Shouldn’t the Bureau of Vital statistics have to notify the state election board and they in turn notify the last place of voter registration? Just a thought……
Motorcycles, mo-peds, and bikes will be allowed to go through red lights after a stop of 120 seconds? That must mean straight across an intersection against a red light. Hah. Look for the death and injury stats to increase around here. Wonder which fool thought that one up? Even going through a green light is becoming an adventure these days in what Mrs. W now calls “Dented-In, Virginia.”
Probably the same fools who voted in 150 minutes of Phys. ed. a week in k-8 before they realized that most facilities don’t have the space to provide physical activity and that we live in a climate that has real winters.
Great idea on paper. Not so great when you look at what you got vs what you want.
After looking at those laws I honestly feel like we are wasting our time and money even having a general assembly. Those laws are either special interest group generated or someone’s pet peeve or project.
Meanwhile, people drive down the road texting, blabbing on the phone and all sorts of other things that distract the driver. I sure didn’t see any laws about that. I also haven’t seen much in the way of mortgage rules in Virginia. All that fraud that went on–make up some laws.
“Motorcycles, mo-peds, and bikes will be allowed to go through red lights after a stop of 120 seconds?”
One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi….. 120 mississippis is alot of mississippis to count. I would rather just sit there on my bike until the light turns green. Who thought this one up? Obscure laws like this just create confusion.
I think allowing motorcycles to go through the light after a 2 minute stop is stupid. Most of us know to expect the unexpected from bicycles and mo-peds but we’d expect a motorcycle to stop. I suspect it may be because they don’t trip some of the traffic lights. ??? The state better do a bit of publicity about that change.
Things you need a license to operate should have to go by regular traffic rules.
My daughter just got her license last night. I’ll have to school her on this new law. There are plenty of mo-peds, homemade scooters, and mini bikes around my area. They drive like they are exempt from rules of the road.
I’m with FYou. Who came up with this law?
FYou-Everytime I here C Lo Green on the radio, I use your words. 🙂 That’s still one of the funniest things I’ve read on the blogs.
I hope those that want to exercise BYOW are prepared to pay big bucks in corkage fees. Having worked in a hotel for years this can be quite costly. They may as well buy directly from the establishment. Just my two cents.
@Lafayette, I have fantacized about stringing piano wire across my street to clothesline that guy that keeps driving by on some sort of homemade lawnmower moped cycle. It sounds like an angry bumble bee. Does he come down your street?
There’s a “gang” of mopeders and we call them Mo-Pagans. I would love to see them and one white Acura with tags that read 1SLOTEG get caught. 1SLOTEG blows down my street about 50mph. Oh, add to that the noise factor of the muffler modifications.
@laf,
I don’t know why some of them haven’t been caught. These are LOUD. Sometimes they chase each other.
Right and in the case of 1SLOTEG they were stupid enough to post a video of them racing through WestGate. You do remember those “reversed crop cirlces” at Sinclair, don’t you? Need I say more about their stupidity. 👿
^circles(please fix)
@Moon-howler
After looking at those laws I honestly feel like we are wasting our time and money even having a general assembly.
We can go the Texas route. Have them meet only every other year for a short time.
Do the same for Congress. Or just get rid of the heat and AC in the building……
@Cargo,
Have you ever seen a sorrier batch of slop?
Oh yes, I remember. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer and smart mouthes on some of them.
BINGO!!!
Yep.
I grew up in Louisiana.
I like Cargo’s idea of conserving energy. Let it begin with me.
I find it amusing to ask them to roll down thier windows and tell them that I think their engine is about to fail because their car sounds like crap.
You might get a confused look and a “whatever” but I just blame that on public education. 😉
WTF?
Jury duty: Firefighters, which include emergency medical technicians, lifesaving and rescue squad members and arson investigators, will be exempt from jury service if they request.
Everyone is equal, some are just more equal than others.
“Motorcycles, mo-peds and bicycles will be allowed to proceed through red lights so long as the rider comes to a complete stop for 120 seconds, treats the light as a stop sign and determines that it is safe to proceed.”
I will happily contribute to the fund to buy every legislator a motorcycle. With boneheaded laws like this, we will get to replace all of them within the next couple of years.
@marinm
They would probably run me over before they’d even consider stopping long enough for me to question them.
Clearly, jury duty is no longer equal in the eyes of The Commonwealth. Are we really that short staffed in the emergency field in the Commonwealth?
@Emma
Oh, Emma!! The visual I have of some of our local politicians whippin’ around town on two wheels. What a waste of a law. Do we know introduced and patroned this bill to become law?
Was someone’s campaign funded by Harley-Davidson?
marin said:
I believe that we are that short on first responders. The shortages just haven’t been replaced since the crash.
What does jury duty cost for educaton personnel?
It could be worse. Maryland passed a law that makes “environmental literacy” a requirement for graduation. No one is exactly sure what that means, but it requires allegiance on the altar to anthropogenic climate change.