---
type: "Bill"
title: "Fort Monroe Authority; civil actions in general district court."
description: "Fort Monroe Authority; civil actions in general district court. Authorizes the Fort Monroe Authority to prepare, execute, file, and have served certain documents in a civil proceeding in general district court without the intervention of an attorney. This bill is identical to SB 956."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1561"
citation: "Virginia HB 1561 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Martha M. Mugler"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-13"
last_action: "2020-03-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c976bb2e-9a9c-4b2e-8f8e-41692ddb5bb6"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1561"
source_hash: "b3b91afe3324e6e5188c0a1711c048a79eeeb518cac984ff1401dbfbcd9defbd"
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 1561 (2020) — Fort Monroe Authority; civil actions in general district court.

Fort Monroe Authority; civil actions in general district court. Authorizes the Fort Monroe Authority to prepare, execute, file, and have served certain documents in a civil proceeding in general district court without the intervention of an attorney. This bill is identical to SB 956.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0084)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0084)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1561ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1561ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1561)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1561)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (8-Y 7-N) — **8–7** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 0-N) — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (24-Y 16-N) — **24–16** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Martha M. Mugler — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-13** Presented and ordered printed 20105251D `introduction`
- **2020-01-13** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB1561)
- **2020-01-23** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
- **2020-01-31** Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-05** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-06** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-07** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-12** Reported from Judiciary (8-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-17** Passed Senate (24-Y 16-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-20** Enrolled
- **2020-02-20** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB1561ER)
- **2020-02-21** Signed by President
- **2020-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2020
- **2020-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 3, 2020
- **2020-03-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 84 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c976bb2e-9a9c-4b2e-8f8e-41692ddb5bb6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).