---
type: "Bill"
title: "Keeper of vehicles; liens, certain towing and recovery drivers and operators."
description: "Keeper of vehicles; liens, certain towing and recovery drivers and operators."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 978"
citation: "Virginia SB 978 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Marsden"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 33
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2023-01-06"
last_action: "2023-03-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d59081c6-f011-4d99-a5eb-38b0ed0d806f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB978"
source_hash: "0e9e7ad00aabfd2ae2f67ddba8d44526113133a45fdb924fc02dc841801a8c3b"
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 978 (2023) — Keeper of vehicles; liens, certain towing and recovery drivers and operators.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0317** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0317)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23106128D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB978S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100535D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB978)
4. **SB978ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB978ER)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Transportation with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Marsden — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100535D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-06** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-16** Impact statement from DPB (SB978)
- **2023-02-02** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-02-02** Reported from Transportation with substitute (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-02** Committee substitute printed 23106128D-S1 `substitution`
- **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 23106128D-S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-06** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB978S1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-06** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-08** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-08** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-08** Referred to Committee on Transportation `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-08** Assigned Transportation sub: Subcommittee #2 Transportation Infrastructure and Funding `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-10** Impact statement from DPB (SB978S1)
- **2023-02-14** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-16** Reported from Transportation (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-21** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-21** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-02-24** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB978ER) `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-02-24** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (SB978ER)
- **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`
- **2023-03-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 317 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-23** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0317)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d59081c6-f011-4d99-a5eb-38b0ed0d806f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).