Penalties for failure to appear; contempt. Provides that any person (i) charged with a felony offense or misdemeanor offense or (ii) convicted of a felony offense or misdemeanor offense and execution of sentence is suspended who willfully fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by no more than 30 days in jail. Under current law, such person is guilty of a Class 6 felony, if charged with a felony, or a Class 1 misdemeanor, if charged with a misdemeanor, for such a violation. The bill also defines "willfully fails to appear" as intentional conduct with a purpose to avoid the judicial process and provides mitigating factors for the court to consider in determining whether a nonappearance was willful.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 18.2-456, 19.2-128