---
type: "Bill"
title: "Unmanned aircraft systems; use by law-enforcement officers, search warrants."
description: "Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants; model policy. Expedites the issuance of a search warrant for unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers upon a finding of reasonable and probable cause by an authorized judicial official, as defined in the bill, and permits the use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service when such crime scene or call for service is located on public property, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security. Such provisions are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, to establish a model policy for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by December 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 647."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1219"
citation: "Virginia HB 1219 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Briana D. Sewell"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 32
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-14"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3b907dd6-6915-4ad7-9320-69833634bebb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1219"
source_hash: "3f438ba6f9d62a8280605d968fe34042d8ff18b2a2b3d72a4c3c45021f108385"
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 1219 (2026) — Unmanned aircraft systems; use by law-enforcement officers, search warrants.

Use of unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers; search warrants; model policy. Expedites the issuance of a search warrant for unmanned aircraft systems by law-enforcement officers upon a finding of reasonable and probable cause by an authorized judicial official, as defined in the bill, and permits the use of unmanned aircraft systems without a search warrant when law enforcement is surveying the scene of a crime or to respond to a public safety call for service when such crime scene or call for service is located on public property, to locate a person when such person has fled the offense location during the initial response to an incident, or to provide real-time aerial observation to increase on-scene safety and security. Such provisions are subject to a reenactment clause. The bill also requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, to establish a model policy for the use of unmanned aircraft systems by December 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 647.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088433.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217206.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142313.PDF)
4. **Criminal Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1133821.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209020.PDF)

## Votes

- H VOTE: — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Briana D. Sewell — primary (person)
- Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-14** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103614D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-14** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-06** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-11** Committee substitute printed 26106525D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-17** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-17** Fiscal Impact statement From DPB (2/17/2026 3:20 pm)
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25** Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-05** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-05** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-06** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-09** Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-14** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1219ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-18** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1219)
- **2026-03-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 270 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0270)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3b907dd6-6915-4ad7-9320-69833634bebb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).