---
type: "Bill"
title: "Juvenile offenders; eligibility for parole."
description: "Juvenile offenders; parole. Provides that any person sentenced to a term of life imprisonment for a single felony offense or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 20 years of such sentence and any person who has active sentences that total more than 20 years for a single felony offense or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 20 years of such sentences shall be eligible for parole. This bill is identical to SB 103."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 35"
citation: "Virginia HB 35 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Joseph C. Lindsey"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-11-19"
last_action: "2020-02-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2e43fc14-8b58-48df-929b-73bd652b7a59"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB35"
source_hash: "2c6ff3e8c1725ef43d2156f119bcda4b4fc9d4805eb7f280144ea6746ed2260f"
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 35 (2020) — Juvenile offenders; eligibility for parole.

Juvenile offenders; parole. Provides that any person sentenced to a term of life imprisonment for a single felony offense or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 20 years of such sentence and any person who has active sentences that total more than 20 years for a single felony offense or multiple felony offenses committed while that person was a juvenile and who has served at least 20 years of such sentences shall be eligible for parole. This bill is identical to SB 103.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0002)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0002)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB35ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB35ER)
3. **Engrossed by House as amended HB35E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB35E)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB35)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB35)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (56-Y 44-N) — **55–44** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Public Safety with amendments (15-Y 7-N) — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Rereferred from Rehabilitation and Social Services (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate — **28–11** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Joseph C. Lindsey — primary (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-11-19** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100536D `introduction`
- **2019-11-19** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-17** Reported from Public Safety with amendments (15-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB35)
- **2020-01-21** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-22** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-01-22** Engrossed by House as amended HB35E
- **2020-01-22** Printed as engrossed 20100536D-E
- **2020-01-23** Read third time and passed House (56-Y 44-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-01-23** VOTE: Passage (56-Y 44-N)
- **2020-01-24** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-01-24** Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-06** Impact statement from DPB (HB35E)
- **2020-02-07** Rereferred from Rehabilitation and Social Services (11-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Rereferred to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Reported from Judiciary (12-Y 3-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 `passage`
- **2020-02-19** Enrolled
- **2020-02-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB35ER)
- **2020-02-20** Signed by President
- **2020-02-21** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 21, 2020
- **2020-02-21** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., February 28, 2020
- **2020-02-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 2 (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/2e43fc14-8b58-48df-929b-73bd652b7a59`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).