republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-764.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Domesticated animal premises; liability for transmission of domesticated animal pathogen."
description: "Domesticated animal premises; liability for transmission of domesticated animal pathogen. Provides that no owner or operator of a domesticated animal premises, defined in the bill, shall be liable for damages arising from a claim by a person visiting such premises alleging injury or death caused by a domesticated animal pathogen if the owner or operator took reasonable precautions to prevent the transmission of such pathogen. The bill also requires the posting of a warning sign and the provision of a hand-washing station at the premises and provides that liability may arise if the person proves that no warning sign was posted or hand-washing station provided as required. The provision of the bill protecting the owner or operator from liability shall not apply if the transmission of the pathogen was due to the owner's or operator's gross negligence, willful and wanton conduct, or intentional act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 764"
citation: "Virginia HB 764 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert D. Orrock, Sr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-03-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bd6378ea-e365-4226-bb99-cfce5d5f37df"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB764"
source_hash: "ae8ea48784cc74ef02d69e080c98ae74e78e50f4e87026fca5d0130b3d081726"
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 764 (2020) — Domesticated animal premises; liability for transmission of domesticated animal pathogen.

Domesticated animal premises; liability for transmission of domesticated animal pathogen. Provides that no owner or operator of a domesticated animal premises, defined in the bill, shall be liable for damages arising from a claim by a person visiting such premises alleging injury or death caused by a domesticated animal pathogen if the owner or operator took reasonable precautions to prevent the transmission of such pathogen. The bill also requires the posting of a warning sign and the provision of a hand-washing station at the premises and provides that liability may arise if the person proves that no warning sign was posted or hand-washing station provided as required. The provision of the bill protecting the owner or operator from liability shall not apply if the transmission of the pathogen was due to the owner's or operator's gross negligence, willful and wanton conduct, or intentional act.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0453)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0453)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB764ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB764ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB764H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB764H1)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB764)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB764)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (35-Y 2-N) — **35–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (77-Y 19-N) — **76–19** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (12-Y 1-N) — **12–1** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (19-Y 2-N) — **19–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Robert D. Orrock, Sr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101605D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB764)
- **2020-01-17** Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-01-29** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (19-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Committee substitute printed 20106316D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 20106316D-H1
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB764H1
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (77-Y 19-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (77-Y 19-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Impact statement from DPB (HB764H1)
- **2020-02-17** Assigned ACNR sub: Companion Animals `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (12-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-27** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-28** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-28** Passed Senate (35-Y 2-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-05** Enrolled
- **2020-03-05** Impact statement from DPB (HB764ER)
- **2020-03-06** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-06** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-25** Approved by Governor-Chapter 453 (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/bd6378ea-e365-4226-bb99-cfce5d5f37df`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).