---
type: "Bill"
title: "Victims of sex trafficking; immunity for minors to arrest or prosecution for prostitution."
description: "Victims of sex trafficking; minors; immunity to prosecution for prostitution. Provides that no minor shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for a qualifying offense, defined in relevant law, if at the time of the offense leading to such charge, such minor was a victim of sex trafficking, defined in relevant law. The bill also provides that such minor shall be referred to the local department of social services for a human trafficking or other assessment pursuant to relevant law and a law-enforcement officer or the local department of social services may take custody of such minor. Lastly, the bill provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the minor arrested was immune from prosecution."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 191"
citation: "Virginia HB 191 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 34
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2026-01-07"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3ee25e4b-16a5-4b31-8e5b-5182d645a71e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB191"
source_hash: "3a6143f51f07bec686bb37e2c2e6095ebf74b232191ab2bcc6220a7c2c819900"
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 191 (2026) — Victims of sex trafficking; immunity for minors to arrest or prosecution for prostitution.

Victims of sex trafficking; minors; immunity to prosecution for prostitution. Provides that no minor shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for a qualifying offense, defined in relevant law, if at the time of the offense leading to such charge, such minor was a victim of sex trafficking, defined in relevant law. The bill also provides that such minor shall be referred to the local department of social services for a human trafficking or other assessment pursuant to relevant law and a law-enforcement officer or the local department of social services may take custody of such minor. Lastly, the bill provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the minor arrested was immune from prosecution.

## 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/1082782.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218802.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1171261.HTML)
4. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127325.PDF)
5. **Criminal Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105160.PDF)
6. **Senate Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177198.HTML)
7. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1181716.PDF)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **96–1** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler — primary (person)
- Destiny LeVere Bolling — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101466D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-19** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB191)
- **2026-01-29** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-04** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Committee substitute printed 26106683D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-09** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-09** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-09** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-10** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-11** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB191)
- **2026-02-18** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-20** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-20** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-20** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Courts of Justice Amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-23** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2026-02-23** Passed Senate with amendment Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-25** Senate amendment agreed to by House (96-Y 1-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB191ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB191)
- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 577 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0577)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3ee25e4b-16a5-4b31-8e5b-5182d645a71e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).