republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/sb-82.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clerk fees; secure remote access to nonconfidential court records by certain attorneys."
description: "Clerk fees; secure remote access to nonconfidential court records by certain attorneys. Provides that no clerk shall charge a fee to an attorney for secure remote access to nonconfidential court records when such attorney is certified by the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission in the jurisdiction served by such clerk, provided that such attorney is currently appointed to represent a defendant in such jurisdiction and agrees to continue accepting appointments in such jurisdiction. The bill also provides that if, after receiving secure remote access for nonconfidential court records, such attorney (i) is found to have abused such privilege of such secure remote access; (ii) is removed from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission's court-appointed attorney list; or (iii) ceases to accept appointments for representation from the granting court, the clerk may terminate the agreement granting such secure remote access. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. This bill is identical to HB 520."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 82"
citation: "Virginia SB 82 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Saddam Azlan Salim"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2025-12-29"
last_action: "2026-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c267d1c3-87ac-4002-ab83-bb86c6d1657e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB82"
source_hash: "376c604db7da33b21f6481205b07186323a99742c62cbde017c36d8cb543b01d"
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 SB 82 (2026) — Clerk fees; secure remote access to nonconfidential court records by certain attorneys.

Clerk fees; secure remote access to nonconfidential court records by certain attorneys. Provides that no clerk shall charge a fee to an attorney for secure remote access to nonconfidential court records when such attorney is certified by the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission in the jurisdiction served by such clerk, provided that such attorney is currently appointed to represent a defendant in such jurisdiction and agrees to continue accepting appointments in such jurisdiction. The bill also provides that if, after receiving secure remote access for nonconfidential court records, such attorney (i) is found to have abused such privilege of such secure remote access; (ii) is removed from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission's court-appointed attorney list; or (iii) ceases to accept appointments for representation from the granting court, the clerk may terminate the agreement granting such secure remote access. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. This bill is identical to HB 520.

## 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/1082150.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216895.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095145.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1177069.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **10–4** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **10–5** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **28–12** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **22–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Saddam Azlan Salim — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-29** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101498D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-12-29** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-21** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-23** Committee substitute printed 26105930D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-01-28** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB82)
- **2026-02-03** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-04** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-04** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-05** Courts of Justice Substitute agreed to
- **2026-02-05** Engrossed by Senate committee substitute (Voice Vote) `substitution`
- **2026-02-06** Read third time and passed Senate (28-Y 12-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-12** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-12** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-12** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18** Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-23** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-23** Passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-24** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB82ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-02-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB82)
- **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`
- **2026-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 160 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0160)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c267d1c3-87ac-4002-ab83-bb86c6d1657e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).