---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relief; Stevens, Emerson Eugene."
description: "Claims; Emerson Eugene Stevens; compensation for wrongful incarceration. Provides relief in the amount of $1,699,274 to Emerson Eugene Stevens, who was wrongly convicted of abduction with intent to defile and murder."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 394"
citation: "Virginia HB 394 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard C. \"Rip\" Sullivan, Jr."]
version_count: 5
action_count: 44
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2022-01-11"
last_action: "2022-04-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d2665a5b-40f2-4d0a-9bc9-ec3f33ba024d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB394"
source_hash: "edc91f25224dabb3fc0b6d981a271f5a72acf0c2b9ed73d64651429f1a1f95d5"
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 394 (2022) — Relief; Stevens, Emerson Eugene.

Claims; Emerson Eugene Stevens; compensation for wrongful incarceration. Provides relief in the amount of $1,699,274 to Emerson Eugene Stevens, who was wrongly convicted of abduction with intent to defile and murder.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0296** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0296)
2. **Committee substitute printed 22107207D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB394S1)
3. **HB394ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB394ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22102574D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB394)
5. **Printed as engrossed 22102574D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+HB394E)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 0-N) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate insisted on substitute (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Rejected (0-Y 97-N) — **0–96** (fail) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22102574D `introduction`
- **2022-01-11** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-19** Assigned App. sub: General Government and Capital Outlay `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB394)
- **2022-02-09** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2022-02-09** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-09** Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-11** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2022-02-14** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-14** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2022-02-14** Engrossed by House as amended HB394E
- **2022-02-14** Printed as engrossed 22102574D-E
- **2022-02-15** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-15** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-15** Impact statement from DPB (HB394E)
- **2022-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2022-02-16** Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-02** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-03-02** Committee substitute printed 22107207D-S1 `substitution`
- **2022-03-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB394S1)
- **2022-03-03** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2022-03-04** Reading of substitute waived
- **2022-03-04** Committee substitute agreed to 22107207D-S1
- **2022-03-04** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB394S1
- **2022-03-04** Passed Senate with substitute (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2022-03-08** Senate substitute rejected by House 22107207D-S1 (0-Y 97-N)
- **2022-03-08** VOTE: Rejected (0-Y 97-N)
- **2022-03-09** Senate insisted on substitute (39-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-09** Senate requested conference committee
- **2022-03-10** House acceded to request
- **2022-03-10** Conferees appointed by House
- **2022-03-10** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2022-03-12** Amended by conference committee
- **2022-03-12** Conference report agreed to by House (92-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-12** VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-12** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-21** Enrolled
- **2022-03-21** Impact statement from DPB (HB394ER)
- **2022-03-21** Signed by President
- **2022-03-22** Signed by Speaker
- **2022-03-22** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 22, 2022
- **2022-03-22** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
- **2022-04-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 296 (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/d2665a5b-40f2-4d0a-9bc9-ec3f33ba024d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).