Court Date Reminder Program; established.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§
16.1-262
and
46.2-388
of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 2 of Title 17.1 an article numbered 9, consisting of sections numbered
17.1-296
through
17.1-299
, relating to Court Date Reminder Program established.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§
16.1-262
and
46.2-388
of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Chapter 2 of Title 17.1 an article numbered 9, consisting of sections numbered
17.1-296
through
17.1-299
, as follows:

§
16.1-262
. Form and content of petition.

A. The petition shall contain the facts below indicated:

"Commonwealth of Virginia, In re ______ (name of child)" a child under eighteen years of age.

"In the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court of the county (or city) of ______ "

1. Statement of name, age, date of birth,
phone number,
if known, and residence of the child.

2. Statement of names
and
,
residence
, and phone numbers
of his parents, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis and spouse, if any.

3. Statement of names
and
,
residence
, and phone numbers
of the nearest known relatives if no parent or guardian can be found.

4. Statement of the specific facts which allegedly bring the child within the purview of this law. If the petition alleges a delinquent act, it shall make reference to the applicable sections of the Code which designate the act a crime.

5. Statement as to whether the child is in custody, and if so, the place of detention or shelter care, and the time the child was taken into custody, and the time the child was placed in detention or shelter care.

B. If the subject of the petition is an adult, the petition shall not state or include the name of or any information concerning the parents, guardians, legal custodian, or person standing in loco parentis of the adult subject of the petition except as may be necessary to state the conduct alleged in the petition.

C. If any of the facts herein required to be stated are not known by the petitioner, the petition shall so state. The petition shall be verified, except that petitions filed under §
63.2-1237
may be signed by the petitioner's counsel, and may be upon information.
Any phone number collected or listed on a petition shall
only
be used for the Court Date Reminder Program established pursuant to §
17.1-296
if applicable to t
he subject of the petition
. If no phone number is listed at the time
such
petition is filed, the court shall
obtain such information
at the first appearance of the subject of the petition.

In accordance with §
16.1-69.32
, the Supreme Court may formulate rules for the form and content of petitions in the juvenile court concerning matters related to the custody, visitation or support of a child and the protection, support or maintenance of an adult where the provisions of this section are not appropriate.

Article
9
.

Court Date Reminder Program
.

§
17.1-296
. Court Date Remin
der Program
;

purpose
.

The Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court
shall develop or procure a Court Date Reminder Program (the Program)
to remind criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled
court appearances
and to provide any related information.
The purpose of such reminders is to reduce the number of criminal defendants who are taken into custody solely as a result of their failure to appear in court.

§
17.1-297
. Program requirements.

A
. The Program shall send
a
text message
noti
fication

to a
ny
defendant with a criminal case
or traffic infraction
in
general district court or circuit court
.

A defendant may opt out of participating in the Program at any time.
When a defendant is unable to receive text messages, the Program administrator or his designee may use other communication methods
to contact such defendant
, including telephone, email, or other internet-based technology
.
In the case of a juvenile defendant, such notification shall be sent to the juvenile
, if he is able to receive text messages,

and
his parent or legal guardian
.
If the juvenile is unable
to receive text messages, the Program administrator or his designee may use other communication methods, including telephone, email, or other internet-based technology, to contact the juvenile and his parent or legal guardian.

B. The Program shall provide at least two reminder
notifications
for all
scheduled
court appearances or
required
payment
date
s
. The first reminder shall be sent one week prior to
a scheduled court appearance or required payment date. The second reminder shall be sent one day prior to a scheduled court appearance or required payment date. Additional
reminders
may
be sent at the discretion of the Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court
to ensure adequate notice is provided.

C.
1.
A reminder
shall include the following
for a criminal matter
:

a. A statement notifying the defendant that
he
may opt ou
t of participating in the Program;

b. The date, time, and location of the scheduled court
appearance
;

c. Notice of any cou
rt closures affecting such court
appearance
;

d. The consequences of failing to appear at such court
appearance
;

e. Contact information or directions for inquiries relating to such court
appearance
;
and

f. Instructions for how to resolve the matter online, if applicable.

2. A reminder shall include the following for a traffic infraction:

a. A statement notifying the defendant that
he
may opt out of participating in the Program;

b. Instructions o
n
how to resolve the matter online
or
pay
the
ticket, if applicable
;

c. The
required
payment
date for
the

ticket or the
date, time, and location of
the
scheduled court
appearance
, if app
licable
;

d
. The consequences
o
f
failing
to
pay the ticket
by the required payment date
or
fail
ing
to
appear
at
the
scheduled court
appearance
;
and

e. Contact information or directions for inquiries relating to such
traffic infraction.

D.

Any defendant
subject to this section who fail
s
to appear at a scheduled court appearance
or fail
s
to pay
a
ticket by the required payment date
shall receive a notification within two days of the following actio
ns by
the court
:
(i)
issu
ance of

a capias
,
(ii)
entr
ance of
a finding of guilt
,
or (iii) suspen
sion of

the driver's license of the defendant.

E. All notifications
shall be written in plain langua
ge and generally conform to best practices identified by research on court reminder programs.

§
17.1-298
. Program collection and use of telephone numbers.

A. Law
-
enforcement officers, corrections personnel, and court staff shall, to the extent practicable, obtain the telephone numbers of
defendants
at the time of issuing summonses, preparing charging documents, completing intake forms, and executing booking and release forms, as well as on any other document deemed relevant for the purposes of this
article
.

B.

Refusal to provide a telephone number to a law
-
enforcement officer, corrections personnel,
or
court staff shall not be held against the
defendant
for any purpose.

C.

Telephone numbers collected pursuant to subsection A shall be transmitted to the Program for use exclusively in accordance with its statutory mandate.

D.

The Program shall include a publicly accessible website, or such other mechanism as the Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court
deems appropriate, by which individuals may update their telephone numbers and other contact information and enroll in the Program.

§
17.1-299
.
Data
c
ollection and
r
eporting.

A.

The Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court
shall collect, maintain, and report data relevant to the administration and effectiveness of the Program. Such data shall include:

1
.

T
he
number of
defendants
enrolled in the Program;

2
.
The number of
defendants
who opt out of
the Program;

3
.

The number of
def
endant
s

for whom

the Program does not have a telephone number
; and

4
.

The
number of
enrolled defendants
who fail to appear for a scheduled court appearance or fail to pay a ticket.

B.

The Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court
shall make such data publicly available or provide such data to the General Assembly on an annual basis.

§
46.2-388
. Uniform summons to be used for reportable motor vehicle law violations; citations.

A. The Attorney General, after consultation with the Committee on District Courts, the Superintendent of State Police and the Commissioner, shall approve a form for the summons to be issued in either an electronic or paper format and all revisions to the form to be used by all law-enforcement officers throughout the Commonwealth in cases of motor vehicle law violations reportable to the Department under the provisions of §§
46.2-382
and
46.2-383
and for other offenses charged on a summons pursuant to §
19.2-74
. The commencement and termination date for the use of the form and each revised version of the form shall be made by the Attorney General after consultation with the Committee on District Courts, the Superintendent of State Police and the Commissioner. The law-enforcement agency issuing the summons shall determine whether to use an electronic or paper format.

The form of the summons shall include multiple copies with the original to be used for court records and other copies in sufficient number to permit the use of one copy by the courts for purposes of filing abstracts of records with the Department as required by §
46.2-383
and shall be a form prepared by the Department within the meaning of §
46.2-386
. The form of the summons shall also include
(i)
appropriate space for use in cases of violation of either state laws or local ordinances
and (ii) a field for the telephone number of the person receiving the summons to be used for the Court Date Reminder Program established
pursuant to
§
17.1-296
.

B. A separate citation which has been approved in the manner prescribed in subsection A shall be used for violations of §§
46.2-1122
through
46.2-1127
and
46.2-1130
. The citation shall be directed to the owner, operator or other person responsible for the overweight violation, and shall advise him of:

1. The nature of the violation charged against him;

2. The amount of monetary fees, penalties, and damages that may be assessed for violations;

3. The requirement that he either pay the fees, penalties, and damages in full or deliver a notice of his intent to contest the charge to the Department;

4. The procedures and time limits for making the payments or contesting such charge, which shall include the trial date, which shall in no event be earlier than 60 days after the violation; and

5. The consequences of a failure to timely pay or contest the charge.

C. A separate citation that has been approved in the manner prescribed in subsection A shall be used for violations of §
46.2-613.1
. The citation shall be directed to the owner, operator, or other person responsible for the violation and shall advise him of:

1. The nature of the violation charged against him;

2. The amount of monetary fees and penalties that may be assessed for violations;

3. The requirement that he either pay the fee and penalties in full or deliver a notice of his intent to contest the charge to the Department;

4. The procedures and time limits for making the payments or contesting such charge which shall include the trial date, which shall in no event be earlier than 60 days after the violation; and

5. The consequences of a failure to timely pay or contest the charge.