---
type: "Bill"
title: "False emergency communication to emergency personnel; false information, penalties, report."
description: "False emergency communication to emergency personnel; false information, penalties, report."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 1291"
citation: "Virginia SB 1291 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Deeds"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 34
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-03-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d341e12e-0694-467c-a1a5-e0fa45e982c4"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB1291"
source_hash: "77bba5701420ef82f5ff3ae1630cad910bb88faac11af5f962cb53719641c69c"
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 1291 (2023) — False emergency communication to emergency personnel; false information, penalties, report.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0023** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0023)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23105682D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1291S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23103560D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1291)
4. **SB1291ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1291ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (13-Y 2-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 3-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (88-Y 8-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Deeds — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23103560D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-12** Impact statement from VCSC (SB1291)
- **2023-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (SB1291)
- **2023-01-30** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-01-30** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-30** Committee substitute printed 23105682D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-30** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-31** Impact statement from VCSC (SB1291S1)
- **2023-02-02** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (16-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-06** Reading of substitute waived
- **2023-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 23105682D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-06** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1291S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (SB1291S1)
- **2023-02-07** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-10** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-10** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-13** Reported from Courts of Justice (16-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-15** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-16** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-16** Passed House (88-Y 8-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-16** VOTE: Passage (88-Y 8-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-21** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-21** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1291ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-21** Impact statement from DPB (SB1291ER)
- **2023-02-21** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-02** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 2, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-03-02** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-16** Approved by Governor-Chapter 23 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-16** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0023)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d341e12e-0694-467c-a1a5-e0fa45e982c4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).