republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/hb-223.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Cruelty to animals; possession and ownership of animals."
description: "Cruelty to animals; possession and ownership of animals. Provides that any person convicted of felony cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of animals for life and that any person convicted of misdemeanor cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of animals for a period of up to five years. The bill provides that any person who violates such prohibition shall be punished for contempt of court, and the court shall order that any animal possessed or owned by such person may be disposed of by a local governing body or delivered to another person with a right of property in the animal. Under current law, such prohibition is limited to companion animals and a period equal to the statutory maximum period of incarceration. The bill further provides that any person who has his rights to possession or ownership of companion or equine animals prohibited pursuant to a felony conviction may petition the court where such conviction occurred for a restoration of his rights after five years from the date of conviction."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 223"
citation: "Virginia HB 223 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert D. Orrock, Sr."]
version_count: 6
action_count: 46
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2024-01-04"
last_action: "2024-03-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/24da4f6b-b8d9-4fe8-841b-ef3f6dcd0e85"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB223"
source_hash: "e06b5c120ab46bef48071bbdc38028a961ecfb1b52c21df2ce2b81e62221c489"
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 223 (2024) — Cruelty to animals; possession and ownership of animals.

Cruelty to animals; possession and ownership of animals. Provides that any person convicted of felony cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of animals for life and that any person convicted of misdemeanor cruelty to animals may be prohibited by the court from possession or ownership of animals for a period of up to five years. The bill provides that any person who violates such prohibition shall be punished for contempt of court, and the court shall order that any animal possessed or owned by such person may be disposed of by a local governing body or delivered to another person with a right of property in the animal. Under current law, such prohibition is limited to companion animals and a period equal to the statutory maximum period of incarceration. The bill further provides that any person who has his rights to possession or ownership of companion or equine animals prohibited pursuant to a felony conviction may petition the court where such conviction occurred for a restoration of his rights after five years from the date of conviction.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0179** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0179)
2. **Committee substitute printed 24106189D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB223H1)
3. **Committee substitute printed 24108127D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB223S1)
4. **HB223EH1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB223EH1)
5. **HB223ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB223ER)
6. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102092D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB223)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N) — **7–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) — **7–3** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (83-Y 15-N) — **82–15** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (16-Y 6-N) — **16–6** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Adoption (87-Y 11-N) — **86–11** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Robert D. Orrock, Sr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-04** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102092D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-04** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-15** Assigned ACNR sub: Agriculture `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-24** Impact statement from DPB (HB223)
- **2024-01-24** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-24** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) `substitution`
- **2024-01-24** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-31** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (16-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-31** Committee substitute printed 24106189D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-01-31** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-31** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-02** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (7-Y 1-N)
- **2024-02-07** Impact statement from DPB (HB223H1)
- **2024-02-09** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-11** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-12** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-12** Committee substitute agreed to 24106189D-H1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-12** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-02-12** Engrossed by House - committee substitute with amendment HB223EH1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-12** Printed as engrossed 24106189D-EH1
- **2024-02-13** Read third time and passed House (83-Y 15-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** VOTE: Passage (83-Y 15-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB223EH1)
- **2024-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-14** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-19** Assigned ACNR sub: Companion Animals `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-27** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-27** Committee substitute printed 24108127D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-02-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2024-03-01** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-03-01** Reading of substitute waived
- **2024-03-01** Committee substitute agreed to 24108127D-S1 `substitution`
- **2024-03-01** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute HB223S1 `substitution`
- **2024-03-01** Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-03-04** Senate substitute agreed to by House 24108127D-S1 (87-Y 11-N) `substitution`
- **2024-03-04** VOTE: Adoption (87-Y 11-N)
- **2024-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB223S1)
- **2024-03-07** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-03-07** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB223ER) `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-08** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-12** Impact statement from DPB (HB223ER)
- **2024-03-28** Approved by Governor-Chapter 179 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-28** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0179)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/24da4f6b-b8d9-4fe8-841b-ef3f6dcd0e85`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).