The General Assembly at its Special Session of 1971 directed the Virginia Code Commission, by House Joint Resolution No. 41, to make a study of certain matters, including the criminal laws of the State.

That portion of the Resolution relating to such laws directs the Commission to "make a thorough study of the criminal laws of the State and make recommendations for the review and recodification of all statutes of the State relating to crime and criminal procedure. Such review shall include determining whether sections should be deleted or added to the Code, whether changes in the penalty provisions should be made and such other relative changes as the Commission deems appropriate."

Honorable M. Ray Doubles, Retired Judge of the Hustings Court of the City of Richmond, Part Two, was retained as Counsel to assist in the revision of Title 18.1, relating to crimes and offenses generally.

The Commission has met with Counsel on numerous occasions and each section of Title 18.1 has been carefully considered, as well as numerous sections from other titles. As a result, many sections, and several articles, have been rewritten entirely and minor changes have been made in the language of many others to eliminate uncertainty, needless repetition and excess verbiage. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States have necessitated some redrafting to eliminate unconstitutional provisions in several of the present statutes.

It is common knowledge, of course, that criminal offenses are scattered throughout the fifty titles of the Code. The vast majority of those outside Title 18.1 create offenses mala prohibita and provide punishment for violation of purely regulatory matters falling within the purview of various administrative agencies. However, there are many offenses malum in se found in these other titles, some of which more appropriately belong in Title 18.1, and as a result of the research of Counsel, a goodly number are being transferred into proposed Title 18.2.

A study by Counsel of the recent revision of the criminal codes of the federal government and of several states has produced a few recommended changes in format but not of substance.

• Duplication of offenses has been found in many instances and this has been eliminated either by deletion of one of the sections or by combining the two sections if one is more comprehensive than the other.

• Wherever feasible, sections have been deleted which merely specify the punishment for an offense defined in a previous section, and the punishment provision is moved to the section defining the offense.

• A few new chapter headings have been created and a realignment of various sections which seem out of context in present Title 18.1 has been accomplished.

• Special comment on some of the more important changes are included in the body of this Report, and lesser important changes are noted in the notes following many of the sections of proposed Title 18.2 attached to this Report.