republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/sb-771.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Interlocutory appeals; immunity, petitions or appeals, civil actions."
description: "Interlocutory appeals; immunity. Provides that, when the circuit court has entered in any pending civil action an order or decree that is not otherwise appealable, a party may file in such court a motion requesting that the court certify such order or decree for interlocutory appeal. The bill further provides that if such certification is opposed by any party the parties may brief the motion. Within 15 days of the entry of an order granting such certification, a petition for appeal may be filed with the appellate court having jurisdiction from a final judgment in the proceeding. Current law specifies that such petition must be filed within 10 days of such certification. The bill further provides that when, prior to the commencement of trial, the circuit court has entered an order granting or denying a plea of sovereign, absolute, or qualified immunity that, if granted, would immunize the movant from compulsory participation in the proceeding, the order is eligible for immediate appellate review. The bill specifies that any person aggrieved by such order may file a petition for review with the appropriate appellate court. The bill provides that the failure of a party to seek interlocutory review shall not preclude review of the issue on appeal from a final order and that an order denying such review shall not preclude review of the issue on appeal from a final order. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 771"
citation: "Virginia SB 771 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["William M. Stanley, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9dfe9c5c-62bb-42f6-b2f7-c5902df2a6a0"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB771"
source_hash: "e8a5e98acef8ce8ef1992bc41218cd1605a4f79f68ab98ebd039475ef60c8b84"
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 771 (2020) — Interlocutory appeals; immunity, petitions or appeals, civil actions.

Interlocutory appeals; immunity. Provides that, when the circuit court has entered in any pending civil action an order or decree that is not otherwise appealable, a party may file in such court a motion requesting that the court certify such order or decree for interlocutory appeal. The bill further provides that if such certification is opposed by any party the parties may brief the motion. Within 15 days of the entry of an order granting such certification, a petition for appeal may be filed with the appellate court having jurisdiction from a final judgment in the proceeding. Current law specifies that such petition must be filed within 10 days of such certification. The bill further provides that when, prior to the commencement of trial, the circuit court has entered an order granting or denying a plea of sovereign, absolute, or qualified immunity that, if granted, would immunize the movant from compulsory participation in the proceeding, the order is eligible for immediate appellate review. The bill specifies that any person aggrieved by such order may file a petition for review with the appropriate appellate court. The bill provides that the failure of a party to seek interlocutory review shall not preclude review of the issue on appeal from a final order and that an order denying such review shall not preclude review of the issue on appeal from a final order. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0907)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0907)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB771ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB771ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB771E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB771)
4. **Engrossed by Senate as amended SB771E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB771E)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with amendments (13-Y 0-N 1-A) — **13–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- William M. Stanley, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102379D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-10** Reported from Judiciary with amendments (13-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-11** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-11** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-02-11** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-11** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB771E
- **2020-02-11** Printed as engrossed 20102379D-E
- **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`
- **2020-02-14** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-17** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-19** Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-24** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** Enrolled
- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-10** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 907 (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/9dfe9c5c-62bb-42f6-b2f7-c5902df2a6a0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).