republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/sb-1121.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Birth certificates; amending certificate, review of request."
description: "Birth certificates; amendments. Provides that, in cases regarding amendments to birth certificates not already set out in the Code of Virginia, an amendment to a birth certificate shall be evaluated by the State Registrar through an administrative process pursuant to regulations as may be adopted by the State Board of Health. The bill requires the State Registrar to establish and publicize an internal process for modifying birth certificates and to make available to the public on its website a standard form a birth certificate made available to the public on its website. The bill also provides that when an applicant requests a change to a vital record that requires a judicial order, the vital record shall not be amended and the State Registrar shall so advise the applicant in a written notice that the applicant has the right to petition the court."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1121"
citation: "Virginia SB 1121 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mamie E. Locke"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 42
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-12-22"
last_action: "2021-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d84da1d9-dc30-400c-a1f2-3167a71c1684"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1121"
source_hash: "afc3f027236e7a3c2f71fc1b7211f3cc1a61901a3ba2bb2ae6ab953faf304679"
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 1121 (2021) — Birth certificates; amending certificate, review of request.

Birth certificates; amendments. Provides that, in cases regarding amendments to birth certificates not already set out in the Code of Virginia, an amendment to a birth certificate shall be evaluated by the State Registrar through an administrative process pursuant to regulations as may be adopted by the State Board of Health. The bill requires the State Registrar to establish and publicize an internal process for modifying birth certificates and to make available to the public on its website a standard form a birth certificate made available to the public on its website. The bill also provides that when an applicant requests a change to a vital record that requires a judicial order, the vital record shall not be amended and the State Registrar shall so advise the applicant in a written notice that the applicant has the right to petition the court.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0237** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0237)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21103272D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1121S1)
3. **Committee substitute printed 21200133D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1121H1)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101423D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1121)
5. **SB1121ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1121ER)

## Votes

- Reported from Education and Health with substitute (12-Y 2-N) — **12–2** (pass) · upper
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Health, Welfare and Institutions — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (78-Y 22-N) — **77–22** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (29-Y 10-N) — **29–10** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Mamie E. Locke — primary (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-12-22** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101423D `introduction`
- **2020-12-22** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Assigned Education sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-19** Senate subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (SB1121)
- **2021-01-21** Reported from Education and Health with substitute (12-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-21** Committee substitute printed 21103272D-S1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-22** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-25** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-25** Reading of substitute waived
- **2021-01-25** Committee substitute agreed to 21103272D-S1
- **2021-01-25** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB1121S1
- **2021-01-25** Impact statement from DPB (SB1121S1)
- **2021-01-26** Read third time and passed Senate (29-Y 10-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-02** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Health, Welfare and Institutions
- **2021-02-09** Assigned HWI sub: Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-16** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-16** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2021-02-16** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-16** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with substitute (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-16** Committee substitute printed 21200133D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-02-18** Impact statement from DPB (SB1121H1)
- **2021-02-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-19** Passed by temporarily
- **2021-02-19** Committee substitute agreed to 21200133D-H1
- **2021-02-19** Engrossed by House - committee substitute SB1121H1
- **2021-02-19** Passed House with substitute (78-Y 22-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-19** VOTE: Passage (78-Y 22-N)
- **2021-02-23** House substitute agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N)
- **2021-02-23** Title replaced 21200133D-H1
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled
- **2021-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (SB1121ER)
- **2021-02-25** Signed by President
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 237 (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/d84da1d9-dc30-400c-a1f2-3167a71c1684`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).