---
type: "Bill"
title: "Robbery; penalties."
description: "Robbery; penalties. Defines \"robbery\" andcreates degrees of punishment corresponding to the severity of arobbery offense. Any person who commits a robbery by causing seriousbodily injury is guilty of robbery in the first degree, which ispunishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for amaximum term of life. Any person who commits robbery by displayinga firearm in a threatening manner is guilty of robbery in the second degree, which is punishable by confinement in a state correctionalfacility for a maximum term of 20 years. Any person who commits robberyby using physical force not resulting in serious bodily injury, orby displaying a deadly weapon other than a firearm in a threateningmanner, is guilty of robbery in the third degree, which is punishableas a Class 5 felony. Any person who commits robbery by using threator intimidation not involving a deadly weapon is guilty of robberyin the fourth degree, which is punishable as a Class 6 felony. Undercurrent law, any robbery is punishable by confinement in a statecorrectional facility for life or any term not less than five years."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1936"
citation: "Virginia HB 1936 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Vivian E. Watts"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 57
vote_count: 11
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/07f61efe-87de-421c-84e5-8fdd63d94e51"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1936"
source_hash: "be2b6ca1f7bd37047dd6d2065252d99673c7c0b7a85de213096718d7af3ab55e"
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 1936 (2021) — Robbery; penalties.

Robbery; penalties. Defines "robbery" andcreates degrees of punishment corresponding to the severity of arobbery offense. Any person who commits a robbery by causing seriousbodily injury is guilty of robbery in the first degree, which ispunishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for amaximum term of life. Any person who commits robbery by displayinga firearm in a threatening manner is guilty of robbery in the second degree, which is punishable by confinement in a state correctionalfacility for a maximum term of 20 years. Any person who commits robberyby using physical force not resulting in serious bodily injury, orby displaying a deadly weapon other than a firearm in a threateningmanner, is guilty of robbery in the third degree, which is punishableas a Class 5 felony. Any person who commits robbery by using threator intimidation not involving a deadly weapon is guilty of robberyin the fourth degree, which is punishable as a Class 6 felony. Undercurrent law, any robbery is punishable by confinement in a statecorrectional facility for life or any term not less than five years.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0534** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0534)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103380D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1936H1)
3. **Committee substitute printed 21200240D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1936S1)
4. **Governor's substitute printed 21200845D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1936H2)
5. **HB1936ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1936ER)
6. **HB1936ER2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1936ER2)

## Votes

- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (22-Y 18-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (54-Y 45-N) — **53–45** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 44-N) — **54–44** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N) — **5–3** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 18-N) — **20–18** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N) — **53–45** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Vivian E. Watts — primary (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Don L. Scott — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey M. Bourne — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Kenneth R. Plum — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101411D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1936)
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-14** Impact statement from DPB (HB1936)
- **2021-01-14** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-22** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-22** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
- **2021-01-22** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
- **2021-01-27** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-27** Committee substitute printed 21103380D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-28** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1936H1)
- **2021-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB1936H1)
- **2021-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-29** Committee substitute agreed to 21103380D-H1
- **2021-01-29** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1936H1
- **2021-02-01** Pending question ordered
- **2021-02-01** Read third time and passed House (54-Y 45-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-01** VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-10** Assigned Judiciary sub: Criminal Law `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Committee substitute printed 21200240D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-16** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1936S1)
- **2021-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-17** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-02-17** Committee substitute agreed to 21200240D-S1
- **2021-02-17** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1936S1
- **2021-02-17** Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 18-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB1936S1)
- **2021-02-19** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-19** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-19** Senate substitute agreed to by House 21200240D-S1 (54-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-19** VOTE: Adoption (54-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-24** Enrolled
- **2021-02-24** Signed by President
- **2021-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB1936ER)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 26, 2021
- **2021-02-26** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-31** Governor's recommendation received by House
- **2021-03-31** Governor's substitute printed 21200845D-H2
- **2021-03-31** Governor's recommendation received by House
- **2021-04-02** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1936H2)
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-04-07** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (55-Y 44-N)
- **2021-04-07** VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 44-N)
- **2021-04-07** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (22-Y 18-N)
- **2021-04-07** Governor's recommendation adopted
- **2021-04-07** Reenrolled
- **2021-04-07** Reenrolled bill text (HB1936ER2)
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2021-04-07** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2021-04-07** Enacted, Chapter 534 (effective 7/1/21) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/07f61efe-87de-421c-84e5-8fdd63d94e51`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).