republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-28.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Eminent domain; eliminates specific provisions for assessment of costs in certain proceedings."
description: "Eminent domain; costs. Eliminates specific provisions for the assessment of costs in eminent domain proceedings where the condemnor is a public service company, public service corporation, railroad, or government utility corporation and provides that all costs shall be assessed in the same manner, regardless of the identity of the condemnor. The bill exempts condemnation actions for easements adjudged at less than $10,000. The bill also provides that its provisions apply only to condemnation actions filed on or after July 1, 2020."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 28"
citation: "Virginia SB 28 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Chapman Petersen"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 41
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2019-11-18"
last_action: "2020-04-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7c0d2004-8835-4daa-8c42-04ab49581a75"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB28"
source_hash: "ad6275f707babd1d53e823979435c48b0f9187f6f41c6aa05764a213a696f30c"
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 28 (2020) — Eminent domain; eliminates specific provisions for assessment of costs in certain proceedings.

Eminent domain; costs. Eliminates specific provisions for the assessment of costs in eminent domain proceedings where the condemnor is a public service company, public service corporation, railroad, or government utility corporation and provides that all costs shall be assessed in the same manner, regardless of the identity of the condemnor. The bill exempts condemnation actions for easements adjudged at less than $10,000. The bill also provides that its provisions apply only to condemnation actions filed on or after July 1, 2020.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1244)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1244)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB28ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB28ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB28E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB28E)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB28)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB28)
5. **Reenrolled bill text (SB28ER2)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB28ER2)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: (92-Y 0-N) — **91–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with amendments (13-Y 1-N) — **13–1** (pass) · upper
- Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 1-N) — **39–1** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- J. Chapman Petersen — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-11-18** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100603D `introduction`
- **2019-11-18** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
- **2020-01-14** Impact statement from DPB (SB28)
- **2020-01-16** Assigned Judiciary sub: Civil Law `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** Reported from Judiciary with amendments (13-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-03** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-02-03** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-03** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB28E
- **2020-02-03** Printed as engrossed 20100603D-E
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB28E)
- **2020-02-14** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-28** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-28** Reported from Courts of Justice (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** Passed by temporarily
- **2020-03-04** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-07** Enrolled
- **2020-03-07** Signed by President
- **2020-03-08** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-09** Impact statement from DPB (SB28ER)
- **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
- **2020-04-08** Governor's recommendation received by Senate
- **2020-04-22** Senate concurred in Governor's recommendation (39-Y 1-N)
- **2020-04-22** House concurred in Governor's recommendation (92-Y 0-N)
- **2020-04-22** VOTE: (92-Y 0-N)
- **2020-04-22** Governor's recommendation adopted
- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled
- **2020-04-22** Reenrolled bill text (SB28ER2)
- **2020-04-22** Signed by President as reenrolled
- **2020-04-22** Signed by Speaker as reenrolled
- **2020-04-22** Enacted, Chapter 1244 (effective 7/1/20) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7c0d2004-8835-4daa-8c42-04ab49581a75`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).