republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-185.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	Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review.	Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review. Provides that when a circuit court acts on or issues an order pertaining to the closure of a proceeding, such order is eligible for immediate appellate review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill further provides that any person aggrieved by such an order may, within 15 days of the entry of such an order, file a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	HB 185	Virginia HB 185 (2026)	bill		enacted	Leslie Chambers Mehta	5	31	8	2026-01-07	2026-04-08	openstates	ocd-bill/cfae61f1-af6e-4c0f-8106-faef34895501	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB185	a3f28a6688d68751bb066910a95b5dc2b626233774e9b9fc34369c2ef0ced57b	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 185 (2026) — Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review.

Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review. Provides that when a circuit court acts on or issues an order pertaining to the closure of a proceeding, such order is eligible for immediate appellate review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill further provides that any person aggrieved by such an order may, within 15 days of the entry of such an order, file a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

Version chain

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

1. Introduced (filed) — source
2. Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
3. Courts of Justice Amendment (committee substitute) — source
4. Senate Amendments (committee substitute) — source
5. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 37–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Courts of Justice — 19–0 (pass) · lower
• H VOTE: — 97–0 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting — 9–1 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments — 14–1 (pass) · upper
• H VOTE: — 98–0 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Finance and Appropriations — 14–0 (pass) · upper
• Passage R — 40–0 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

• Leslie Chambers Mehta — primary (person)
• Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)
• Destiny LeVere Bolling — cosponsor (person)
• Jessica L. Anderson — cosponsor (person)
• John Chilton McAuliff — cosponsor (person)
• Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
• Kimberly Pope Adams — cosponsor (person)
• Marty Martinez — cosponsor (person)
• Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
• Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
• Nicole Cole — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2026-01-07 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103517D filing, introduction
• 2026-01-07 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-01-19 Assigned HCJ sub: Civil referral-committee
• 2026-01-20 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB185)
• 2026-01-21 Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N)
• 2026-01-28 Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2026-01-30 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-02 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
• 2026-02-03 Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar
• 2026-02-03 Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-02-04 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
• 2026-02-04 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-03-04 Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N) committee-passage
• 2026-03-09 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2026-03-10 Rules suspended
• 2026-03-10 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-03-10 Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
• 2026-03-11 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-03-11 Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to amendment-passage
• 2026-03-11 Engrossed by Senate as amended
• 2026-03-11 Passed Senate with amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-03-12 Senate amendments agreed to by House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) amendment-passage
• 2026-03-30 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-03-30 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB185ER) passage
• 2026-03-30 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-31 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB185)
• 2026-03-31 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-03-31 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-31 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 366 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature
• 2026-04-08 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0366)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/cfae61f1-af6e-4c0f-8106-faef34895501. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).