---
type: "Bill"
title: "Legal notices and publications; online-only news publications, requirements."
description: "Legal notices and publications; online-only news publications; requirements. Provides that, where any ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement instead may be published in an online-only news publication subject to certain requirements specified in the bill. The bill sets out a process by which an online-only news publication shall petition the circuit court of the appropriate jurisdiction to publish such ordinances, resolutions, notices, or advertisements and authorizes the court to grant such online-only news publication the authority to publish such ordinances, resolutions, notices, or advertisements for a period of one year. The bill also describes the process by which an online-only news publication may continue renewing such authority to publish in each successive year. This bill is identical to SB 157."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 264"
citation: "Virginia HB 264 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Patrick A. Hope"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-05"
last_action: "2024-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5eba8200-7ad7-4b95-88d2-6a081509c1b9"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB264"
source_hash: "76cce512a34614d483ce8ad843a9a854c249de533d247672a7db78ce3a151c31"
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 264 (2024) — Legal notices and publications; online-only news publications, requirements.

Legal notices and publications; online-only news publications; requirements. Provides that, where any ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such ordinance, resolution, notice, or advertisement instead may be published in an online-only news publication subject to certain requirements specified in the bill. The bill sets out a process by which an online-only news publication shall petition the circuit court of the appropriate jurisdiction to publish such ordinances, resolutions, notices, or advertisements and authorizes the court to grant such online-only news publication the authority to publish such ordinances, resolutions, notices, or advertisements for a period of one year. The bill also describes the process by which an online-only news publication may continue renewing such authority to publish in each successive year. This bill is identical to SB 157.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0277** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0277)
2. **HB264ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB264ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104158D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB264)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (38-Y 2-N) — **38–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Patrick A. Hope — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104158D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-05** 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)
- **2024-01-29** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Communications, Technology and Innovation `referral-committee`
- **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 (38-Y 2-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-27** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB264ER) `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`
- **2024-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 277 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-02** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0277)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5eba8200-7ad7-4b95-88d2-6a081509c1b9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).