---
type: "Bill"
title: "Waverly, Town of; amending charter, transitioning town government."
description: "Charter; Town of Waverly; emergency. Amends the charter for the Town of Waverly in Sussex County by transitioning the town from a strong mayor form of government to a council-manager form of government. Additional changes to the charter in the bill include (i) shifting town council elections from May to November, (ii) appointing a town manager, (iii) shifting certain duties from an elected mayor to a town manager, and (iv) repealing numerous outdated provisions. The bill contains an emergency clause."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 281"
citation: "Virginia SB 281 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lashrecse D. Aird"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/300a08b7-3ce8-4c83-9109-df26a017ad1c"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB281"
source_hash: "b7aa70db10865ad31d9096c318e7666f728a5dbca6f504923df181f1c90612a0"
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 281 (2026) — Waverly, Town of; amending charter, transitioning town government.

Charter; Town of Waverly; emergency. Amends the charter for the Town of Waverly in Sussex County by transitioning the town from a strong mayor form of government to a council-manager form of government. Additional changes to the charter in the bill include (i) shifting town council elections from May to November, (ii) appointing a town manager, (iii) shifting certain duties from an elected mayor to a town manager, and (iv) repealing numerous outdated provisions. The bill contains an emergency clause.

## 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/1088532.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217566.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1181495.PDF)

## Votes

- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns — **21–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Lashrecse D. Aird — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; Offered 01-14-2026 26100473D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-13** Emergency clause added
- **2026-01-19** Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-20** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-20** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-20** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-21** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-22** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-03** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-17** Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2026-02-20** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-25** Passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-27** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB281ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-27** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-27** 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 339 (effective 4/6/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0339)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/300a08b7-3ce8-4c83-9109-df26a017ad1c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).