HB746: Custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.


VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- CHAPTER
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1, relating to custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.
[H 746]
Approved

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1 as follows:

§ 16.1-247.1. Custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.

A. Prior to any custodial interrogation of a child by a law-enforcement officer who has arrested such child pursuant to subsection C, C1, or D of § 16.1-246, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall be notified of his arrest and the child shall have contact with his parent, guardian, or legal custodian. The notification and contact required by this subsection may be in person, electronically, by telephone, or by video conference.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, a custodial interrogation may be conducted if (i) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian is a codefendant in the alleged offense; (ii) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian has been arrested for, has been charged with, or is being investigated for a crime against the child; (iii) if, after every reasonable effort has been made to comply with subsection A, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian cannot be located or refuses contact with the child; or (iv) if the law-enforcement officer conducting the custodial interrogation reasonably believes the information sought is necessary to protect life, limb, or property from an imminent danger and the law-enforcement officer's questions are limited to those that are reasonably necessary to obtain such information.


HOUSE BILL NO. 746
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
on February 19, 2020)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Watts)
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1, relating to custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1 as follows:

§ 16.1-247.1. Custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.

A. Prior to any custodial interrogation of a child by a law-enforcement officer who has arrested such child pursuant to subsection C, C1, or D of § 16.1-246, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall be notified of his arrest and the child shall have contact with his parent, guardian, or legal custodian. The notification and contact required by this subsection may be in person, electronically, by telephone, or by video conference.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, a custodial interrogation may be conducted if (i) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian is a codefendant in the alleged offense; (ii) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian has been arrested for, has been charged with, or is being investigated for a crime against the child; (iii) if, after every reasonable effort has been made to comply with subsection A, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian cannot be located or refuses contact with the child; or (iv) if the law-enforcement officer conducting the custodial interrogation reasonably believes the information sought is necessary to protect life, limb, or property from an imminent danger and the law-enforcement officer's questions are limited to those that are reasonably necessary to obtain such information.


HOUSE BILL NO. 746
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee for Courts of Justice
on February 5, 2020)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Watts)
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1, relating to custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1 as follows:

§ 16.1-247.1. Custodial interrogation of a child; parental notification and contact.

A. Prior to the custodial interrogation of a child, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian shall be notified of his arrest and the child shall have contact with his parent, guardian, or legal custodian in person, by telephone, or by video conference.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, a custodial interrogation may be conducted if (i) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian is a codefendant in the alleged offense; (ii) the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian has been arrested for, has been charged with, or is being investigated for a crime against the child; (iii) if, after every reasonable effort has been made to comply with subsection A, the child's parent, guardian, or legal custodian cannot be located or refuses contact with the child; or (iv) if the law-enforcement officer conducting the custodial interrogation reasonably believes the information sought is necessary to protect life, limb, or property from an imminent danger and the law-enforcement officer's questions are limited to those that are reasonably necessary to obtain such information.

HOUSE BILL NO. 746

Offered January 8, 2020
Prefiled January 6, 2020
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1, relating to custodial interrogation of a child; consultation with legal counsel; admissibility of statements.
Patron-- Watts

Committee Referral Pending

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 16.1-247.1 as follows:

§ 16.1-247.1. Custodial interrogation of a child; consultation with legal counsel; admissibility of statements.

A. For the purposes of this section, "custodial interrogation" means any interview conducted by a law-enforcement officer in such circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to consider himself to be in custody associated with arrest and during which the law-enforcement officer takes actions or asks questions that are reasonably likely to elicit responses from the person that could incriminate him.

B. Prior to the custodial interrogation of a child, the child shall (i) consult with legal counsel in person, by telephone, or by video conference and (ii) have contact with his parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person standing in loco parentis in person, by telephone, or by video conference.

C. Any statement made by a child during or after a custodial interrogation that does not comply with the provisions of this section shall be inadmissible as evidence unless (i) the law-enforcement officer who conducted the custodial interrogation of the child reasonably believed the information he sought was necessary to protect life or property from an imminent threat and (ii) the law-enforcement officer's questions were limited to those that were reasonably necessary to obtain that information.