---
type: "Bill"
title: "Guardian ad litem for children; certification of compliance with certain standards."
description: "Guardians ad litem for children; certification of compliance with certain standards. Requires guardians ad litem appointed to represent a child in a matter to conduct an investigation in compliance with certain standards. The bill requires a guardian ad litem to file with the court, along with any attorney representing a party or party proceeding pro se, a certification of the guardian ad litem's compliance with such standards, specifically addressing such standards requiring face-to-face contact with the child. The bill further requires the guardian ad litem to document the hours spent satisfying such face-to-face contact requirements and specifies that compensation for such contact shall be at the same rate as that for in-court service."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 137"
citation: "Virginia HB 137 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chris Collins-Resigned 6/28/20"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-12-18"
last_action: "2020-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b739fb27-b770-4426-b4ee-7b7d1ad79613"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB137"
source_hash: "3065f40da94cb59282905162a50f6b1db5bcdff139e9fa5264f4717d9851f245"
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 137 (2020) — Guardian ad litem for children; certification of compliance with certain standards.

Guardians ad litem for children; certification of compliance with certain standards. Requires guardians ad litem appointed to represent a child in a matter to conduct an investigation in compliance with certain standards. The bill requires a guardian ad litem to file with the court, along with any attorney representing a party or party proceeding pro se, a certification of the guardian ad litem's compliance with such standards, specifically addressing such standards requiring face-to-face contact with the child. The bill further requires the guardian ad litem to document the hours spent satisfying such face-to-face contact requirements and specifies that compensation for such contact shall be at the same rate as that for in-court service.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0021)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0021)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB137ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB137ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB137H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB137H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB137)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB137)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chris Collins-Resigned 6/28/20 — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-18** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102539D `introduction`
- **2019-12-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB137)
- **2020-01-22** Committee substitute printed 20106038D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-22** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-24** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-27** Committee substitute agreed to 20106038D-H1
- **2020-01-27** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB137H1
- **2020-01-28** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-28** VOTE: (97-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-29** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB137H1)
- **2020-02-12** Reported from Judiciary (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-17** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-19** Enrolled
- **2020-02-19** Impact statement from DPB (HB137ER)
- **2020-02-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-20** Signed by President
- **2020-02-24** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 24, 2020
- **2020-02-24** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 2, 2020
- **2020-03-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 21 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b739fb27-b770-4426-b4ee-7b7d1ad79613`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).