---
type: "Bill"
title: "Habeas corpus; reorganizes, updates outdated language, and removes unused provisions."
description: "Reorganizes, updates outdated language, and removes unused provisions in several writ of habeas corpus statutes. The bill clarifies certain procedural issues such as service, venue, amendments for failure to name a proper party respondent, necessity of a response, and transfer for evidentiary hearings. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 1069"
citation: "Virginia SB 1069 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Remedies and Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark D. Obenshain"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2018-12-12"
last_action: "2019-02-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f668de63-9489-4272-9d24-e21d76cf3d25"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+SB1069"
source_hash: "306127dfaf7287e12ac610cf15804daafa9056e7b877a35c0c431bb9ba5bff04"
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# Virginia SB 1069 (2019) — Habeas corpus; reorganizes, updates outdated language, and removes unused provisions.

Reorganizes, updates outdated language, and removes unused provisions in several writ of habeas corpus statutes. The bill clarifies certain procedural issues such as service, venue, amendments for failure to name a proper party respondent, necessity of a response, and transfer for evidentiary hearings. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council. 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 (CHAP0048)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0048)
2. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1069ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+SB1069ER)
3. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101171D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+SB1069)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed House BLOCK VOTE — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **38–1** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mark D. Obenshain — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-12-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101171D `introduction`
- **2018-12-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-28** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-04** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-02-04** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-08** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-02-11** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-11** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2019-02-12** Enrolled
- **2019-02-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-13** Signed by President
- **2019-02-14** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 14, 2019
- **2019-02-14** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 21, 2019
- **2019-02-19** Approved by Governor-Chapter 48 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f668de63-9489-4272-9d24-e21d76cf3d25`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).