---
type: "Bill"
title: "Fixing period of suspension of sentence; sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age."
description: "Fixing period of suspension of sentence; sexualbattery; sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age. Allowsthe court to fix the period of suspension of sentence for a reasonabletime, having due regard to the gravity of the offense, without regardto the statutory maximum period for the offenses of sexual batteryand sexual abuse of a child 13 years of age or older but under 15years of age. Current law allows a court to fix the period of suspensionfor up to the maximum period for which the defendant might originallyhave been sentenced to be imprisoned."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1427"
citation: "Virginia HB 1427 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Michael J. Webert"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-18"
last_action: "2024-04-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e38b07d0-14d8-47ee-9b48-15acb9d087a8"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB1427"
source_hash: "4c03870b3803157369abcaca8d59e867c272c91b1ba0356c788c9ac4c88e9be5"
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 1427 (2024) — Fixing period of suspension of sentence; sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age.

Fixing period of suspension of sentence; sexualbattery; sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age. Allowsthe court to fix the period of suspension of sentence for a reasonabletime, having due regard to the gravity of the offense, without regardto the statutory maximum period for the offenses of sexual batteryand sexual abuse of a child 13 years of age or older but under 15years of age. Current law allows a court to fix the period of suspensionfor up to the maximum period for which the defendant might originallyhave been sentenced to be imprisoned.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0485** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0485)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24106734D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1427H1)
3. **HB1427ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1427ER)
4. **Presented and ordered printed 24104563D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1427)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Michael J. Webert — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-18** Presented and ordered printed 24104563D `introduction`
- **2024-01-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-30** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-31** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-31** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2024-02-02** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-02** Committee substitute printed 24106734D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 24106734D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1427H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-08** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-08** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-09** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-09** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-26** Reported from Courts of Justice (15-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 `passage`
- **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 (HB1427ER) `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`
- **2024-04-04** Approved by Governor-Chapter 485 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-04** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0485)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e38b07d0-14d8-47ee-9b48-15acb9d087a8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).