republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1253.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Virginia Defense Force; maximum age for recruitment."
description: "Virginia Defense Force; maximum age for recruitment. Permits the Adjutant General of Virginia to recruit members to the Virginia Defense Force who are between the ages of 65 and 75. Under current law, the Adjutant General is only permitted to retain existing members of the Virginia Defense Force once they have attained the age of 65."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1253"
citation: "Virginia HB 1253 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Don L. Scott"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9ba10190-7b3d-4c85-8af5-f35e41f24f62"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1253"
source_hash: "3606cc3adbf3ccc7429e3cb5095a7c601e465bc7bc7ce88ec468241cf5247358"
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 1253 (2020) — Virginia Defense Force; maximum age for recruitment.

Virginia Defense Force; maximum age for recruitment. Permits the Adjutant General of Virginia to recruit members to the Virginia Defense Force who are between the ages of 65 and 75. Under current law, the Adjutant General is only permitted to retain existing members of the Virginia Defense Force once they have attained the age of 65.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0488)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0488)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1253ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1253ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1253)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1253)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Don L. Scott — primary (person)
- Amanda E. Batten — cosponsor (person)
- Barry D. Knight — cosponsor (person)
- C. Matthew Fariss — cosponsor (person)
- Carrie E. Coyner — cosponsor (person)
- Chris Collins-Resigned 6/28/20 — cosponsor (person)
- Chris L. Hurst — cosponsor (person)
- Christopher T. Head — cosponsor (person)
- Danica A. Roem — cosponsor (person)
- Emily M. Brewer — cosponsor (person)
- G. "John" Avoli — cosponsor (person)
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Israel D. O'Quinn — cosponsor (person)
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich — cosponsor (person)
- James W. Morefield — cosponsor (person)
- Jason S. Miyares — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey L. Campbell — cosponsor (person)
- Jeffrey M. Bourne — cosponsor (person)
- Jerrauld C. "Jay" Jones — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph P. McNamara — cosponsor (person)
- Kathy J. Byron — cosponsor (person)
- Les R. Adams — cosponsor (person)
- M. Keith Hodges — cosponsor (person)
- M. Kirkland Cox — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Nancy D. Guy — cosponsor (person)
- Nicholas J. Freitas — cosponsor (person)
- Nick Rush — cosponsor (person)
- Paul E. Krizek — cosponsor (person)
- R. Lee Ware — cosponsor (person)
- Robert B. Bell — cosponsor (person)
- Robert D. Orrock, Sr. — cosponsor (person)
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Ronnie R. Campbell — cosponsor (person)
- Roxann L. Robinson — cosponsor (person)
- Scott Wyatt — cosponsor (person)
- Terry G. Kilgore — cosponsor (person)
- Terry L. Austin — cosponsor (person)
- Tony O. Wilt — cosponsor (person)
- Wendell S. Walker — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103987D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-02** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Impact statement from DPB (HB1253)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Reported from General Laws and Technology (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** Enrolled
- **2020-02-28** Impact statement from DPB (HB1253ER)
- **2020-02-28** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-02** Signed by President
- **2020-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2020
- **2020-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 488 (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/9ba10190-7b3d-4c85-8af5-f35e41f24f62`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).