---
type: "Bill"
title: "Family abuse protective orders; relief available, password to electronic device."
description: "Family abuse protective orders; relief available, password to electronic device."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1961"
citation: "Virginia HB 1961 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mullin"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-03-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4c1eb290-f8a6-4e05-94c3-9fde1100d1f5"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+HB1961"
source_hash: "19b779957a7e8c1f32a8f411f60423a41d626122f2101fc78753c37c6cc093d8"
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 1961 (2023) — Family abuse protective orders; relief available, password to electronic device.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0370** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0370)
2. **HB1961ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1961ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100593D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+HB1961)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 1-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (98-Y 1-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mullin — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100593D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-28** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (HB1961)
- **2023-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-01** Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-06** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-07** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 1-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-07** VOTE: Passage (98-Y 1-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2023-02-08** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-20** Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-22** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-03-07** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1961ER) `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-10** Impact statement from VCSC (HB1961ER)
- **2023-03-10** Impact statement from DPB (HB1961ER)
- **2023-03-13** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 13, 2023 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 370 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-23** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0370)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4c1eb290-f8a6-4e05-94c3-9fde1100d1f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).