THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 28, 1994 TAG: 9406280344
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940628 LENGTH: RICHMOND
Trucks will drive faster on rural interstates, many jury trials will last longer and some elementary school classrooms should be less crowded. Drunken drivers, sex offenders and teenage criminals will face tougher laws.
{REST} A total of 846 bills passed by the General Assembly last winter will become law, including the $32 billion state budget for 1994-96. Here's a rundown:
65 MPH FOR TRUCKS: Perhaps the most immediate change will be seen on rural interstate highways, where state transportation workers will be busy Friday taking down signs that designate a 55 mph speed limit for heavy trucks.
The new law will allow trucks to join cars in going 65 mph, a move that supporters said will cause fewer accidents. Opponents said more accidents will occur because trucks going at high speeds cannot stop rapidly.
Highway crews will have to take down about 400 truck speed limit signs statewide, said Chuck Hansen, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
``These men and women are efficient workers. They'll get them all down in one day,'' Hansen said.
CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS REVEALED: Anyone assigned to jury duty may have to sit through longer trials beginning next month.
As part of Gov. George F. Allen's anti-crime package, juries will be told a convicted felon's criminal background before sentencing. Virginia is one of six states with jury sentencing, and most of them already give jurors background information before sentencing.
Until now, Virginia juries have decided guilt and sentences at the same time.
The prosecutor will present any prior convictions, including in juvenile court, and the defense may respond with ``relevant admissible evidence related to punishment.''
``This is a very significant change in the way criminal cases will have been tried in Virginia for a long time,'' said Walter Felton, a deputy attorney general.
``There will be some delay simply because you have a separate proceeding,'' he said. Still, the change should not significantly slow the legal system because most felony cases are settled by a plea agreement, he said.
TOUGHER DRUNKEN-DRIVING LAWS: The most sweeping crime-law changes will be for drunken driving. A driver will be considered legally drunk with a blood-alcohol level of .08, down from the current .10. The lower standard also will apply to boaters.
A ``zero tolerance'' law for drivers under age 21 will require that they lose their license for six months and pay a $500 fine if they have a blood-alcohol level of .02 or above.
A provision requiring a seven-day license suspension for anyone arrested for drunken driving takes effect in January.
CRIMINAL-LAW CHANGES: Youths charged with felonies may be tried as adults beginning at age 14 rather than 15, and the requirement that a marital sexual assault be reported within 10 days will be lifted. Other changes include:
State police will begin keeping a registry of sex offenders that can be checked only by police, school and day care officials.
Anyone convicted of assaulting others or destroying their property because of the victim's race, religion or national origin will face a mandatory six-month jail sentence.
Mothers who breastfeed their babies in public won't have to worry about being arrested. A new law exempts them from criminal sanctions for indecent exposure.
CHANGES FOR SCHOOLS: The effects of several school bills may be seen when classes resume in September. The assembly provided funding for elementary schools with a lot of poor students to hire more kindergarten through third-grade teachers. But Allen vetoed a bill to require smaller class sizes in all kindergarten through third-grade classes. Other changes include:
An expansion of the state's anti-smoking law will bar smoking in public schools except in designated, noncommon areas after student activities in the building have ended.
Students will be allowed to initiate prayers in schools under another new law. The state Board of Education is working on guidelines to help school districts decide when the prayer is constitutional.
{KEYWORDS} LAWS VIRGINIA by CNB