republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-853.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal cases; delayed appeals, assignments of errors dismissed in part."
description: "Provides that an appellant may file a motion for leave to pursue a delayed appeal in a criminal case in the Court of Appeals of Virginia when the appeal was dismissed, in whole or in part, for a failure to (i) initiate the appeal; (ii) adhere to proper form, procedures, or time limits in the perfection of the appeal; or (iii) file the indispensable transcript or written statement of facts, even if other parts of the appeal were refused on the merits. Under current law, an appellant may not pursue a delayed appeal in such a case if part of the appeal was refused on the merits. The bill also provides that an appellant may file a motion for leave to pursue a delayed appeal in a criminal case that is appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia from the Court of Appeals of Virginia for those assignments of error that were dismissed because they did not adhere to a proper form, even if other assignments of error were refused on the merits. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 853"
citation: "Virginia SB 853 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal Procedure"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["William M. Stanley, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2016-12-02"
last_action: "2017-02-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/94ff31c3-89c9-47b5-9abb-9d14e5ffc628"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB853"
source_hash: "5638fea8f4ab13a4be56408e023f0b30baf6d88b2173d784534fab6b3f03f101"
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 853 (2017) — Criminal cases; delayed appeals, assignments of errors dismissed in part.

Provides that an appellant may file a motion for leave to pursue a delayed appeal in a criminal case in the Court of Appeals of Virginia when the appeal was dismissed, in whole or in part, for a failure to (i) initiate the appeal; (ii) adhere to proper form, procedures, or time limits in the perfection of the appeal; or (iii) file the indispensable transcript or written statement of facts, even if other parts of the appeal were refused on the merits. Under current law, an appellant may not pursue a delayed appeal in such a case if part of the appeal was refused on the merits. The bill also provides that an appellant may file a motion for leave to pursue a delayed appeal in a criminal case that is appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia from the Court of Appeals of Virginia for those assignments of error that were dismissed because they did not adhere to a proper form, even if other assignments of error were refused on the merits. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0079)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0079)
2. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB853ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB853ER)
3. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17104429D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB853S1)
4. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101708D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB853)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **15–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- William M. Stanley, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-12-02** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17101708D `introduction`
- **2016-12-02** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-30** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-01-30** Committee substitute agreed to 17104429D-S1
- **2017-01-30** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB853S1
- **2017-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-02-03** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-13** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-13** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-14** Enrolled
- **2017-02-14** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-15** Signed by President
- **2017-02-15** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 2/15/17
- **2017-02-15** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 22, 2017
- **2017-02-20** Approved by Governor-Chapter 79 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/94ff31c3-89c9-47b5-9abb-9d14e5ffc628`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).