---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of criminal investigative files exception."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of criminal investigative files exception. Exempts a victim's insurance company and attorney from the prohibition on releasing photographic, audio, video, or other records depicting such victim. The bill also permits a victim, a victim's immediate family members if the victim is deceased, a victim's parent or guardian, the victim's insurance company, or the victim's attorney to waive the 14-day period for a public body to respond to a request for criminal investigative files."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 204"
citation: "Virginia SB 204 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J.D. \"Danny\" Diggs"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-04-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/db2fcdb6-0e3c-4125-82d8-d5bd5ed20b28"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB204"
source_hash: "aaa40cdc8045027f2796270f3a6ba2b90373b3520ebbd22e25482d44021998bd"
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 SB 204 (2024) — Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of criminal investigative files exception.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; release of criminal investigative files exception. Exempts a victim's insurance company and attorney from the prohibition on releasing photographic, audio, video, or other records depicting such victim. The bill also permits a victim, a victim's immediate family members if the victim is deceased, a victim's parent or guardian, the victim's insurance company, or the victim's attorney to waive the 14-day period for a public body to respond to a request for criminal investigative files.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0580** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0580)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102399D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB204)
3. **Printed as engrossed 24102399D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB204E)
4. **SB204ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB204ER)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (13-Y 2-N) — **13–2** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N) — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- J.D. "Danny" Diggs — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102399D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-08** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB204)
- **2024-01-17** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-17** Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendment (13-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-22** Reading of amendment waived
- **2024-01-22** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-22** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB204E
- **2024-01-22** Printed as engrossed 24102399D-E
- **2024-01-23** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (SB204E)
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-14** Assigned GL sub: Procurement/Open Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-22** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-27** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-27** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-27** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-04** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-04** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB204ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-04** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-05** Impact statement from DPB (SB204ER)
- **2024-03-07** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-05** Approved by Governor-Chapter 580 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-05** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0580)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/db2fcdb6-0e3c-4125-82d8-d5bd5ed20b28`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).