---
type: "Bill"
title: "Portsmouth, City of; amending charter, aligning dates for nomination of candidates."
description: "Charter; City of Portsmouth; emergency. Amends the charter for the City of Portsmouth by aligning dates for nomination of candidates and the filling of city council vacancies with state law. The bill also updates a Code of Virginia reference and contains an emergency clause. This bill is identical to SB 106."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1208"
citation: "Virginia HB 1208 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-10"
last_action: "2024-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/125811f1-218a-4bb4-8b21-7d7274a3c706"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB1208"
source_hash: "d6fb6b0d77067b70b62787fe73c40ee1dbf427f2ec68adfd9f7dac25ddc16e49"
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 1208 (2024) — Portsmouth, City of; amending charter, aligning dates for nomination of candidates.

Charter; City of Portsmouth; emergency. Amends the charter for the City of Portsmouth by aligning dates for nomination of candidates and the filling of city council vacancies with state law. The bill also updates a Code of Virginia reference and contains an emergency clause. This bill is identical to SB 106.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0323** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0323)
2. **HB1208ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1208ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/10/24 24102155D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1208)
4. **Printed as engrossed 24102155D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1208E)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed with emergency clause; offered 01/10/24 24102155D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-10** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-23** Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-26** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-26** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with amendment(s) (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-01-31** Passed by for the day
- **2024-02-01** Passed by for the day
- **2024-02-02** Passed by for the day
- **2024-02-05** Passed by for the day
- **2024-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-06** Committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-06** Engrossed by House as amended HB1208E
- **2024-02-06** Printed as engrossed 24102155D-E
- **2024-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-08** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-08** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-26** Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-28** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-28** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-05** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1208ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 323 (effective 4/2/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-02** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0323)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/125811f1-218a-4bb4-8b21-7d7274a3c706`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).