republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-252.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Servient estate; establishes relocation or modification of easement by owner."
description: "Relocation or modification of easement by owner of servient estate. Establishes that any easement may be relocated or modified either (i) by filing with each clerk of the circuit court of the city or county in which the easement or any part of the easement is located a written agreement evidencing the consent of the easement holder, as defined in the bill, and the consent of any other affected persons or (ii) in the absence of such agreement, upon petition to the circuit court and notice to all interested parties. The bill also provides that certain easements enumerated in the bill shall not be subject to a relocation or modification upon petition to the circuit court. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 252"
citation: "Virginia HB 252 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Vivian E. Watts"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-08"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3e325b4f-e332-425e-8f0a-8327738d8544"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB252"
source_hash: "8218b0c4ea8ec79622794d430e4e202d05d8d3a9fc71eea20c8677a0cd94eda3"
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 252 (2026) — Servient estate; establishes relocation or modification of easement by owner.

Relocation or modification of easement by owner of servient estate. Establishes that any easement may be relocated or modified either (i) by filing with each clerk of the circuit court of the city or county in which the easement or any part of the easement is located a written agreement evidencing the consent of the easement holder, as defined in the bill, and the consent of any other affected persons or (ii) in the absence of such agreement, upon petition to the circuit court and notice to all interested parties. The bill also provides that certain easements enumerated in the bill shall not be subject to a relocation or modification upon petition to the circuit court. This bill is 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](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1083266.PDF)
2. **Civil Subcommittee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1093028.HTML)
3. **Courts of Justice Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100130.HTML)
4. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1103144.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210635.PDF)

## Votes

- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) — **19–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Vivian E. Watts — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104063D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-08** 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 (HB252)
- **2026-01-21** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-02** committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-02** Engrossed by House as amended
- **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`
- **2026-02-19** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB252)
- **2026-03-05** Reported from Courts of Justice (13-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-09** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-09** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-09** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-10** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-10** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB252ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB252)
- **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`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 916 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3e325b4f-e332-425e-8f0a-8327738d8544`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).