republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-70.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	Delinquency petition; referral to court service unit.	Delinquency petition; referral to court service unit. Provides that at any point prior to the commencement of an adjudication hearing on a petition alleging that a child is delinquent, the court, upon request of the child with consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, if a party to the case, may refer the delinquency charge back to the court service unit in writing and the intake officer shall proceed informally pursuant to relevant law. Additionally, the bill provides that upon such referral, the court shall dismiss the petition and order that the court records pertaining to the petition be expunged pursuant to relevant law. Lastly, the bill allows an intake officer to proceed informally on a complaint alleging a child is in need of services, in need of supervision, or delinquent if the juvenile has previously been proceeded against informally. Current law does not permit proceeding informally when a juvenile (i) commits a violent juvenile felony or (ii) is alleged delinquent for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult if such juvenile had previously been (a) proceeded against informally by intake or (b) adjudicated delinquent for a prior offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to HB 438.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2026	SB 70	Virginia SB 70 (2026)	bill		enacted	Barbara A. Favola	6	40	6	2025-12-17	2026-04-13	openstates	ocd-bill/5508ca9b-2ad8-4043-9524-cab36a2aedcc	https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB70	51c18293fb71451932183f57202dd265b38710078fcd8d1bee8be4f637dd59e7	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia SB 70 (2026) — Delinquency petition; referral to court service unit.

Delinquency petition; referral to court service unit. Provides that at any point prior to the commencement of an adjudication hearing on a petition alleging that a child is delinquent, the court, upon request of the child with consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, if a party to the case, may refer the delinquency charge back to the court service unit in writing and the intake officer shall proceed informally pursuant to relevant law. Additionally, the bill provides that upon such referral, the court shall dismiss the petition and order that the court records pertaining to the petition be expunged pursuant to relevant law. Lastly, the bill allows an intake officer to proceed informally on a complaint alleging a child is in need of services, in need of supervision, or delinquent if the juvenile has previously been proceeded against informally. Current law does not permit proceeding informally when a juvenile (i) commits a violent juvenile felony or (ii) is alleged delinquent for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult if such juvenile had previously been (a) proceeded against informally by intake or (b) adjudicated delinquent for a prior offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth. This bill is identical to HB 438.

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 Substitute (committee substitute) — source
4. Delegate LeVere Bolling Amendment (committee substitute) — source
5. House Amendment (committee substitute) — source
6. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed R — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Concur House Amendment R — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Passage R — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• H VOTE: — 63–34 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — 15–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — 15–7 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Barbara A. Favola — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-12-17 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101683D filing, introduction
• 2025-12-17 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-01-21 Courts of Justice Substitute
• 2026-01-21 Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2026-01-23 Committee substitute printed 26105830D-S1 substitution
• 2026-01-23 Rules suspended
• 2026-01-23 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
• 2026-01-23 Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
• 2026-01-23 Passed by for the day
• 2026-01-26 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-01-26 Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to
• 2026-01-26 Engrossed by Senate Block Vote (Voice Vote)
• 2026-01-26 Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to
• 2026-01-26 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute substitution
• 2026-01-27 Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
• 2026-01-28 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB70)
• 2026-02-03 Placed on Calendar
• 2026-02-03 Read first time reading-1
• 2026-02-03 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice referral-committee
• 2026-02-18 Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 7-N) committee-passage
• 2026-02-18 Committee substitute printed 26108198D-H1 substitution
• 2026-02-20 Read second time reading-2
• 2026-02-23 Floor offered Delegate LeVere Bolling Amendment
• 2026-02-23 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB70)
• 2026-02-23 Read third time reading-3
• 2026-02-23 committee substitute agreed to substitution
• 2026-02-23 Delegate LeVere Bolling Floor amendment agreed to amendment-passage
• 2026-02-23 Engrossed by House - committee substitute as amended substitution
• 2026-02-23 Passed House with substitute with amendment (63-Y 34-N 0-A) passage
• 2026-02-25 House substitute with amendment agreed to by Senate amendment-passage, substitution
• 2026-02-27 Enrolled enrolled
• 2026-02-27 Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB70ER) passage
• 2026-02-27 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB70)
• 2026-02-27 Signed by Speaker passage
• 2026-02-27 Signed by President passage
• 2026-03-04 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB70)
• 2026-03-10 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
• 2026-03-10 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
• 2026-04-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 614 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature
• 2026-04-13 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0614)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/5508ca9b-2ad8-4043-9524-cab36a2aedcc. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).