Fabio
123 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
123 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Judicial district and circuit courts; maximum number of judges."
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description: "Maximum number of judges in each judicial district and circuit; study to examine organization and boundaries of certain judicial districts; report. Increases by one the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Judicial Districts. The bill also increases by one the maximum number of authorized juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the Twelfth and Fifteenth Judicial Districts. The bill further increases by one the maximum number of authorized circuit court judges in the Twentieth and Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuits. Under the bill, the provisions relating to increasing the number of judges in the Fifteenth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.Finally, the bill directs the Judicial Council of Virginia to study the organization and boundaries of the Fifteenth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits and to submit an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2026.As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill incorporates SB 780."
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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: "SB 158"
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citation: "Virginia SB 158 (2026)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Russet Perry"]
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version_count: 5
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action_count: 50
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vote_count: 12
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first_action: "2026-01-07"
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last_action: "2026-04-13"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0b091fd0-84ee-4fab-870b-63abb07f3288"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB158"
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source_hash: "9a9f301a814ff97d5426f92bae88f537901d720428f9db7e563573e5b7f39bfe"
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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 SB 158 (2026) — Judicial district and circuit courts; maximum number of judges.
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Maximum number of judges in each judicial district and circuit; study to examine organization and boundaries of certain judicial districts; report. Increases by one the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Judicial Districts. The bill also increases by one the maximum number of authorized juvenile and domestic relations district court judges in the Twelfth and Fifteenth Judicial Districts. The bill further increases by one the maximum number of authorized circuit court judges in the Twentieth and Twenty-seventh Judicial Circuits. Under the bill, the provisions relating to increasing the number of judges in the Fifteenth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.Finally, the bill directs the Judicial Council of Virginia to study the organization and boundaries of the Fifteenth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits and to submit an executive summary and a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than November 30, 2026.As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and the Judicial Council of Virginia. This bill incorporates SB 780.
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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/1083603.PDF)
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2. **Conference Report** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1206529.HTML)
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3. **Conference Report Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1206525.PDF)
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4. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1189985.PDF)
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5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1211830.PDF)
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## Votes
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- Adopt Conference Committee Report R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **99–0** (pass) · lower
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- Passage R — **38–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **22–0** (pass) · lower
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- H VOTE: — **99–0** (pass) · lower
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- Concur House Substitute R — **0–40** (fail) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 3rd reading) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
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- Accede Conference Committee R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **15–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **14–0** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Russet Perry — primary (person)
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- Mark D. Obenshain — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2026-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100733D `filing, introduction`
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- **2026-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
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- **2026-01-23** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB158)
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- **2026-01-28** Senate committee offered
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- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-01-30** Committee substitute printed 26105622D-S1 `substitution`
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- **2026-02-03** Incorporates SB780 (Obenshain)
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- **2026-02-11** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-12** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-12** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
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- **2026-02-13** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-02-13** Committee substitute agreed to (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-13** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) `substitution`
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- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended
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- **2026-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 3rd reading) (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-02-13** Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2026-02-18** Placed on Calendar
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- **2026-02-18** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
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- **2026-02-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB158)
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- **2026-03-02** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2026-03-03** Committee substitute printed 26108033D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2026-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2026-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2026-03-04** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
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- **2026-03-04** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-04** Passed House with substitute (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-04** Reconsideration of passage agreed to by House
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- **2026-03-04** Passed House with substitute Block Vote (99-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
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- **2026-03-06** House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-09** House insisted on substitute `substitution`
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- **2026-03-09** House requested conference committee `referral-committee`
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- **2026-03-10** Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
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- **2026-03-10** Conferees appointed by Senate
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- **2026-03-10** Senate Conferees: Perry, Deeds, Stuart
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- **2026-03-11** Conferees appointed by House
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- **2026-03-11** House Conferees: Hope, Maldonado, Ballard
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- **2026-03-11** Conference Report released
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- **2026-03-11** Conference report agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-11** Conference report agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N 0-A) `committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2026-03-23** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB158)
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- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
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- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB158ER) `passage`
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- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB158)
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- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
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- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
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- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
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- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 880 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
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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/0b091fd0-84ee-4fab-870b-63abb07f3288`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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