---
type: "Bill"
title: "Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; development of behavioral health co-response teams."
description: "Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; behavioral health co-response teams. Provides that interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements may allow for the development of co-response teams staffed by one or more law-enforcement agencies that respond to behavioral health-related calls in multiple jurisdictions. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to SB 317."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 248"
citation: "Virginia HB 248 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Vivian E. Watts"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-08"
last_action: "2026-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bedac1ce-7d31-48cc-8d4f-5ad41acdb0fb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB248"
source_hash: "0f06a96d3937ecf20019f8e2c7de9ee7f37e41ace4fd06cacbde979ccad23c1e"
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 248 (2026) — Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; development of behavioral health co-response teams.

Interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements; behavioral health co-response teams. Provides that interjurisdictional law-enforcement agreements may allow for the development of co-response teams staffed by one or more law-enforcement agencies that respond to behavioral health-related calls in multiple jurisdictions. This bill is a recommendation of the Behavioral Health Commission. This bill is identical to SB 317.

## 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/1083257.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218309.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182485.PDF)

## Votes

- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Local Government — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Public Safety — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Vivian E. Watts — primary (person)
- Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102852D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-08** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-16** Assigned HPS sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2026-01-23** Reported from Public Safety (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-27** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-01-28** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-01-29** Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-01-30** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB248)
- **2026-02-23** Reported from Local Government (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-24** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-24** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-25** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB248ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB248)
- **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`
- **2026-04-10** Approved by Governor-Chapter 535 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-10** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0535)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bedac1ce-7d31-48cc-8d4f-5ad41acdb0fb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).