republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-1051.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	Virginia Public Records Act; availability of public records.	Virginia Public Records Act; availability of certain public records. Provides that upon a petition filed with the clerk, a judge may enter an order releasing any record in the custody of The Library of Virginia that was sealed prior to January 1, 1901. The bill also provides that notwithstanding any provisions of a previously executed contract with any department, agency, or institution of the Commonwealth or political subdivision, any individual or private entity lawfully in possession of public records created prior to January 1, 1901, or images of such records may display or publish such records in any format, including in an electronic database or on the Internet, without paying a fee to or requesting permission from the original custodian of such records.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	SB 1051	Virginia SB 1051 (2020)	bill		enacted	R. Creigh Deeds	5	34	8	2020-01-17	2020-04-07	openstates	ocd-bill/9b3e1388-5c86-4ec4-aada-eea3c4365e13	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB1051	97b118bda8d5533b5df2320115eb51a842f82328251e74f59dadad8eb14b0199	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 1051 (2020) — Virginia Public Records Act; availability of public records.

Virginia Public Records Act; availability of certain public records. Provides that upon a petition filed with the clerk, a judge may enter an order releasing any record in the custody of The Library of Virginia that was sealed prior to January 1, 1901. The bill also provides that notwithstanding any provisions of a previously executed contract with any department, agency, or institution of the Commonwealth or political subdivision, any individual or private entity lawfully in possession of public records created prior to January 1, 1901, or images of such records may display or publish such records in any format, including in an electronic database or on the Internet, without paying a fee to or requesting permission from the original custodian of such records.

Version chain

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

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0773) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1051ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1051H1 (committee substitute) — source
4. Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1051S1 (committee substitute) — source
5. Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1051S1 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N) — 96–0 (pass) · lower
• Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (15-Y 0-N) — 15–0 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — 37–0 (pass) · upper
• House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from General Laws with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — 22–0 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N) — 6–2 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• R. Creigh Deeds — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2020-01-17 Presented and ordered printed 20105260D introduction
• 2020-01-17 Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology referral-committee
• 2020-02-05 Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (15-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-05 Committee substitute printed 20107856D-S1 substitution
• 2020-02-07 Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-10 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-10 Reading of substitute waived
• 2020-02-10 Committee substitute agreed to 20107856D-S1
• 2020-02-10 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1051S1
• 2020-02-10 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-10 Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) passage
• 2020-02-13 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-13 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-13 Referred to Committee on General Laws referral-committee
• 2020-02-14 Assigned GL sub: Open Government/Procurement referral-committee
• 2020-02-18 Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 2-N)
• 2020-02-27 Impact statement from DPB (SB1051S1)
• 2020-02-27 Committee substitute printed 20109285D-H1 substitution
• 2020-02-27 Reported from General Laws with substitute (22-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-03-02 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-03-03 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-03-03 Committee substitute agreed to 20109285D-H1
• 2020-03-03 Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1051H1
• 2020-03-03 Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) passage
• 2020-03-03 VOTE: Block Vote Passage (97-Y 0-N)
• 2020-03-04 House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
• 2020-03-04 Title replaced 20109285D-H1
• 2020-03-07 Enrolled
• 2020-03-07 Signed by President
• 2020-03-08 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-09 Impact statement from DPB (SB1051ER)
• 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
• 2020-04-07 Approved by Governor-Chapter 773 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/9b3e1388-5c86-4ec4-aada-eea3c4365e13. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).