---
type: "Bill"
title: "Sex offenses; prohibiting proximity to children on premises of state parks, penalty."
description: "Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children; state parks; penalty. Provides that every adult who is convicted of an offense prohibiting proximity to children, when the offense occurred on or after July 1, 2026, shall as a part of his sentence be forever prohibited from going, for the purpose of having any contact whatsoever with children who are not in his custody, within 100 feet of a playground, athletic field or facility, or gymnasium he knows or has reason to know is located on the premises of a state park. A violation is a Class 6 felony."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 55"
citation: "Virginia SB 55 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J.D. \"Danny\" Diggs"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 39
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2025-11-26"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/52ee8804-172c-4ef4-b5d8-67d0f569f356"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB55"
source_hash: "ea94629ccc2487b8556e9cae2bd3df17cf196b24ea5de64659c698eeb251cc39"
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 55 (2026) — Sex offenses; prohibiting proximity to children on premises of state parks, penalty.

Sex offenses prohibiting proximity to children; state parks; penalty. Provides that every adult who is convicted of an offense prohibiting proximity to children, when the offense occurred on or after July 1, 2026, shall as a part of his sentence be forever prohibited from going, for the purpose of having any contact whatsoever with children who are not in his custody, within 100 feet of a playground, athletic field or facility, or gymnasium he knows or has reason to know is located on the premises of a state park. A violation is a Class 6 felony.

## 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/1081768.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218170.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1092898.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1207000.PDF)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J.D. "Danny" Diggs — primary (person)
- Christie New Craig — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-11-26** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100464D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-11-26** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2025-12-05** Fiscal Impact statement From VSCC (12/5/2025 4:08 pm)
- **2025-12-05** Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (12/5/2025 4:12 pm)
- **2026-01-07** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB55)
- **2026-01-19** Senate committee offered
- **2026-01-19** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-21** Committee substitute printed 26105714D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-01-27** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB55)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-29** Rules suspended
- **2026-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-29** Passed by for the day
- **2026-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-01-30** Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to
- **2026-01-30** Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
- **2026-01-30** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-02** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-05** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-05** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 0-N)
- **2026-03-02** Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-03** Assigned HAPP sub: Transportation & Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** Passed House (96-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-13** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB55ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB55)
- **2026-03-13** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-13** Signed by President `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`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 480 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0480)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/52ee8804-172c-4ef4-b5d8-67d0f569f356`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).