---
type: "Bill"
title: "Libraries, local and regional; boards not mandatory."
description: "Provides an exemption for counties with a charter from having to create a managing library board appointed by the local governing body. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 1787"
citation: "Virginia HB 1787 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Counties", "Cities and Towns", "Libraries"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gregory D. Habeeb"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-09"
last_action: "2017-02-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6539caba-3961-4335-a740-9e2bc18e8516"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB1787"
source_hash: "29b706993e33b9961f809a74d17d8c325c673cba6835035cdecfd06c5c311823"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1787 (2017) — Libraries, local and regional; boards not mandatory.

Provides an exemption for counties with a charter from having to create a managing library board appointed by the local governing body. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0064)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0064)
2. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1787ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1787ER)
3. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102418D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+HB1787)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **13–0** (pass) · legislature
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **6–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from General Laws — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Gregory D. Habeeb — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17102418D `introduction`
- **2017-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-16** Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-26** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-27** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-01-30** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-09** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-13** Enrolled
- **2017-02-13** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-13** Signed by President
- **2017-02-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on 2/14/17
- **2017-02-14** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 21, 2017
- **2017-02-20** Approved by Governor-Chapter 64 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6539caba-3961-4335-a740-9e2bc18e8516`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).