---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil actions; determination of indigency."
description: "Provides that, in the case of a no-fault divorce proceeding, there is a presumption that a party to the case who is the recipient of a state or federally funded public assistance program for the indigent is unable to pay the fees or costs. The bill further provides that, in such no-fault divorce proceeding, such person shall certify to the receipt of such benefits under oath."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 1944"
citation: "Virginia HB 1944 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts of Record", "Domestic Relations"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeffrey L. Campbell"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-06"
last_action: "2019-03-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c6156664-0c24-4b1f-b42d-9ed631153c52"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB1944"
source_hash: "39d2b3b819f27c96190f028d96bc7e5a491ec13795c27666e5cfeccf3eb0d12c"
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 1944 (2019) — Civil actions; determination of indigency.

Provides that, in the case of a no-fault divorce proceeding, there is a presumption that a party to the case who is the recipient of a state or federally funded public assistance program for the indigent is unable to pay the fees or costs. The bill further provides that, in such no-fault divorce proceeding, such person shall certify to the receipt of such benefits under oath.

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0411)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0411)
2. **House subcommittee amendments and substitutes adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://committees.lis.virginia.gov/subcommitteeaction.aspx?ses=191&bil=HB1944)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1944ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1944ER)
4. **House: Committee substitute printed 19105765D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1944H1)
5. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101359D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1944)
6. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 19106545D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB1944S1)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate substitute agreed to by House 19106545D-S1 — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **99–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeffrey L. Campbell — primary (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19101359D `introduction`
- **2019-01-06** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-10** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-29** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-30** Committee substitute agreed to 19105765D-H1
- **2019-01-30** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1944H1
- **2019-01-31** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-01** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-02-01** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-11** Reading of substitute waived
- **2019-02-11** Committee substitute agreed to 19106545D-S1
- **2019-02-11** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB1944S1
- **2019-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2019-02-13** Senate substitute agreed to by House 19106545D-S1 (96-Y 0-N)
- **2019-02-15** Enrolled
- **2019-02-15** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-15** Signed by President
- **2019-02-19** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 19, 2019
- **2019-02-19** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-14** Approved by Governor-Chapter 411 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c6156664-0c24-4b1f-b42d-9ed631153c52`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).