January 10, 2001 marked the opening of the 2001 Session of the Virginia General Assembly.  By January 15, the date of this report, more than 2000 bills and resolutions had been introduced for consideration.  Hundreds of additional measures are expected to be introduced before the cut-off date for the introduction of legislation on January 19.  The MRWBA Legislative Committee will attempt, as in years past, to provide members with periodic status reports on pending bills and resolutions thought to be of general interest to women attorneys practicing law in the Richmond metropolitan area.  It will not be possible to identify and monitor every important measure, and members are encouraged to follow the deliberations of the General Assembly as carefully as their time and interests permit.  Most importantly, members are encouraged to contact their elected senators and delegates to express their individual views on pending measures of personal and professional significance.  Legislators welcome input from their constituents, and we each have a special advantage offered by our proximity to the Capitol.  If you cannot take the time to visit the General Assembly between now and February 24,  you can monitor the progress of legislation online at http://leg1.state.va.us.  You also can contact your legislator by phone, fax, or e-mail.  Contact information is also available online at: http://206.246.254.20/vaonline/cg2.htm or by calling Capitol Information at 698-7410 or General Assembly Building Information at 698-1470.  Finally, you may call the Constituent Viewpoint operators toll-free at (800) 889-0229 or locally at 698-1990 to express your opinion on a legislative issue.

What follows is a very brief listing of just some of the bills already introduced that relate to Attorneys, Courts and Judges.  Subsequent tracking reports will provide additional information about these and other bills.  Based on member survey responses, our bill tracking reports are likely to focus on legislation relating to Civil Remedies and Procedure; Reproductive Rights; Health; Family Law and Domestic Relations; Children and Child Care; Criminal Law; and Corporate and Commercial Law.  Subsequent reports will be included in both monthly newsletters and broadcast e-mails.  If the MRWBA does not have your current e-mail address and you wish to receive updates by e-mail, please provide that information to Gail Jaspen at gjaspen@reedsmith.com.

Attorneys;  Courts;  Judges

HB 1584 Interpreters for non-English-speaking defendants (Armstrong)
Interpreters for non-English-speaking defendants. Requires a defendant for whom an interpreter  is appointed to pay, as a part of court costs, the fee for such interpreter if the defendant is found guilty.
Referred to House Committee for Courts of Justice.

HB 1597 Access to scientific data from state-funded studies (Landes)
Amends the Freedom of Information Act to include a right of access to scientific data used as the basis of new laws.
Referred to House Committee on General Laws.

HB 1683 Number of district court judges (Almand)
Creates one new judgeship each of several general district courts, including in the Twelfth (Chesterfield, Colonial Heights) Judicial District. The requirement that the judges of the  Fourteenth Judicial District (Henrico), Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court assist the Twelfth Judicial District is removed.
Recommended by House Courts of Justice (23-Y 0-N); in House for vote.