---
type: "Bill"
title: "Escape from jail or custody; penalty."
description: "Escape from jail or custody; penalty. Specifies that the definition of law-enforcement officer that currently applies for the crime of assault and battery of a law-enforcement officer shall be used for the purposes of the crimes related to escaping from jail or custody of a law-enforcement officer. This bill is identical to SB 861."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 2406"
citation: "Virginia HB 2406 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Phillip A. Scott"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 30
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2025-01-08"
last_action: "2025-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/31125a34-88a1-4796-9dc3-c6869fc8fdd9"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB2406"
source_hash: "2cccf132084d2461dae91b120946fc61f7c90fa7d6ac9cde7e6d17a7df5921b2"
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 2406 (2025) — Escape from jail or custody; penalty.

Escape from jail or custody; penalty. Specifies that the definition of law-enforcement officer that currently applies for the crime of assault and battery of a law-enforcement officer shall be used for the purposes of the crimes related to escaping from jail or custody of a law-enforcement officer. This bill is identical to SB 861.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1016233.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1070990.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1037539.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1054893.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed House (99-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (36-Y 0-N) — **36–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (12-Y 0-N) — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Phillip A. Scott — primary (person)
- Bryce E. Reeves — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Earley, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-08-2025 25100236D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-01-09** Impact statement from VCSC (HB2406)
- **2025-01-16** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2406)
- **2025-01-28** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2025-01-31** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2025-01-31** Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2025-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2025-02-03** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2025-02-04** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-02-04** Reconsideration of passage agreed to by House
- **2025-02-04** Passed House (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2025-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2025-02-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-10** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (12-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2025-02-12** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2025-02-13** Rules suspended
- **2025-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N)
- **2025-02-13** Passed by for the day
- **2025-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2025-02-14** Passed Senate (36-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2025-02-19** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2025-02-19** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2406ER) `passage`
- **2025-02-19** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2025-02-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2406)
- **2025-02-22** Signed by President `passage`
- **2025-03-03** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 3, 2025 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2025-03-03** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025 `executive-receipt`
- **2025-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 38 (Effective 07/01/25) `executive-signature`
- **2025-03-18** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0038)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/31125a34-88a1-4796-9dc3-c6869fc8fdd9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).