---
type: "Bill"
title: "Optometrists; expert witness testimony."
description: "Optometrists; expert witness testimony. Allows an optometrist to testify as an expert witness in a court of law on certain matters within the scope of his practice. This bill is identical to SB 254."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 202"
citation: "Virginia HB 202 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wren M. Williams"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-03"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/060aebf9-7f16-4779-8dae-35bf108e24d3"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB202"
source_hash: "4db312f2d2e0cad60e3147fcca751661531c04c3df64e18d151c46117aed4f3e"
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 HB 202 (2024) — Optometrists; expert witness testimony.

Optometrists; expert witness testimony. Allows an optometrist to testify as an expert witness in a court of law on certain matters within the scope of his practice. This bill is identical to SB 254.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0718** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0718)
2. **HB202ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB202ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100504D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB202)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Wren M. Williams — primary (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-03** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100504D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-03** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-25** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-29** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-02** Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-07** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-08** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-08** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Reported from Courts of Justice (11-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-27** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB202ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-01** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 718 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0718)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/060aebf9-7f16-4779-8dae-35bf108e24d3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).