---
type: "Bill"
title: "Cemeteries; grass cutting on land used for interment of human remains."
description: "Cemeteries; grass cutting. Exempts land used for the interment of human remains owned by an individual, family, property owners' association, or church from a local ordinance requiring certain owners of property to cut the grass, weeds, and other foreign growth on such property."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1688"
citation: "Virginia HB 1688 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Delores L. McQuinn"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-17"
last_action: "2020-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dd00accf-fd5a-4943-a461-8549a8833ac7"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1688"
source_hash: "c7156a4150c44acc6be10bfc5fe1109e5bd889c459cc7dcdeaf5051d3e42f1a3"
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 1688 (2020) — Cemeteries; grass cutting on land used for interment of human remains.

Cemeteries; grass cutting. Exempts land used for the interment of human remains owned by an individual, family, property owners' association, or church from a local ordinance requiring certain owners of property to cut the grass, weeds, and other foreign growth on such property.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0597)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0597)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1688ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1688ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendment HB1688EH1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1688EH1)
4. **HB1688H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1688H1)
5. **Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1688)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1688)

## Votes

- Reported from Local Government (12-Y 0-N) — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (19-Y 2-N) — **19–2** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (93-Y 7-N) — **92–7** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Delores L. McQuinn — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-17** Presented and ordered printed 20105731D `introduction`
- **2020-01-17** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-20** Impact statement from DHCD/CLG (HB1688)
- **2020-01-29** Assigned CC & T sub: Charters `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-30** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (19-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute printed 20107083D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-10** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Committee substitute agreed to 20107083D-H1
- **2020-02-10** Amendment by Delegate McQuinn agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendment HB1688EH1
- **2020-02-10** Printed as engrossed 20107083D-EH1
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House (93-Y 7-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Passage (93-Y 7-N)
- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Reported from Local Government (12-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-25** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-26** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-03** Enrolled
- **2020-03-03** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-04** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 597 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dd00accf-fd5a-4943-a461-8549a8833ac7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).