                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA STATE CRIME COMMISSION; PURPOSE; MEMBERSHIP; TERMS; COMPENSATION AND
EXPENSES; QUORUM; VOTING ON RECOMMENDATIONS (§ 30-156)

A. The Virginia State Crime Commission (the Commission) is established in the
legislative branch of state government. The purpose of the Commission shall be
to study, report and make recommendations on all areas of public safety and
protection. In so doing it shall endeavor to ascertain the causes of crime and
recommend ways to reduce and prevent it, explore and recommend methods of
rehabilitation of convicted criminals, study compensation of persons in law
enforcement and related fields and study other related matters including
apprehension, trial and punishment of criminal offenders. The Commission shall
make such recommendations as it deems appropriate with respect to the foregoing
matters, and shall coordinate the proposals and recommendations of all
commissions and agencies as to legislation affecting crimes, crime control and
criminal procedure. The Commission shall cooperate with the executive branch of
state government, the Attorney General&#8217;s office and the judiciary who are
in turn encouraged to cooperate with the Commission. The Commission shall
cooperate with governments and governmental agencies of other states and the
United States.

B. The Commission shall consist of 13 members that include nine legislative
members, three nonlegislative citizen members, and one state official as
follows: six members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional
representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; three members
of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; three
nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor; and the Attorney
General or his designee. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be citizens of the
Commonwealth of Virginia. Unless otherwise approved by the chairman of the
Commission, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel
originating and ending within the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of
attending meetings.

C. The term of each appointee shall be for two years, except that the Attorney
General and legislative members shall serve terms coincident with their terms of
office. All members may be reappointed. Appointments to fill vacancies, other
than by expiration of a term, shall be made for the unexpired terms. Vacancies
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.

D. The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman annually, who shall
be members of the General Assembly. A majority of the members of the Commission
shall constitute a quorum. Meetings of the Commission shall be held at the call
of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.

E. Legislative members of the Commission shall receive such compensation as
provided in &#xA7; 30-19.12 and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive
such compensation as provided in &#xA7; 2.2-2813 for their services. All members
shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties as provided in &#xA7;&#xA7; 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825.
All such compensation and expense payments, however, shall come from existing
appropriations to the Commission.

F. No recommendation of the Commission shall be adopted if a majority of the
Senate members or a majority of the House members appointed to the Commission
(i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail
notwithstanding the majority vote of the Commission.

HISTORY: 1972, c. 766, §§ 9-125, 9-126; 1974, c. 527; 1979, c. 316; 1993, c.
438; 2001, c. 844; 2003, c. 885; 2004, c. 1000.