---
type: "Bill"
title: "Bristol, City of; amending charter, changes to powers and organization."
description: "Charter; City of Bristol; powers and organization. Makes changes to various provisions of the charter for the City ofBristol, including: (i) removing the city's authority to adopt ordinancesto provide for the prevention of immorality and for the suppressionof gambling places and to authorize the appointment of law-enforcementofficers in exchange with the City of Bristol, Tennessee; (ii) changingfrom city council to the city attorney the authority to appoint assistantcity attorneys; (iii) removing the requirement that a citizen ownreal property to serve on the planning commission; (iv) aligningthe requirements for appropriations outside of the appropriationsordinance with provisions of the Code of Virginia; (v) authorizingthe city council to re-appropriate unexpended funds at the end ofthe fiscal year, regardless of whether obligated to an ongoing project;and (vi) authorizing the city attorney to make investigations intocity affairs and removing such authority from other officers of boardsand commissions. The bill contains technical amendments."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2095"
citation: "Virginia HB 2095 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Israel D. O'Quinn"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/df8fbefe-aeec-41be-aed9-409170b7a940"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2095"
source_hash: "1c6f4cd6f5e72b7831e13651d4071713dfa1e85170185c518b779d46da9eeca8"
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 2095 (2021) — Bristol, City of; amending charter, changes to powers and organization.

Charter; City of Bristol; powers and organization. Makes changes to various provisions of the charter for the City ofBristol, including: (i) removing the city's authority to adopt ordinancesto provide for the prevention of immorality and for the suppressionof gambling places and to authorize the appointment of law-enforcementofficers in exchange with the City of Bristol, Tennessee; (ii) changingfrom city council to the city attorney the authority to appoint assistantcity attorneys; (iii) removing the requirement that a citizen ownreal property to serve on the planning commission; (iv) aligningthe requirements for appropriations outside of the appropriationsordinance with provisions of the Code of Virginia; (v) authorizingthe city council to re-appropriate unexpended funds at the end ofthe fiscal year, regardless of whether obligated to an ongoing project;and (vi) authorizing the city attorney to make investigations intocity affairs and removing such authority from other officers of boardsand commissions. The bill contains technical amendments.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0417** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0417)
2. **HB2095ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2095ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101065D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2095)

## Votes

- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Local Government (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (38-Y 1-N) — **38–1** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Israel D. O'Quinn — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101065D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** Assigned CC & T sub: Charters `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-22** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-26** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-27** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-27** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-28** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-28** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Local Government (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-11** Assigned Local Gov sub: Charters `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-17** Passed Senate (38-Y 1-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-30** Approved by Governor-Chapter 417 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/df8fbefe-aeec-41be-aed9-409170b7a940`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).