Fabio
90 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
90 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Jurisdiction of district courts in felony cases; specialty dockets, Behavioral Health Docket Act."
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description: "Jurisdiction of district courts in felony cases; specialty dockets; Behavioral Health Docket Act. Authorizes a general district court and a juvenile and domestic relations district court to retain jurisdiction over a felony offense for the purpose of allowing the accused to complete a specialty docket or behavioral health docket established pursuant to relevant law. Current law only explicitly provides such courts with the ability to certify felony charges to the circuit court or dismiss such charges after a preliminary hearing to determine if probable cause exists for such charges."
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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 245"
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citation: "Virginia HB 245 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Vivian E. Watts"]
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version_count: 3
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action_count: 26
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vote_count: 6
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first_action: "2026-01-08"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7c49da6a-d8c3-409f-a22e-75dac62be843"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB245"
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source_hash: "4697cc36e057c8b2052f644bf2c81334366bc6621340d3d226de60e619f7129a"
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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 245 (2026) — Jurisdiction of district courts in felony cases; specialty dockets, Behavioral Health Docket Act.
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Jurisdiction of district courts in felony cases; specialty dockets; Behavioral Health Docket Act. Authorizes a general district court and a juvenile and domestic relations district court to retain jurisdiction over a felony offense for the purpose of allowing the accused to complete a specialty docket or behavioral health docket established pursuant to relevant law. Current law only explicitly provides such courts with the ability to certify felony charges to the circuit court or dismiss such charges after a preliminary hearing to determine if probable cause exists for such charges.
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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/1083245.PDF)
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2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1218846.PDF)
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3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182477.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Reported from Courts of Justice — **18–1** (pass) · lower
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **76–19** (pass) · lower
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Courts of Justice — **14–0** (pass) · upper
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- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Vivian E. Watts — primary (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102480D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-08** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-20** Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB245)
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- **2026-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
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- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice (18-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-02** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (76-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
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- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-23** Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-24** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-24** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-02-25** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB245ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB245)
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- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 580 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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- **2026-04-13** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0580)
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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/7c49da6a-d8c3-409f-a22e-75dac62be843`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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