An Act to amend and reenact § 9.1-116.1 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 17.1-275.15, relating to Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund; additional fee for certain offenses.
HB1233 amends Virginia law to expand and fund the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund. The bill keeps the Fund as a special nonreverting account administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services and clarifies that money may be used to support prosecution of domestic violence, sexual violence, sexual abuse, stalking, family abuse, and human and sex trafficking cases, as well as victim services. It also directs the Department to adopt grant guidelines for distributing money to local prosecutors, law-enforcement-related victim support programs, civil legal assistance, child advocacy organizations, and sexual assault service providers and hospitals.
The bill adds a new court cost: a $500 fee upon conviction for each charge of specified offenses, including kidnapping and abduction-related offenses, sexual assault offenses, and a range of prostitution, trafficking, and child sexual exploitation offenses. Those fees, along with a specified portion of existing court-collected sums, are deposited into the Fund and may not revert to the general fund at the end of the biennium. The measure is designed to create a dedicated revenue stream for victim support and related criminal justice services, with priority for forensic examiners and nurse examiners serving rural or underserved areas.
HB1233 changes the Code of Virginia by amending § 9.1-116.1 and adding § 17.1-275.15. It creates a new mandatory $500 court cost for each qualifying conviction and earmarks those revenues, along with certain existing fee collections, for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund. The bill affects defendants convicted of the listed offenses, courts that assess and collect the fee, the Department of Criminal Justice Services that administers the Fund, and public and nonprofit entities that may receive grants for prosecution and victim services.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded vote information, so there is no documented debate to characterize. Based on the bill’s enactment, the overall legislative outcome was favorable, indicating support for expanding dedicated funding for victim services and related prosecution resources. The bill’s structure suggests a policy consensus around using offender-paid fees to support sexual and domestic violence response systems.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of disagreement, if raised, would likely concern the size of the new $500 fee, the use of court costs to fund services, and whether the burden should fall on convicted defendants rather than general appropriations. Another possible issue is the breadth of offenses covered and how the Fund prioritizes grants among prosecutors, service providers, and forensic examiners, especially in rural or underserved areas.