republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-667.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Overdoses; arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting."
description: "Arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Provides that no individual shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; possession of marijuana; intoxication in public; or possession of controlled paraphernalia if (i) such individual (a) seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself, if he is experiencing an overdose, or for another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an overdose, or (b) is experiencing an overdose and another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him; (ii) such individual remains at the scene of the overdose or at any location to which he or the individual requiring emergency medical attention has been transported; (iii) such individual identifies himself to the law-enforcement officer who responds; and (iv) the evidence for a prosecution of one of the enumerated offenses would have been obtained only as a result of an individual seeking or obtaining emergency medical attention. The bill also provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in a good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the person arrested was immune from prosecution. Current law provides an affirmative defense to such offenses only when an individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself, if he is experiencing an overdose, or for another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an overdose."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 667"
citation: "Virginia SB 667 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jennifer B. Boysko"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 32
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2ed5371d-2439-4f0d-9bf7-3d4a4f1cca77"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB667"
source_hash: "290530a7bc489d8a67605c3c1fa1dd3faf7f1629650499f30f2a9176604fb628"
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 667 (2020) — Overdoses; arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting.

Arrest and prosecution when experiencing or reporting overdoses. Provides that no individual shall be subject to arrest or prosecution for the unlawful purchase, possession, or consumption of alcohol; possession of a controlled substance; possession of marijuana; intoxication in public; or possession of controlled paraphernalia if (i) such individual (a) seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself, if he is experiencing an overdose, or for another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an overdose, or (b) is experiencing an overdose and another individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for him; (ii) such individual remains at the scene of the overdose or at any location to which he or the individual requiring emergency medical attention has been transported; (iii) such individual identifies himself to the law-enforcement officer who responds; and (iv) the evidence for a prosecution of one of the enumerated offenses would have been obtained only as a result of an individual seeking or obtaining emergency medical attention. The bill also provides that no law-enforcement officer acting in a good faith shall be found liable for false arrest if it is later determined that the person arrested was immune from prosecution. Current law provides an affirmative defense to such offenses only when an individual seeks or obtains emergency medical attention for himself, if he is experiencing an overdose, or for another individual, if such other individual is experiencing an overdose.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1016)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1016)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB667ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB667ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB667E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB667E)
4. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB667E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB667)
5. **Reengrossed by Senate as amended SB667E2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB667E2)

## Votes

- Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (39-Y 1-N) — **39–1** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with amendment (9-Y 3-N) — **9–3** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (13-Y 6-N) — **13–6** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 3-N) — **4–3** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (59-Y 40-N) — **58–40** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jennifer B. Boysko — primary (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- John J. Bell — cosponsor (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104169D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Judiciary with amendment (9-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-10** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB667E
- **2020-02-10** Printed as engrossed 20104169D-E
- **2020-02-11** Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (39-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-11** Reading of amendment waived
- **2020-02-11** Amendment by Senator Boysko agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2020-02-11** Reengrossed by Senate as amended SB667E2
- **2020-02-11** Printed as reengrossed 20104169D-E2
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-14** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-14** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-14** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-21** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-28** Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 3-N)
- **2020-03-02** Reported from Courts of Justice (13-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Passed House (59-Y 40-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-05** VOTE: Passage (59-Y 40-N)
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1016 (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/2ed5371d-2439-4f0d-9bf7-3d4a4f1cca77`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).