republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2022/hb-734.md

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

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
Bill	Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records.	Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records. Provides that (i) criminal investigative files relating to a criminal investigation or proceeding that is not ongoing are excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, though they may be disclosed by the custodian of such records to certain individuals except as otherwise provided in the bill, and (ii) with the exception of disclosure to an attorney representing a petitioner or inspection by an attorney or a person proceeding pro se in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus or writ of actual innocence or any other federal or state post-conviction proceeding or pardon, no criminal investigative file or portion thereof shall be disclosed to any requester except (a) the victim; (b) the victim's immediate family members, if the victim is deceased and the immediate family member to which the records are to be disclosed is not a person of interest or a suspect in the criminal investigation; or (c) the victim's parent or guardian, if the victim is a minor and the parent or guardian is not a person of interest or a suspect in the criminal investigation or proceeding, unless the public body has made reasonable efforts to notify any such individual of the request for such information. Upon receipt of notice that a public body has received a request for criminal investigative files, such persons shall have 14 days to file in an appropriate court for an injunction to prevent disclosure of the records and the time period within which the public body has to respond to the underlying request shall be tolled pending the notification process and any subsequent disposition by the court. The bill requires the court to consider certain information in making its determination and provides that a public body shall be prohibited from responding to the request until at least 14 days have passed from the time notice was received by any such individual listed in clauses (a), (b), or (c) and shall not disclose any criminal investigative files if the court awards an injunction. This bill incorporates HB 890.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2022	HB 734	Virginia HB 734 (2022)	bill		enacted	Robert B. Bell	6	51	10	2022-01-11	2022-04-11	openstates	ocd-bill/562b3a0e-3f2e-4cd7-9437-5425e2f8ca1a	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+HB734	871a7080c603cd6cb4575b22caa6a8d877423b57a9852a235337cf912e1d79ce	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 734 (2022) — Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of certain criminal records. Provides that (i) criminal investigative files relating to a criminal investigation or proceeding that is not ongoing are excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, though they may be disclosed by the custodian of such records to certain individuals except as otherwise provided in the bill, and (ii) with the exception of disclosure to an attorney representing a petitioner or inspection by an attorney or a person proceeding pro se in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus or writ of actual innocence or any other federal or state post-conviction proceeding or pardon, no criminal investigative file or portion thereof shall be disclosed to any requester except (a) the victim; (b) the victim's immediate family members, if the victim is deceased and the immediate family member to which the records are to be disclosed is not a person of interest or a suspect in the criminal investigation; or (c) the victim's parent or guardian, if the victim is a minor and the parent or guardian is not a person of interest or a suspect in the criminal investigation or proceeding, unless the public body has made reasonable efforts to notify any such individual of the request for such information. Upon receipt of notice that a public body has received a request for criminal investigative files, such persons shall have 14 days to file in an appropriate court for an injunction to prevent disclosure of the records and the time period within which the public body has to respond to the underlying request shall be tolled pending the notification process and any subsequent disposition by the court. The bill requires the court to consider certain information in making its determination and provides that a public body shall be prohibited from responding to the request until at least 14 days have passed from the time notice was received by any such individual listed in clauses (a), (b), or (c) and shall not disclose any criminal investigative files if the court awards an injunction. This bill incorporates HB 890.

Version chain

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

1. CHAP0386 (committee substitute) — source
2. Committee substitute printed 22106405D-H1 (committee substitute) — source
3. Committee substitute printed 22107370D-S1 (committee substitute) — source
4. Conference substitute printed 22107936D-H2 (committee substitute) — source
5. HB734ER (committee substitute) — source
6. Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22100814D (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• VOTE: Adoption (0-Y 98-N) — 0–97 (fail) · lower
• VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N) — 53–45 (pass) · lower
• Conference report agreed to by Senate (25-Y 15-N) — 25–15 (pass) · upper
• Senate insisted on substitute with amendment (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from General Laws with substitute (12-Y 10-N) — 12–10 (pass) · lower
• VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 39-N) — 54–39 (pass) · lower
• Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (9-Y 5-N 1-A) — 9–5 (pass) · upper
• Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — 38–0 (pass) · upper
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N) — 5–3 (pass) · lower
• Passed Senate with substitute with amendment (26-Y 13-N) — 26–13 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Robert B. Bell — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2022-01-11 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22100814D introduction
• 2022-01-11 Referred to Committee on General Laws referral-committee
• 2022-01-21 Assigned GL sub: Subcommittee #4 referral-committee
• 2022-01-25 Impact statement from DPB (HB734)
• 2022-02-08 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 3-N)
• 2022-02-09 House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-02-10 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-02-10 Reported from General Laws with substitute (12-Y 10-N) committee-passage
• 2022-02-10 Committee substitute printed 22106405D-H1 substitution
• 2022-02-13 Read first time reading-1
• 2022-02-14 Read second time reading-2
• 2022-02-14 Committee substitute agreed to 22106405D-H1
• 2022-02-14 Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB734H1
• 2022-02-15 Impact statement from DPB (HB734H1)
• 2022-02-15 Read third time and passed House (54-Y 45-N) passage, reading-3
• 2022-02-15 VOTE: Passage (54-Y 45-N)
• 2022-02-16 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2022-02-16 Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology referral-committee
• 2022-03-02 Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2022-03-02 Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (9-Y 5-N 1-A) committee-passage
• 2022-03-02 Committee substitute printed 22107370D-S1 substitution
• 2022-03-04 Passed by for the day
• 2022-03-04 Impact statement from DPB (HB734S1)
• 2022-03-07 Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
• 2022-03-08 Read third time reading-3
• 2022-03-08 Reading of substitute waived
• 2022-03-08 Committee substitute agreed to 22107370D-S1
• 2022-03-08 Reading of amendment waived
• 2022-03-08 Amendment by Senator Surovell agreed to amendment-passage
• 2022-03-08 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment HB734S1
• 2022-03-08 Passed Senate with substitute with amendment (26-Y 13-N) passage
• 2022-03-09 Senate substitute with amendment rejected by House 22107370D-S1 (0-Y 98-N)
• 2022-03-09 VOTE: Adoption (0-Y 98-N)
• 2022-03-10 Senate insisted on substitute with amendment (40-Y 0-N)
• 2022-03-10 Senate requested conference committee
• 2022-03-10 House acceded to request
• 2022-03-10 Conferees appointed by House
• 2022-03-10 Conferees appointed by Senate
• 2022-03-12 Amended by conference committee
• 2022-03-12 Conference substitute printed 22107936D-H2
• 2022-03-12 Conference report agreed to by House (55-Y 39-N)
• 2022-03-12 VOTE: Adoption (55-Y 39-N)
• 2022-03-12 Conference report agreed to by Senate (25-Y 15-N)
• 2022-03-16 Impact statement from DPB (HB734H2)
• 2022-03-21 Enrolled
• 2022-03-21 Impact statement from DPB (HB734ER)
• 2022-03-21 Signed by President
• 2022-03-22 Signed by Speaker
• 2022-03-22 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 22, 2022
• 2022-03-22 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
• 2022-04-11 Approved by Governor-Chapter 386 (effective 7/1/22) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/562b3a0e-3f2e-4cd7-9437-5425e2f8ca1a. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).