---
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 HB 124."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 144"
citation: "Virginia SB 144 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ryan T. McDougle"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-07"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/86de60e4-fa55-47b9-a867-36aa275209de"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB144"
source_hash: "55c1ee0af1237b6dfb6f90a844852037fdfd8270c5b1280e69a6671f30229190"
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 144 (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 HB 124.

## 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/1083489.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216251.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177322.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ryan T. McDougle — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101361D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-12** Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/12/2026 11:14 am)
- **2026-01-21** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB144)
- **2026-01-21** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-05** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-05** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Passed by for the day
- **2026-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-06** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-09** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-23** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB144)
- **2026-02-24** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-24** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB144ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB144)
- **2026-02-24** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Signed by President `passage`
- **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 72 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 72 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0072)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/86de60e4-fa55-47b9-a867-36aa275209de`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).