republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-1627.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Threats and harassment of certain officials and property; certain crimes prosecuted in Richmond."
description: "Threats and harassment of certain officials and property; venue. Provides that certain crimes relating to threats and harassment may be prosecuted in the City of Richmond if venue cannot otherwise be established and the victim is (i) the Governor, Governor-elect, Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor-elect, Attorney General, or Attorney General-elect, a member or employee of the General Assembly, a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or a judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia and (ii) such official or employee was threatened or harassed while engaged in the performance of his public duties or because of his position with the Commonwealth. In addition, threats to damage property may be prosecuted in the City of Richmond if venue cannot otherwise be established and the property is owned by the Commonwealth and located in the Capitol District."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1627"
citation: "Virginia HB 1627 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeffrey M. Bourne"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 33
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2020-01-16"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/42afc3e8-72bb-46ce-b3ce-413417d58751"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1627"
source_hash: "cdf28d629428cd1a37b7e6a4d518cbb87e95ae016fa072bece6b8bef127ea668"
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 1627 (2020) — Threats and harassment of certain officials and property; certain crimes prosecuted in Richmond.

Threats and harassment of certain officials and property; venue. Provides that certain crimes relating to threats and harassment may be prosecuted in the City of Richmond if venue cannot otherwise be established and the victim is (i) the Governor, Governor-elect, Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor-elect, Attorney General, or Attorney General-elect, a member or employee of the General Assembly, a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or a judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia and (ii) such official or employee was threatened or harassed while engaged in the performance of his public duties or because of his position with the Commonwealth. In addition, threats to damage property may be prosecuted in the City of Richmond if venue cannot otherwise be established and the property is owned by the Commonwealth and located in the Capitol District.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1002)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1002)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1627ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1627ER)
3. **Engrossed by House as amended HB1627E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1627E)
4. **Engrossed by House as amended HB1627E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1627)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (62-Y 37-N) — **61–37** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate with amendments (23-Y 17-N) — **23–17** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary with amendments (10-Y 4-N) — **10–4** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Adoption (65-Y 35-N) — **64–35** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jeffrey M. Bourne — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-16** Presented and ordered printed 20105343D `introduction`
- **2020-01-16** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-02** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-05** House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-05** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-06** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-07** Engrossed by House as amended HB1627E
- **2020-02-07** Printed as engrossed 20105343D-E
- **2020-02-10** Read third time and passed House (62-Y 37-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-10** VOTE: Passage (62-Y 37-N)
- **2020-02-11** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-11** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-19** Reported from Judiciary with amendments (10-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Reading of amendments waived
- **2020-02-24** Committee amendments agreed to
- **2020-02-24** Passed by for the day
- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2020-02-25** Passed Senate with amendments (23-Y 17-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-27** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-27** Senate amendments agreed to by House (65-Y 35-N)
- **2020-02-27** VOTE: Adoption (65-Y 35-N)
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1002 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/42afc3e8-72bb-46ce-b3ce-413417d58751`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).