---
type: "Bill"
title: "Disorderly conduct; students."
description: "Disorderly conduct; students. Provides that an elementary or secondary school student is not guilty of disorderly conduct in a public place if the disorderly conduct occurred on the property of an elementary or secondary school, on a school bus, or at any activity conducted or sponsored by any elementary or secondary school. This bill incorporates HB 8 and is identical to SB 3."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 256"
citation: "Virginia HB 256 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Michael P. Mullin"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 38
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2019-12-30"
last_action: "2020-03-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/12841ec5-3c1d-4b58-b76e-2d4c5078c0bd"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB256"
source_hash: "a85b09a2cc6d1249616ebf3d037c7d45a72bf050a7c7b781c98d321b1d4f786b"
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 256 (2020) — Disorderly conduct; students.

Disorderly conduct; students. Provides that an elementary or secondary school student is not guilty of disorderly conduct in a public place if the disorderly conduct occurred on the property of an elementary or secondary school, on a school bus, or at any activity conducted or sponsored by any elementary or secondary school. This bill incorporates HB 8 and is identical to SB 3.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0199)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0199)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB256ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB256ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB256)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB256)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB256H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB256H1)
5. **Reenrolled bill text (HB256ER2)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB256ER2)

## Votes

- Reported from Judiciary (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Agree To (57-Y 37-N) — **56–37** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 4-N) — **15–4** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (61-Y 37-N) — **60–37** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Michael P. Mullin — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey M. Bourne — cosponsor (person)
- Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-12-30** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100028D `introduction`
- **2019-12-30** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB256)
- **2020-01-17** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-22** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N)
- **2020-01-27** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-27** Committee substitute printed 20105154D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-27** Incorporates HB8 (Bourne)
- **2020-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB256H1)
- **2020-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-30** Committee substitute agreed to 20105154D-H1
- **2020-01-30** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB256H1
- **2020-01-31** Read third time and passed House (61-Y 37-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-31** VOTE: Passage (61-Y 37-N)
- **2020-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-03** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Reported from Judiciary (11-Y 0-N) `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 (HB256ER)
- **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** Governor's recommendation received by House
- **2020-03-04** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-03-04** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (57-Y 37-N)
- **2020-03-04** VOTE: Agree To (57-Y 37-N)
- **2020-03-08** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-08** Governor's recommendation adopted
- **2020-03-08** Reenrolled
- **2020-03-08** Reenrolled bill text (HB256ER2)
- **2020-03-08** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2020-03-08** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2020-03-08** Enacted, Chapter 199 (effective 7/1/20) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/12841ec5-3c1d-4b58-b76e-2d4c5078c0bd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).