---
type: "Bill"
title: "False caller identification information; penalty."
description: "Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person who, with the intent to defraud, intimidate, or harass, causes a telephone to ring and engages in conduct that results in the display of false caller identification information on the called party's telephone. The bill raises the penalty to a Class 2 misdemeanor for a second or subsequent conviction. The bill does not apply to the blocking of caller identification information, to law-enforcement agencies and officers, to intelligence or security agencies of the federal government and their employees, or to telecommunications, broadband, or Voice-over-Internet protocol service providers in certain circumstances."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2170"
citation: "Virginia HB 2170 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes and Offenses Generally"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Emily M. Brewer"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2019-01-08"
last_action: "2019-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c28b503c-33cf-4cda-a554-d7fbd0d55840"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2170"
source_hash: "aca0bc9626ed8916474b766e6ffdbe0f17edded0533160e7615c7d666801866e"
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 2170 (2019) — False caller identification information; penalty.

Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person who, with the intent to defraud, intimidate, or harass, causes a telephone to ring and engages in conduct that results in the display of false caller identification information on the called party's telephone. The bill raises the penalty to a Class 2 misdemeanor for a second or subsequent conviction. The bill does not apply to the blocking of caller identification information, to law-enforcement agencies and officers, to intelligence or security agencies of the federal government and their employees, or to telecommunications, broadband, or Voice-over-Internet protocol service providers in certain circumstances.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0476)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0476)
2. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB2170)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2170ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2170ER)
4. **House: Committee substitute printed 19105780D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2170H1)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19100163D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2170)
6. **Senate amendments engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2170ASE)

## Votes

- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **11–4** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House — **98–1** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate amendment agreed to by House — **96–1** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendment — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Emily M. Brewer — primary (person)
- Israel D. O'Quinn — cosponsor (person)
- James E. Edmunds, II — cosponsor (person)
- Jeion A. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Todd E. Pillion — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19100163D `introduction`
- **2019-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-14** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-30** Committee substitute agreed to 19105780D-H1
- **2019-01-30** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2170H1
- **2019-01-31** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 1-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-01** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-11** Passed by for the day
- **2019-02-12** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-12** Reading of amendment waived
- **2019-02-12** Amendment by Senator Petersen agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2019-02-12** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2019-02-14** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-14** Senate amendment agreed to by House (96-Y 1-N)
- **2019-02-19** Enrolled
- **2019-02-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-20** Signed by President
- **2019-02-21** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 21, 2019
- **2019-02-21** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 476 (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/c28b503c-33cf-4cda-a554-d7fbd0d55840`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).