Virginia House Bill 556

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Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: Introduced on January 9 2024 - 25% progression
Action: 2024-02-01 - Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote
Pending: House Rules Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Prefiled) [HTML]

Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; membership; training requirements; Commission staff; JLARC study; report. Increases the membership of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (the Commission) from seven to nine members and reduces from 15 to 10 years the legal practice requirement of any member of the Commission. The bill further provides for staggered terms of the members of the Commission. The bill requires that members of the Commission complete a certain amount of education on judicial misconduct and correcting implicit bias. Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; membership; training requirements; Commission staff; JLARC study; report. Increases the membership of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission (the Commission) from seven to nine members and reduces from 15 to 10 years the legal practice requirement of any member of the Commission. The bill further provides for staggered terms of the members of the Commission. The bill requires that members of the Commission complete a certain amount of education on judicial misconduct and correcting implicit bias. The bill further directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission to, by November 30, 2025, (i) review (a) procedures for reviewing complaints received and adjudicating complaints, (b) processes for determining whether to conduct informal or formal hearings, and (c) any informal or established rules used to determine disciplinary action imposed on a judge or justice and provide recommendations as to the codification and publication of any such procedures, processes, or rules; (ii) research sanctions not currently used in the Commonwealth, including suspension without pay, mandatory recusal from certain cases, and payment of costs and fees associated with investigations and whether such sanctions are used in other states and their efficacy; (iii) provide recommendations on establishing a conflict of interest policy and code of conduct for the Commission and its staff; and (iv) study the potential benefits of combining the Judicial Performance Evaluation program with the tasks of the Commission.

Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission; increases membership, training requirements, report.

Del. Patrick Hope [D]

Date	Chamber	Action
2024-02-01	House	Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote
2024-01-29	House	Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2025 by voice vote
2024-01-25	House	Assigned Rules sub: Studies Subcommittee
2024-01-09	House	Referred to Committee on Rules
2024-01-09	House	Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102627D

Chapter	Article	Section	Citation Type	Statute Text
17	1	901	(n/a)	See Bill Text
17	1	903	(n/a)	See Bill Text
17	1	913	(n/a)	See Bill Text

Type	Source
Summary	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB556
Text	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB556+hil