republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2018/hb-840.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Victim telephone numbers and email addresses; confidentiality of information in criminal cases.	Provides that upon request of a crime victim or a witness in a criminal prosecution of a violent felony, law enforcement, the attorney for the Commonwealth, counsel for a defendant, and the Department of Corrections are prohibited from disclosing any telephone number or email address of such victim or witness except to the extent that such disclosure is required by law, necessary for law-enforcement purposes, or permitted by the court. The bill also provides that during any criminal proceeding, upon motion of the defendant or the attorney for the Commonwealth, a judge may prohibit testimony as to any telephone number or email address of a victim or witness if the judge determines that this information is not material under the circumstances of the case. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. This bill is identical to	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2018	HB 840	Virginia HB 840 (2018)	bill	Criminal Procedure	enacted	Robert B. Bell	3	15	6	2018-01-09	2018-02-26	openstates	ocd-bill/4bc46763-749e-4ba8-bbad-e95300920b15	http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+sum+HB840	5f997b261c6c92eb1623d67beeb940c3bd566b64c0623911c57fa1c559a06e26	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 840 (2018) — Victim telephone numbers and email addresses; confidentiality of information in criminal cases.

Provides that upon request of a crime victim or a witness in a criminal prosecution of a violent felony, law enforcement, the attorney for the Commonwealth, counsel for a defendant, and the Department of Corrections are prohibited from disclosing any telephone number or email address of such victim or witness except to the extent that such disclosure is required by law, necessary for law-enforcement purposes, or permitted by the court. The bill also provides that during any criminal proceeding, upon motion of the defendant or the attorney for the Commonwealth, a judge may prohibit testimony as to any telephone number or email address of a victim or witness if the judge determines that this information is not material under the circumstances of the case. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia State Crime Commission. 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 (CHAP0047) (committee substitute) — source
2. House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB840ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18103935D (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Reported from Courts of Justice — 18–0 (pass) · legislature
• Passed Senate — 40–0 (pass) · legislature
• Constitutional reading dispensed — 39–0 (pass) · legislature
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 8–0 (pass) · legislature
• Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — 98–0 (pass) · legislature
• Reported from Courts of Justice — 15–0 (pass) · legislature

Sponsors

• Robert B. Bell — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2018-01-09 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/18 18103935D introduction
• 2018-01-09 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2018-01-16 Assigned Courts sub: Subcommittee #1 referral-committee
• 2018-01-31 Read first time reading-1
• 2018-02-01 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2018-02-02 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2018-02-05 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2018-02-05 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2018-02-14 Read third time reading-3
• 2018-02-16 Enrolled
• 2018-02-16 Signed by Speaker
• 2018-02-19 Signed by President
• 2018-02-19 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 19, 2018
• 2018-02-19 Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 26, 2018
• 2018-02-26 Approved by Governor-Chapter 47 (effective 7/1/18) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/4bc46763-749e-4ba8-bbad-e95300920b15. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).