---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public defender; local funding for positions."
description: "Public defender; local funding for positions. Allows the governing body of any county or city to fund positions in the office of the public defender."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 223"
citation: "Virginia HB 223 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Patrick A. Hope"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-08"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9d537bdd-03f4-4a8a-ab82-f7d01b9eca88"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB223"
source_hash: "02031e157791ad9a064102f86b1b97b746df2755b7ff00c1ae9064bfdda6bcd6"
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 223 (2026) — Public defender; local funding for positions.

Public defender; local funding for positions. Allows the governing body of any county or city to fund positions in the office of the public defender.

## 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/1083142.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216391.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1199864.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Patrick A. Hope — primary (person)
- Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102399D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-21** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB223)
- **2026-01-22** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-02** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-03** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-04** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-11** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB223ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB223)
- **2026-03-11** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 92 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0092)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9d537bdd-03f4-4a8a-ab82-f7d01b9eca88`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).