---
type: "Bill"
title: "Writs of actual innocence; statue of limitations for filing of a petition."
description: "Writs of actual innocence; statue of limitations for filing of a petition."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 958"
citation: "Virginia SB 958 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Stuart"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-01-06"
last_action: "2023-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/66ecfe54-1534-4a95-a692-b2e49274e514"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB958"
source_hash: "66825acc148ccbc2d9bb6b2d466c06daae756815c77128f586b3b3bfd26efb16"
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 958 (2023) — Writs of actual innocence; statue of limitations for filing of a petition.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0719** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0719)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23104615D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB958S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23101624D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB958)
4. **SB958ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB958ER)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (52-Y 43-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 8-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 1-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (14-Y 1-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23101624D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-06** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-16** Reported from Judiciary with substitute (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-16** Committee substitute printed 23104615D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2023-01-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-01-18** Reading of substitute waived
- **2023-01-18** Committee substitute agreed to 23104615D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-18** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB958S1 `substitution`
- **2023-01-19** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 1-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-09** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-14** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
- **2023-02-20** Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 8-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-23** Passed House (52-Y 43-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-23** VOTE: Passage (52-Y 43-N) `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-03-07** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB958ER) `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-13** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 13, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 719 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-27** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0719)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/66ecfe54-1534-4a95-a692-b2e49274e514`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).