---
type: "Bill"
title: "Martinsville, City of; approval of voters before city can revert to town status, sunset provision."
description: "City of Martinsville; city reversion. Requires approval from the City of Martinsville voters before the city can revert to town status. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 173"
citation: "Virginia HB 173 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Daniel W. Marshall, III"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2022-01-10"
last_action: "2022-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f1c32c02-48fd-4ac0-b35b-aad8dadd53c6"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB173"
source_hash: "5ac4b0d1c58bda3d65a9aa8035c49c53411af688c1d51765d9f08a726201abee"
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 173 (2022) — Martinsville, City of; approval of voters before city can revert to town status, sunset provision.

City of Martinsville; city reversion. Requires approval from the City of Martinsville voters before the city can revert to town status. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0220** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0220)
2. **HB173ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB173ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22102621D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB173)
4. **Printed as engrossed 22102621D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB173E)

## Votes

- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) — **14–8** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government with amendment (10-Y 3-N) — **10–3** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 3-N) — **6–3** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendment (29-Y 11-N) — **29–11** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (85-Y 13-N) — **84–13** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (82-Y 18-N) — **81–18** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Daniel W. Marshall, III — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22102621D `introduction`
- **2022-01-10** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-18** Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-27** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2022-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 3-N)
- **2022-01-28** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (14-Y 8-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2022-02-02** Passed by for the day
- **2022-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-03** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2022-02-03** Engrossed by House as amended HB173E
- **2022-02-03** Printed as engrossed 22102621D-E
- **2022-02-04** Read third time and passed House (82-Y 18-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-04** VOTE: Passage (82-Y 18-N)
- **2022-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2022-02-07** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-21** Reported from Local Government with amendment (10-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-22** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2022-02-23** Reading of amendment waived
- **2022-02-23** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2022-02-23** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2022-02-23** Passed Senate with amendment (29-Y 11-N) `passage`
- **2022-02-25** Senate amendment agreed to by House (85-Y 13-N)
- **2022-02-25** VOTE: Adoption (85-Y 13-N)
- **2022-03-01** Enrolled
- **2022-03-01** Signed by Speaker
- **2022-03-02** Signed by President
- **2022-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2022
- **2022-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
- **2022-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 220 (effective 7/1/22) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f1c32c02-48fd-4ac0-b35b-aad8dadd53c6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).