---
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 HB 1561."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 956"
citation: "Virginia SB 956 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mamie E. Locke"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2020-01-14"
last_action: "2020-03-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3ff522c2-9f9b-46b4-857f-ee1cf0f5b0d4"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB956"
source_hash: "65a1c23ae3fec0e41122976283cc3a555f0eaa8f4c4c31d3f48fa7f9ad97e609"
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 956 (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 HB 1561.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0194)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0194)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB956ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB956ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (SB956)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB956)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 6-N) — **9–6** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (23-Y 17-N) — **23–17** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mamie E. Locke — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-14** Presented and ordered printed 20105350D `introduction`
- **2020-01-14** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from DPB (SB956)
- **2020-02-03** Reported from Judiciary (9-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (23-Y 17-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-19** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-19** VOTE: (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Enrolled
- **2020-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (SB956ER)
- **2020-02-25** Signed by President
- **2020-02-28** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on February 28, 2020
- **2020-02-28** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 6, 2020
- **2020-03-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 194 (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/3ff522c2-9f9b-46b4-857f-ee1cf0f5b0d4`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).