---
type: "Bill"
title: "Court of Appeals; procedure on appeal; criminal cases."
description: "Court of Appeals; procedure on appeal; criminal cases. Removes the requirement that a copy of a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals in a criminal case be mailed or delivered to the Attorney General. This bill is identical to HB 1553."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "SB 896"
citation: "Virginia SB 896 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard H. Stuart"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-01-05"
last_action: "2025-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cfa6a52c-87ea-4602-95eb-b1c3dab44dff"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/SB896"
source_hash: "8e409748f1df8386af530fe9b5b0827c5951d5fe246c9d2972af411ec3b9e719"
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 896 (2025) — Court of Appeals; procedure on appeal; criminal cases.

Court of Appeals; procedure on appeal; criminal cases. Removes the requirement that a copy of a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals in a criminal case be mailed or delivered to the Attorney General. This bill is identical to HB 1553.

## 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/1013741.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1074140.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1045483.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed House (95-Y 0-N) — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Richard H. Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-05** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-08-2025 25100245D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-01-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-01-10** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB896)
- **2025-01-22** Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2025-01-24** Rules suspended
- **2025-01-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (37-Y 0-N)
- **2025-01-24** Passed by for the day
- **2025-01-27** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2025-01-27** Engrossed by Senate
- **2025-01-28** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2025-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2025-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2025-02-03** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-05** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2025-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2025-02-10** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2025-02-10** Passed House (95-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2025-02-11** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2025-02-11** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB896ER) `passage`
- **2025-02-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB896)
- **2025-02-11** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2025-02-13** Signed by President `passage`
- **2025-02-18** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 18, 2025 `enrolled`
- **2025-02-18** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 24, 2025 `executive-receipt`
- **2025-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 383 (Effective 07/01/25) `executive-signature`
- **2025-03-24** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0383)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cfa6a52c-87ea-4602-95eb-b1c3dab44dff`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).