Fabio
98 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
98 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Cemeteries; maintenance of abandoned or neglected graveyards, owner unknown."
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description: "Cemeteries; maintenance of abandoned or neglected graveyards; owner unknown. Permits the owner of adjacent land or an incorporated nonprofit entity to petition the circuit court for an exclusive license to maintain a graveyard that has been abandoned, is unused and neglected by the owner, and the owner of such graveyard is unknown, or cannot with reasonable diligence be found. The bill requires the petitioner to (i) demonstrate a good faith effort to identify and contact an owner of record of the graveyard and (ii) publish in a newspaper having general circulation in the locality in which the graveyard is located, once a week for two consecutive weeks, notice that a petition for a maintenance license has been filed. The bill allows a court to grant a petitioner an exclusive license for the maintenance of an abandoned graveyard not to exceed five years. Such petitioner may, by petition of the court, renew such license indefinitely. After the court grants a petitioner a license to maintain the property, the owner of such graveyard may petition the circuit court of the county or city in which the graveyard is located to terminate the license."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2026"
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identifier: "HB 1237"
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citation: "Virginia HB 1237 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Briana D. Sewell"]
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version_count: 3
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action_count: 28
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vote_count: 7
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first_action: "2026-01-14"
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last_action: "2026-04-06"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1e639d4f-5d2f-4ad4-a36a-bbdda4819216"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1237"
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source_hash: "3a10e48ad772b079b5553aef9d1790c461b81df9001adcfd2a14b698e51fce4e"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 1237 (2026) — Cemeteries; maintenance of abandoned or neglected graveyards, owner unknown.
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Cemeteries; maintenance of abandoned or neglected graveyards; owner unknown. Permits the owner of adjacent land or an incorporated nonprofit entity to petition the circuit court for an exclusive license to maintain a graveyard that has been abandoned, is unused and neglected by the owner, and the owner of such graveyard is unknown, or cannot with reasonable diligence be found. The bill requires the petitioner to (i) demonstrate a good faith effort to identify and contact an owner of record of the graveyard and (ii) publish in a newspaper having general circulation in the locality in which the graveyard is located, once a week for two consecutive weeks, notice that a petition for a maintenance license has been filed. The bill allows a court to grant a petitioner an exclusive license for the maintenance of an abandoned graveyard not to exceed five years. Such petitioner may, by petition of the court, renew such license indefinitely. After the court grants a petitioner a license to maintain the property, the owner of such graveyard may petition the circuit court of the county or city in which the graveyard is located to terminate the license.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1087872.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217178.PDF)
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3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1209030.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **9–0** (pass) · lower
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- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from General Laws — **21–0** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **97–1** (pass) · lower
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- Reported from General Laws and Technology — **15–0** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Briana D. Sewell — primary (person)
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- Gretchen M. Bulova — cosponsor (person)
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- Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)
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- Luke E. Torian — cosponsor (person)
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- Michelle Lopes Maldonado — cosponsor (person)
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- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-14** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102487D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-14** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-26** Assigned HGL sub: ABC/Gaming `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-27** Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)
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- **2026-01-29** Reported from General Laws (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-02** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-03** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1237)
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- **2026-02-03** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-04** Passed House Block Vote (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-02-04** Reconsideration of passage agreed to by House
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- **2026-02-04** Read third time and passed House Block Vote (97-Y 1-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
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- **2026-02-05** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-04** Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-03-06** Rules suspended
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- **2026-03-06** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-06** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-03-09** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-03-09** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-14** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-14** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1237ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-14** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-14** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-16** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1237)
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- **2026-03-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 278 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0278)
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1e639d4f-5d2f-4ad4-a36a-bbdda4819216`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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