---
type: "Bill"
title: "Magistrates; certain minimum standards for security and accessibility in quarters."
description: "Quarters for magistrates; certain minimum standards for security and accessibility. Establishes certain minimum standards for ensuring security and accessibility in quarters for magistrates. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia and is identical to SB 386."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 679"
citation: "Virginia HB 679 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James A. \"Jay\" Leftwich"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-03-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/73868552-2ce0-45f9-a0e9-6f012a29c078"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB679"
source_hash: "8ede22656efd7a5bc2d73d1673669b37d8c77d0b9fbd6f16c18649d34cbcfef1"
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 679 (2024) — Magistrates; certain minimum standards for security and accessibility in quarters.

Quarters for magistrates; certain minimum standards for security and accessibility. Establishes certain minimum standards for ensuring security and accessibility in quarters for magistrates. This bill is a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia and is identical to SB 386.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0201** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0201)
2. **HB679ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB679ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101197D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB679)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (9-Y 0-N) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- James A. "Jay" Leftwich — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101197D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB679)
- **2024-02-02** Assigned Courts sub: Judicial `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-07** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-12** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-13** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-14** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-21** Reported from Courts of Justice (9-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-26** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-29** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB679ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB679ER)
- **2024-02-29** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-03** 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`
- **2024-03-28** Approved by Governor-Chapter 201 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-28** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0201)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/73868552-2ce0-45f9-a0e9-6f012a29c078`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).