---
type: "Bill"
title: "Trial by jury; contact with jurors after trial prohibited, penalty."
description: "Trial by jury; contact with jurors after trialprohibited; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any party,other than counsel for any party to the litigation or the press, whoknowingly and intentionally contacts a juror after a jury trial unlesssuch party has received an order from the court that oversaw suchtrial permitting such contact. The bill provides that a pro se defendant must obtain such order, and that the court shall prescribe the mannerof contact that any such party is allowed to have with a juror.The bill also provides that a violation of such court order is a Class 1 misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1443"
citation: "Virginia HB 1443 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Will Davis"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 48
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2024-01-18"
last_action: "2024-04-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8eedc56f-85c2-4c04-a667-b01fb7ec69ae"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB1443"
source_hash: "f4759fe1e660569ce8d7c70da9d4a1567ac60b400c164a2d80e61d6f4aa0ed81"
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 1443 (2024) — Trial by jury; contact with jurors after trial prohibited, penalty.

Trial by jury; contact with jurors after trialprohibited; penalty. Creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any party,other than counsel for any party to the litigation or the press, whoknowingly and intentionally contacts a juror after a jury trial unlesssuch party has received an order from the court that oversaw suchtrial permitting such contact. The bill provides that a pro se defendant must obtain such order, and that the court shall prescribe the mannerof contact that any such party is allowed to have with a juror.The bill also provides that a violation of such court order is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0561** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0561)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24106828D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1443H1)
3. **Conference substitute printed 24109066D-H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1443H2)
4. **HB1443ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1443ER)
5. **Presented and ordered printed 24105139D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB1443)

## Votes

- Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: REJECTED (1-Y 99-N) — **1–98** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Will Davis — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-18** Presented and ordered printed 24105139D `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 24106828D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB1443)
- **2024-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB1443H1)
- **2024-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 24106828D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1443H1 `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`
- **2024-02-28** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-03-01** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-04** Reading of amendments waived
- **2024-03-04** Committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-03-04** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2024-03-04** Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Senate amendments rejected by House (1-Y 99-N) `amendment-failure`
- **2024-03-05** VOTE: REJECTED (1-Y 99-N)
- **2024-03-06** Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-03-06** Senate requested conference committee `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-07** House acceded to request
- **2024-03-07** Conferees appointed by House
- **2024-03-07** Delegates: Reaser, Keys-Gamarra, Davis
- **2024-03-07** Conferees appointed by Senate
- **2024-03-07** Senators: Deeds, Perry, McDougle
- **2024-03-09** Amended by conference committee
- **2024-03-09** Conference substitute printed 24109066D-H2
- **2024-03-09** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-09** Conference report agreed to by House (98-Y 0-N) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-09** VOTE: Adoption (98-Y 0-N)
- **2024-03-11** Impact statement from DPB (HB1443H2)
- **2024-03-25** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-25** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1443ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-25** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-27** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 27, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-27** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-05** Impact statement from DPB (HB1443ER)
- **2024-04-05** Approved by Governor-Chapter 561 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-05** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0561)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8eedc56f-85c2-4c04-a667-b01fb7ec69ae`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).