---
type: "Bill"
title: "Assault and battery; adds district court temporary recall judge, penalty."
description: "Assault and battery; district court temporary recall judge; penalty. Adds a judge of a district court under temporary recall to the definition of \"judge\" as it relates to the crime of assault and battery, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor that is enhanced to a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months if such judge is engaged in his public duties at the time of the offense. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and is identical to SB 144."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 124"
citation: "Virginia HB 124 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Atoosa R. Reaser"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-02"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b8986a12-c492-4957-a1ca-6fefa43c6cbb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB124"
source_hash: "89c71e0ed2d628a279978b3b7d2318227b295056db8dfaa41c0ff3b0d3f2c458"
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 124 (2026) — Assault and battery; adds district court temporary recall judge, penalty.

Assault and battery; district court temporary recall judge; penalty. Adds a judge of a district court under temporary recall to the definition of "judge" as it relates to the crime of assault and battery, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor that is enhanced to a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months if such judge is engaged in his public duties at the time of the offense. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and is identical to SB 144.

## 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/1082489.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216243.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191197.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Atoosa R. Reaser — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-02** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101360D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-02** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-06** Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/6/2026 3:10 pm)
- **2026-01-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB124)
- **2026-02-10** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-11** Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-13** Reported from Courts of Justice (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-15** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-25** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-26** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-26** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-26** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-27** Passed Senate (37-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-04** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB124ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-05** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB124)
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 71 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0071)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b8986a12-c492-4957-a1ca-6fefa43c6cbb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).