---
type: "Bill"
title: "Personal appearance by two-way electronic video and audio communication; entry of plea."
description: "Personal appearance by two-way electronic videoand audio communication; entry of plea or nolle prosequi; adjudicationof probation violations. Provides that with the consent of thecourt and all parties, an appearance in a court may be made by two-way electronic video and audio communication for the purpose of (i) entryof a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and the related sentencingof the defendant charged with a misdemeanor or felony, (ii) entryof a nolle prosequi, or (iii) adjudication of an alleged violationof probation. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Councilof Virginia and the Committee on District Courts."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1242"
citation: "Virginia SB 1242 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John S. Edwards"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a0a26214-4de7-4a3a-98f1-6d99c05e62e6"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1242"
source_hash: "ad0f23b1dc2cfffccc3ceccf844f6b4467d57e378ba119d31940a831cf6589ee"
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 SB 1242 (2021) — Personal appearance by two-way electronic video and audio communication; entry of plea.

Personal appearance by two-way electronic videoand audio communication; entry of plea or nolle prosequi; adjudicationof probation violations. Provides that with the consent of thecourt and all parties, an appearance in a court may be made by two-way electronic video and audio communication for the purpose of (i) entryof a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and the related sentencingof the defendant charged with a misdemeanor or felony, (ii) entryof a nolle prosequi, or (iii) adjudication of an alleged violationof probation. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Councilof Virginia and the Committee on District Courts.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0086** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0086)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101001D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1242)
3. **SB1242ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1242ER)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N) — **7–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (17-Y 5-N) — **17–5** (pass) · lower
- House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (77-Y 22-N) — **76–22** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- John S. Edwards — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101001D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-20** Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-22** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-25** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-26** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice
- **2021-02-09** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-10** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N)
- **2021-02-12** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (17-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-17** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2021-02-17** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2021-02-17** Passed House with amendments (77-Y 22-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-17** VOTE: Adoption (77-Y 22-N)
- **2021-02-19** House amendments agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-24** Enrolled
- **2021-02-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB1242ER)
- **2021-02-24** Signed by President
- **2021-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **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
- **2021-03-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 86 (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/a0a26214-4de7-4a3a-98f1-6d99c05e62e6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).