15100270D
SENATE BILL NO. 794
Offered January 14, 2015
Prefiled December 31, 2014
A BILL to amend and reenact §§19.2-71, 19.2-72, and 19.2-271
of the Code of Virginia, relating to issuance of process of arrest for criminal
offenses; testimony of certain judicial personnel.
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Patron-- Carrico
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§19.2-71, 19.2-72, and 19.2-271 of the Code of
Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§19.2-71. Who may issue process of arrest.
A. Process for the arrest of a person charged with a criminal
offense may be issued by the judge, or clerk of any circuit court, any general
district court, any juvenile and domestic relations district court, or any
magistrate as provided for in Chapter 3 (§19.2-26 et seq.) of this title.
However, no magistrate may issue an arrest warrant
for a felony criminal offense
upon the basis of a complaint by a person other than a law-enforcement officer
or an animal control officer without prior authorization by
the attorney for the Commonwealth or by a law-enforcement agency having
jurisdiction over the alleged offense.
B. No law-enforcement officer shall seek issuance of process
by any judicial officer, for the arrest of a person for the offense of capital
murder as defined in §18.2-31, without prior authorization by the attorney for
the Commonwealth. Failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection
shall not be (i) a basis upon which a warrant may be quashed or deemed invalid,
(ii) deemed error upon which a conviction or sentence may be reversed or
vacated, or (iii) a basis upon which a court may prevent or delay execution of
sentence.
§19.2-72. When it may issue; what to recite and require.
On complaint of a criminal offense to any judicial
officer authorized to issue criminal warrants he shall
examine on oath the complainant and any other witnesses, or when such judicial officer shall suspect
that an offense punishable otherwise than by a fine has been committed he may,
without formal complaint, issue a summons for witnesses and shall examine such
witnesses. A written complaint shall be required if the complainant is not a
law-enforcement officer. If upon such examination such judicial
officer finds that there is probable cause to believe the
accused has committed an offense, such the judicial officer shall
issue a warrant for his arrest, except that no magistrate may
issue an arrest warrant for a felony criminal offense upon the basis of a complaint by a person other
than a law-enforcement officer or an animal control officer without prior authorization by the attorney for the Commonwealth or by
a law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the alleged offense. The
warrant shall (i) be directed to an appropriate officer or officers, (ii) name
the accused or, if his name is unknown, set forth a description by which he can
be identified with reasonable certainty, (iii) describe the offense charged
with reasonable certainty, (iv) command that the accused be arrested and
brought before a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the county, city or town
in which the offense was allegedly committed, and (v) be signed by the issuing
officer. The warrant shall require the officer to whom it is directed to summon
such witnesses as shall be therein named to appear and give evidence on the
examination. But in a city or town having a police force, the warrant shall be
directed "To any policeman, sheriff or his deputy sheriff of such city (or
town)," and shall be executed by the policeman, sheriff or his deputy
sheriff into whose hands it shall come or be delivered. A sheriff or his deputy
may execute an arrest warrant throughout the county in which he serves and in
any city or town surrounded thereby and effect an arrest in any city or town
surrounded thereby as a result of a criminal act committed during the execution
of such warrant. A jail officer as defined in §53.1-1 employed at a regional
jail or jail farm is authorized to execute a warrant of arrest upon an accused
in his jail. The venue for the prosecution of such criminal act shall be the
jurisdiction in which the offense occurred.
§19.2-271. Certain judicial officers incompetent to testify
under certain circumstances (Supreme Court Rule 2:605 derived from this
section); exceptions.
No judge shall be competent to testify in any criminal or
civil proceeding as to any matter which came before him in the course of his
official duties.
No Except as otherwise provided in this section, no clerk
of any court, magistrate, or other person having the power to issue warrants,
shall be competent to testify in any criminal or civil proceeding, except proceedings wherein the defendant is
charged with perjury, as to any matter which came before
him in the course of his official duties. Such person shall be competent to
testify as to a matter
which came before him in the course of his official duties (i)
in any criminal proceeding wherein the defendant is charged pursuant to the provisions of §18.2-460 with perjury, (ii)
in a criminal proceeding where the defendant
is charged with a crime committed in the presence of the person, or (iii) in any proceeding
authorized pursuant to §19.2-353.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section, any judge, clerk of any court, magistrate, or other person having
the power to issue warrants, who is the victim of a crime, shall not be
incompetent solely because of his office to testify in any criminal or civil
proceeding arising out of the crime.
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