republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/hb-2150.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Jurisdiction over criminal cases; certification or appeal of charges."
description: "Jurisdiction over criminal cases; certification or appeal of charges. Provides that upon (i) certification by the general district court of any felony charge and ancillary misdemeanor charge or when an appeal of a conviction of an offense in general district court is noted or (ii) certification by the juvenile and domestic relations district court of any felony charge and ancillary misdemeanor charge committed by an adult or when an appeal of a conviction or adjudication of an offense is noted, jurisdiction as to such charges shall vest in the circuit court, unless such case is reopened, modified, vacated, or suspended or the appeal has been withdrawn in the district court within 10 days. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2150"
citation: "Virginia HB 2150 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Les R. Adams"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1249e4ec-9eb0-4bc6-b2f4-1a2f332c04c1"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2150"
source_hash: "e8cd7f348195cc953f7460f7f36f7eed4e681633f8a71748ad45b9f07e52423b"
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 2150 (2021) — Jurisdiction over criminal cases; certification or appeal of charges.

Jurisdiction over criminal cases; certification or appeal of charges. Provides that upon (i) certification by the general district court of any felony charge and ancillary misdemeanor charge or when an appeal of a conviction of an offense in general district court is noted or (ii) certification by the juvenile and domestic relations district court of any felony charge and ancillary misdemeanor charge committed by an adult or when an appeal of a conviction or adjudication of an offense is noted, jurisdiction as to such charges shall vest in the circuit court, unless such case is reopened, modified, vacated, or suspended or the appeal has been withdrawn in the district court within 10 days. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0187** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0187)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103376D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2150H1)
3. **HB2150ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2150ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100378D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2150)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Les R. Adams — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100378D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-22** Committee substitute printed 21103376D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-22** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-26** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-26** Committee substitute agreed to 21103376D-H1
- **2021-01-26** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB2150H1
- **2021-01-27** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-27** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-28** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-28** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Judiciary (14-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-10** Impact statement from DPB (HB2150H1)
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Judiciary (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-17** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-17** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
- **2021-02-22** Impact statement from DPB (HB2150ER)
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 187 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1249e4ec-9eb0-4bc6-b2f4-1a2f332c04c1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).