republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-873.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Discovery in criminal cases; penalties, effective provision."
description: "Discovery in criminal cases; penalties. Establishesrequirements and procedures for discovery by an accused and by the Commonwealthin a criminal case. The bill requires a party requesting discovery to requestthat the other party voluntarily comply with such request prior to filing anymotion before a judge. Upon receiving a negative or unsatisfactory response, orupon the passage of seven days following the receipt of the request withoutresponse, the party requesting discovery may file a motion for discovery withthe court. The bill details information that is subject to discovery andprovides a mechanism for redaction of certain personal identifying information.The bill also creates a procedure whereby the parties may conduct depositionsof witnesses prior to trial and use statements obtained during such depositionsfor impeachment at trial as a prior inconsistent statement. The bill creates aprocedure for either party to move the court to enter a protection order withregard to discovery and, if granted, the court may order any conditionlimiting, but not preventing, disclosure, so long as the condition is necessaryto the orderly adjudication of the case or to the fair administration ofjustice. Finally, the bill (i) makes it a Class 6 felony for any person towillfully omit or misrepresent evidence or information required to be disclosedto the accused, (ii) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to willfullyomit or misrepresent any other evidence of information required to bedisclosed, and (iii) grants the court the ability to impose additional remediesit deems just if a party fails to comply with any of the requirements."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 873"
citation: "Virginia HB 873 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeffrey M. Bourne"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4c887fe4-1420-45ea-a66e-76e8bda0e0e1"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB873"
source_hash: "2cbca1337ca902971bfba6550112458052131100a3135f90658ef96e54546e10"
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 873 (2020) — Discovery in criminal cases; penalties, effective provision.

Discovery in criminal cases; penalties. Establishesrequirements and procedures for discovery by an accused and by the Commonwealthin a criminal case. The bill requires a party requesting discovery to requestthat the other party voluntarily comply with such request prior to filing anymotion before a judge. Upon receiving a negative or unsatisfactory response, orupon the passage of seven days following the receipt of the request withoutresponse, the party requesting discovery may file a motion for discovery withthe court. The bill details information that is subject to discovery andprovides a mechanism for redaction of certain personal identifying information.The bill also creates a procedure whereby the parties may conduct depositionsof witnesses prior to trial and use statements obtained during such depositionsfor impeachment at trial as a prior inconsistent statement. The bill creates aprocedure for either party to move the court to enter a protection order withregard to discovery and, if granted, the court may order any conditionlimiting, but not preventing, disclosure, so long as the condition is necessaryto the orderly adjudication of the case or to the fair administration ofjustice. Finally, the bill (i) makes it a Class 6 felony for any person towillfully omit or misrepresent evidence or information required to be disclosedto the accused, (ii) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to willfullyomit or misrepresent any other evidence of information required to bedisclosed, and (iii) grants the court the ability to impose additional remediesit deems just if a party fails to comply with any of the requirements.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1167)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP1167)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB873ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB873ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB873H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB873H1)
4. **Impact statement from VCSC (HB873)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB873)

## Votes

- Reported from Judiciary (12-Y 3-N) — **12–3** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 0-N) — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (10-Y 7-N) — **10–7** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (56-Y 44-N) — **55–44** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (28-Y 11-N) — **28–11** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

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

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20101904D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Impact statement from VCSC (HB873)
- **2020-02-04** Impact statement from DPB (HB873)
- **2020-02-04** Assigned Courts sub: Criminal `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-07** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-07** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (10-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-07** Committee substitute printed 20107766D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-02-07** Incorporates HB1153 (Lopez)
- **2020-02-09** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-10** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-10** Committee substitute agreed to 20107766D-H1
- **2020-02-10** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB873H1
- **2020-02-11** Read third time and passed House (56-Y 44-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-11** VOTE: Passage (56-Y 44-N)
- **2020-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-12** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-17** Impact statement from DPB (HB873H1)
- **2020-02-24** Reported from Judiciary (12-Y 3-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-02** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Passed Senate (28-Y 11-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Impact statement from DPB (HB873ER)
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-11** Approved by Governor-Chapter 1167 (effective - see bill) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4c887fe4-1420-45ea-a66e-76e8bda0e0e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).