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type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags
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| Bill | Court of Appeals; expands jurisdiction, increases from 11 to 17 number of judges on Court. | Court of Appeals; jurisdiction; number of judges. Expands the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals of Virginia by providing for an appeal of right in every civil case and provides that the granting of further appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia shall be within the discretion of the Supreme Court. The bill provides for an appeal of right in criminal cases by a defendant, but leaves unchanged the current requirement that in criminal cases the Commonwealth must petition the Court of Appeals for granting of an appeal. The bill increases from 11 to 17 the number of judges on the Court of Appeals. The bill also (i) provides jurisdiction to the Court of Appeals over interlocutory appeals and petitions for review of injunctions; (ii) allows for oral arguments to be dispensed with if the panel of judges makes a unanimous decision that the appeal is wholly without merit or that the dispositive issues on appeal have already been authoritatively decided and the appellant has not argued that the case law should be overturned, extended, or reversed; (iii) provides that the Attorney General shall represent the Commonwealth in criminal appeals unless, and with the consent of the Attorney General, the attorney for the Commonwealth who prosecuted the case files a notice of appearance; (iv) eliminates the requirement for an appeal bond in criminal appeals; (v) requires all criminal cases in a court of record to be recorded and requires the clerk of the circuit court to prepare a transcript of any trial for which an appeal is noticed to him; and (vi) requires an expedited review of appeals of permanent protective orders and of bond validation proceedings. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2021, which is applicable to all provisions of the bill except for those increasing the number of judges on the Court of Appeals. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act. | us/states/va | Virginia General Assembly | 2021 | SB 1261 | Virginia SB 1261 (2021) |
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enacted |
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5 | 55 | 13 | 2021-01-12 | 2021-03-31 | openstates | ocd-bill/0cd1edec-18f3-48f0-8ddd-c207777b73fd | https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1261 | b456b35bbcf1f67c5b57f87c358a9fda734d9835171d02a4a3d5312765b08776 | 2026-07-01 | https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump | 2026-07-06 | reported |
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Virginia SB 1261 (2021) — Court of Appeals; expands jurisdiction, increases from 11 to 17 number of judges on Court.
Court of Appeals; jurisdiction; number of judges. Expands the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals of Virginia by providing for an appeal of right in every civil case and provides that the granting of further appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia shall be within the discretion of the Supreme Court. The bill provides for an appeal of right in criminal cases by a defendant, but leaves unchanged the current requirement that in criminal cases the Commonwealth must petition the Court of Appeals for granting of an appeal. The bill increases from 11 to 17 the number of judges on the Court of Appeals. The bill also (i) provides jurisdiction to the Court of Appeals over interlocutory appeals and petitions for review of injunctions; (ii) allows for oral arguments to be dispensed with if the panel of judges makes a unanimous decision that the appeal is wholly without merit or that the dispositive issues on appeal have already been authoritatively decided and the appellant has not argued that the case law should be overturned, extended, or reversed; (iii) provides that the Attorney General shall represent the Commonwealth in criminal appeals unless, and with the consent of the Attorney General, the attorney for the Commonwealth who prosecuted the case files a notice of appearance; (iv) eliminates the requirement for an appeal bond in criminal appeals; (v) requires all criminal cases in a court of record to be recorded and requires the clerk of the circuit court to prepare a transcript of any trial for which an appeal is noticed to him; and (vi) requires an expedited review of appeals of permanent protective orders and of bond validation proceedings. The bill has a delayed effective date of October 1, 2021, which is applicable to all provisions of the bill except for those increasing the number of judges on the Court of Appeals. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
- CHAP0489 (committee substitute) — source
- Committee substitute printed 21103599D-S1 (committee substitute) — source
- Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101357D (committee substitute) — source
- SB1261ER (committee substitute) — source
- SB1261ES1 (committee substitute) — source
Votes
- Senate acceded to request (28-Y 10-N) — 28–10 (pass) · upper
- Conference report agreed to by Senate (20-Y 17-N) — 20–17 (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N) — 53–45 (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with substitute (8-Y 6-N 1-A) — 8–6 (pass) · upper
- Reported from Appropriations (11-Y 9-N) — 11–9 (pass) · lower
- House amendments rejected by Senate (17-Y 21-N) — 17–21 (fail) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — 37–0 (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N) — 5–2 (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (13-Y 9-N) — 13–9 (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice — 0–0 (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Agreed To (54-Y 42-N) — 53–42 (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (11-Y 5-N) — 11–5 (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N) — 21–18 (pass) · upper
Sponsors
- John S. Edwards — primary (person)
- Joseph D. Morrissey — cosponsor (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
- 2021-01-12 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101357D
introduction - 2021-01-12 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
referral-committee - 2021-01-25 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- 2021-01-25 Reported from Judiciary with substitute (8-Y 6-N 1-A)
committee-passage - 2021-01-25 Committee substitute printed 21103599D-S1
substitution - 2021-01-25 Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
referral-committee - 2021-02-02 Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (11-Y 5-N)
committee-passage - 2021-02-02 Impact statement from DPB (SB1261S1)
- 2021-02-03 Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- 2021-02-04 Read second time
reading-2 - 2021-02-04 Reading of substitute waived
- 2021-02-04 Committee substitute agreed to 21103599D-S1
- 2021-02-04 Reading of amendment waived
- 2021-02-04 Committee amendment agreed to
- 2021-02-04 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB1261ES1
- 2021-02-04 Printed as engrossed 21103599D-ES1
- 2021-02-05 Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 18-N)
passage, reading-3 - 2021-02-07 Placed on Calendar
- 2021-02-07 Read first time
reading-1 - 2021-02-07 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee - 2021-02-08 Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice
- 2021-02-10 Impact statement from DPB (SB1261ES1)
- 2021-02-20 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- 2021-02-20 Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (13-Y 9-N)
committee-passage - 2021-02-20 Referred to Committee on Appropriations
referral-committee - 2021-02-21 Assigned App. sub: Transportation & Public Safety
referral-committee - 2021-02-22 Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N)
- 2021-02-22 Reported from Appropriations (11-Y 9-N)
committee-passage - 2021-02-23 Read second time
reading-2 - 2021-02-24 Passed by for the day
- 2021-02-25 Read third time
reading-3 - 2021-02-25 Committee on Courts of Justice amendments rejected
- 2021-02-25 Committee on Courts of Justice amendments reconsidered
- 2021-02-25 Committee on Courts of Justice amendments agreed to
- 2021-02-25 Amendment by Delegate Mullin agreed to
amendment-passage - 2021-02-25 Engrossed by House as amended
- 2021-02-25 Passed House with amendments (54-Y 45-N)
passage - 2021-02-25 VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N)
- 2021-02-25 House amendments rejected by Senate (17-Y 21-N)
- 2021-02-25 House insisted on amendments
- 2021-02-25 House requested conference committee
- 2021-02-25 Senate acceded to request (28-Y 10-N)
- 2021-02-25 Conferees appointed by Senate
- 2021-02-25 Conferees appointed by House
- 2021-02-27 Amended by conference committee
- 2021-02-27 Conference report agreed to by Senate (20-Y 17-N)
- 2021-02-27 Conference report agreed to by House (54-Y 42-N)
- 2021-02-27 VOTE: Agreed To (54-Y 42-N)
- 2021-03-09 Enrolled
- 2021-03-09 Signed by President
- 2021-03-10 Impact statement from DPB (SB1261ER)
- 2021-03-11 Signed by Speaker
- 2021-03-15 Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 15, 2021
- 2021-03-15 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- 2021-03-31 Approved by Governor-Chapter 489 (effective - see bill)
executive-signature
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/0cd1edec-18f3-48f0-8ddd-c207777b73fd. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).