---
type: "Bill"
title: "Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail."
description: "Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Eliminates provisions regarding the rebuttable presumptions against being admitted to bail."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1266"
citation: "Virginia SB 1266 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["R. Creigh Deeds"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 36
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1642e472-dd9f-4019-a18d-0c04423689a5"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1266"
source_hash: "9cde896e70917ca2e17b562edf81b4616955529bdcec8cdb0e88e1a577e75edf"
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 1266 (2021) — Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail.

Admission to bail; rebuttable presumptions against bail. Eliminates provisions regarding the rebuttable presumptions against being admitted to bail.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0337** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0337)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101327D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1266)
3. **Printed as engrossed 21101327D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1266E)
4. **SB1266ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1266ER)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) — **14–8** (pass) · lower
- House amendments agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N) — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with amendment (9-Y 4-N) — **9–4** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N) — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) — **21–18** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (52-Y 45-N) — **51–45** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- R. Creigh Deeds — primary (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101327D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-27** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-27** Reported from Judiciary with amendment (9-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (SB1266)
- **2021-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-01** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-01** Reading of amendment waived
- **2021-02-01** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2021-02-01** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB1266E
- **2021-02-01** Printed as engrossed 21101327D-E
- **2021-02-02** Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (SB1266E)
- **2021-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice
- **2021-02-16** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-19** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N)
- **2021-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N)
- **2021-02-20** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2021-02-24** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2021-02-24** Passed House with amendments (52-Y 45-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Passage (52-Y 45-N)
- **2021-02-25** House amendments agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N)
- **2021-03-09** Enrolled
- **2021-03-09** Signed by President
- **2021-03-10** Impact statement from DPB (SB1266ER)
- **2021-03-11** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-15** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 15, 2021
- **2021-03-15** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 337 (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/1642e472-dd9f-4019-a18d-0c04423689a5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).