---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pro tempore judicial appointments; criminal background checks, financial disclosure."
description: "Pro tempore judicial appointments; criminal background checks; financial disclosure. Requires that prior to an appointment as a pro tempore judge, a person submit his fingerprints for a national and Virginia criminal history record search, submit to a search of the central registry maintained by the Department of Social Services for founded complaints of child abuse and neglect, and provide a written statement of economic interests. The bill prohibits any person with a criminal felony conviction from being appointed as a pro tempore judge."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 431"
citation: "Virginia HB 431 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jonathan \"Jed\" Arnold"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 30
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/89663a58-4b8c-41a2-8dcf-36980b96f887"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB431"
source_hash: "630b07bbdf21ff621dcdc45e4cafa738eac7146592a598d7a54578994b99905a"
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 431 (2024) — Pro tempore judicial appointments; criminal background checks, financial disclosure.

Pro tempore judicial appointments; criminal background checks; financial disclosure. Requires that prior to an appointment as a pro tempore judge, a person submit his fingerprints for a national and Virginia criminal history record search, submit to a search of the central registry maintained by the Department of Social Services for founded complaints of child abuse and neglect, and provide a written statement of economic interests. The bill prohibits any person with a criminal felony conviction from being appointed as a pro tempore judge.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0723** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0723)
2. **HB431ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB431ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101634D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB431)
4. **Printed as engrossed 24101634D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB431E)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N) — **6–2** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jonathan "Jed" Arnold — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101634D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Assigned Courts sub: Judicial `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-05** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-02-05** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 2-N)
- **2024-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB431)
- **2024-02-09** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-11** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-12** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-12** Engrossed by House as amended HB431E
- **2024-02-12** Printed as engrossed 24101634D-E
- **2024-02-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB431E)
- **2024-02-13** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-14** 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 (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-05** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB431ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Impact statement from DPB (HB431ER)
- **2024-03-05** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by President `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`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 723 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0723)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/89663a58-4b8c-41a2-8dcf-36980b96f887`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).