republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-659.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "People with developmental disabilities; DOC to create workgoup to review guidelines to assist."
description: "Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Securityand the Office of the Executive Secretary; creation and implementationof policies for people with developmental disabilities. Requiresthe Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to create andimplement policies that recognize and make accommodations for peopleencountering the criminal justice system with developmental disabilities.The bill also requires the Office of the Executive Secretary to createand implement policies that recognize and make accommodations forpeople with developmental disabilities, for use by judges in determiningcase outcomes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 659"
citation: "Virginia HB 659 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Patrick A. Hope"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 38
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6a240467-911b-48ad-a447-e3946796d9d7"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB659"
source_hash: "31e1312cafdf3ae0e6be4d1deb6525f59536314b3f5815c799de4a3938c5dfc9"
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 659 (2020) — People with developmental disabilities; DOC to create workgoup to review guidelines to assist.

Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Securityand the Office of the Executive Secretary; creation and implementationof policies for people with developmental disabilities. Requiresthe Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to create andimplement policies that recognize and make accommodations for peopleencountering the criminal justice system with developmental disabilities.The bill also requires the Office of the Executive Secretary to createand implement policies that recognize and make accommodations forpeople with developmental disabilities, for use by judges in determiningcase outcomes.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0395)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0395)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB659ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB659ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB659H2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB659H2)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (HB659)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB659)
5. **Impact statement from DPB (HB659H1)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB659H1)

## Votes

- Reported from Appropriations with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (19-Y 0-N) — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Referred from General Laws — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Rules (11-Y 0-N) — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Patrick A. Hope — primary (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103270D `introduction`
- **2020-01-06** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Referred from General Laws
- **2020-01-16** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-27** Impact statement from DPB (HB659)
- **2020-01-28** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-29** Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
- **2020-01-31** Committee substitute printed 20107219D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-31** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-31** Referred to Committee on Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-01** Assigned App. sub: Transportation & Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-03** Impact statement from DPB (HB659H1)
- **2020-02-07** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-07** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute printed 20107986D-H2 `substitution`
- **2020-02-07** Reported from Appropriations with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Committee on Courts of Justice substitute rejected 20107219D-H1
- **2020-02-10** Committee on Appropriations substitute agreed to 20107986D-H2
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB659H2
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on Rules `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Impact statement from DPB (HB659H2)
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Rules (11-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-02** Enrolled
- **2020-03-02** Impact statement from DPB (HB659ER)
- **2020-03-02** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-03** 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
- **2020-03-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 395 (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/6a240467-911b-48ad-a447-e3946796d9d7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).