republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-244.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "FOIA; meetings held through electronic communication during declared states of emergency."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; effective date of procedures for conducting meetings held through electronic communication means during declared states of emergency. Provides that the provisions for conducting a meeting by electronic means due to a state of emergency stated in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are declarative of existing law since March 20, 2020, with respect to the Governor's declared state of emergency due to COVID-19. Under the bill, any meeting by a public body using electronic communication means occurring from that date until July 1, 2021, and any otherwise lawful action taken at it is validated with respect to FOIA if the body provided public notice, public access, and public comment commensurate with the requirements of existing FOIA provisions regarding electronic and closed meetings. The bill is a response to the case Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors (Va. 2023) and is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 816. "
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 244"
citation: "Virginia SB 244 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeremy S. McPike"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c5e1739b-13d5-494e-86f3-92d6f192de91"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB244"
source_hash: "c3f4b4323e97ee047b79e872e5bd68c787f89ba54579d9bc53b4fd07a5d5a906"
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 244 (2024) — FOIA; meetings held through electronic communication during declared states of emergency.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; effective date of procedures for conducting meetings held through electronic communication means during declared states of emergency. Provides that the provisions for conducting a meeting by electronic means due to a state of emergency stated in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are declarative of existing law since March 20, 2020, with respect to the Governor's declared state of emergency due to COVID-19. Under the bill, any meeting by a public body using electronic communication means occurring from that date until July 1, 2021, and any otherwise lawful action taken at it is validated with respect to FOIA if the body provided public notice, public access, and public comment commensurate with the requirements of existing FOIA provisions regarding electronic and closed meetings. The bill is a response to the case Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors (Va. 2023) and is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to HB 816. 

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0344** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0344)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104842D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB244)
3. **SB244ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB244ER)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jeremy S. McPike — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104842D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (SB244)
- **2024-01-24** Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-26** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-29** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-30** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-15** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-20** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-20** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-20** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB244ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Impact statement from DPB (SB244ER)
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 344 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-02** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0344)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c5e1739b-13d5-494e-86f3-92d6f192de91`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).