---
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 HB 202."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 254"
citation: "Virginia SB 254 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Scott A. Surovell"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/00e66387-ebf2-416d-8061-48e695c5b618"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB254"
source_hash: "5497b7f5e16777a81bab07182bf4181778d0f7d6d038731b53071e1581aadbf8"
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 254 (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 HB 202.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0764** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0764)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100278D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB254)
3. **SB254ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB254ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Scott A. Surovell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24100278D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-10** Moved from Judiciary to Courts of Justice due to a change of the committee name
- **2024-01-15** Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-17** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-18** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-16** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-21** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB254ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 764 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0764)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/00e66387-ebf2-416d-8061-48e695c5b618`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).