---
type: "Bill"
title: "Killing of nuisance species; authorizes shooting, etc., from a stationary automobile."
description: "Authorizes killing a nuisance species on private property by the owner of such property or his designee from a stationary automobile or other stationary vehicle."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 1696"
citation: "Virginia HB 1696 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Game", "Inland Fisheries and Boating"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C. Matthew Fariss"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 18
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-12-11"
last_action: "2019-02-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/046eb308-a4bd-4db6-afb7-f123da534f4a"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB1696"
source_hash: "728c169a7e86de1ed1d44f9affc9ecfc3ae6fd1077d19f4b89dff158548b82a0"
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 1696 (2019) — Killing of nuisance species; authorizes shooting, etc., from a stationary automobile.

Authorizes killing a nuisance species on private property by the owner of such property or his designee from a stationary automobile or other stationary vehicle.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0151)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0151)
2. **House amendments adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB1696AH)
3. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB1696)
4. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1696ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1696ER)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101583D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1696)
6. **House: Printed as engrossed 19101583D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1696E)

## Votes

- Read third time and passed House — **69–30** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate — **29–11** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- C. Matthew Fariss — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-12-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101583D `introduction`
- **2018-12-11** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-09** Assigned ACNR sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-28** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2019-01-28** Engrossed by House as amended HB1696E
- **2019-01-28** Printed as engrossed 19101583D-E
- **2019-01-29** Read third time and passed House (69-Y 30-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-01-30** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-12** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-14** Enrolled
- **2019-02-14** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-14** Signed by President
- **2019-02-18** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 18, 2019
- **2019-02-18** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-02-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 151 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/046eb308-a4bd-4db6-afb7-f123da534f4a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).