---
type: "Bill"
title: "Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act; notifications to victims."
description: "Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act; notifications to victims."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 1244"
citation: "Virginia SB 1244 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Surovell"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 34
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-03-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/83d0ee97-0bea-447b-a078-d886bc8547f7"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+sum+SB1244"
source_hash: "dc936cc140425ed977288ecd59ca4619e3ca932198a70cdc3b8a7fc795fd8479"
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 1244 (2023) — Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act; notifications to victims.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0559** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+CHAP0559)
2. **Committee substitute printed 23107175D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1244H1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100068D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1244)
4. **SB1244ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?231+ful+SB1244ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (20-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (96-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **0–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Surovell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/23 23100068D `filing, introduction`
- **2023-01-10** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (SB1244)
- **2023-02-06** Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-07** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2023-02-07** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-10** Placed on Calendar
- **2023-02-10** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-16** Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-17** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2023-02-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2023-02-20** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-20** Committee substitute printed 23107175D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2023-02-22** Impact statement from DPB (SB1244H1)
- **2023-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2023-02-23** Committee substitute agreed to 23107175D-H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-23** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1244H1 `substitution`
- **2023-02-23** Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (96-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-23** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (96-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2023-02-23** House substitute agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) `substitution`
- **2023-02-23** Title replaced 23107175D-H1
- **2023-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2023-03-07** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1244ER) `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-03-08** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-09** Impact statement from DPB (SB1244ER)
- **2023-03-13** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 13, 2023 `enrolled`
- **2023-03-13** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 27, 2023 `executive-receipt`
- **2023-03-26** Approved by Governor-Chapter 559 (effective 7/1/23) `executive-signature`
- **2023-03-26** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0559)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/83d0ee97-0bea-447b-a078-d886bc8547f7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).