republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/hb-816.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "FOIA; meetings held through electronic communication during declared states of emergency."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Act; effective date of procedures for conducting meetings held through electronic communication means during declared states of emergency. Provides that the provisions for conducting a meeting by electronic means due to a state of emergency stated in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are declarative of existing law since March 20, 2020, with respect to the Governor's declared state of emergency due to COVID-19. Under the bill, any meeting by a public body using electronic communication means occurring from that date until July 1, 2021, and any otherwise lawful action taken at it is validated with respect to FOIA if the body provided public notice, public access, and public comment commensurate with the requirements of existing FOIA provisions regarding electronic and closed meetings. The bill is a response to the case Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors (Va. 2023) and is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to SB 244."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 816"
citation: "Virginia HB 816 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mike A. Cherry"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 25
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/51f1f067-5da7-46fa-94c8-f9cecbeb20f3"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB816"
source_hash: "54df1314c0bf93af30aa5e39c3081a587df68f6d8876ae28875fac8601202103"
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 816 (2024) — FOIA; meetings held through electronic communication during declared states of emergency.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; effective date of procedures for conducting meetings held through electronic communication means during declared states of emergency. Provides that the provisions for conducting a meeting by electronic means due to a state of emergency stated in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are declarative of existing law since March 20, 2020, with respect to the Governor's declared state of emergency due to COVID-19. Under the bill, any meeting by a public body using electronic communication means occurring from that date until July 1, 2021, and any otherwise lawful action taken at it is validated with respect to FOIA if the body provided public notice, public access, and public comment commensurate with the requirements of existing FOIA provisions regarding electronic and closed meetings. The bill is a response to the case Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors (Va. 2023) and is a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is identical to SB 244.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0305** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0305)
2. **HB816ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB816ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104450D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB816)

## Votes

- Reported from General Laws (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (9-Y 0-N) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mike A. Cherry — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24104450D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-09** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-18** Impact statement from DPB (HB816)
- **2024-01-26** Assigned GL sub: Procurement/Open Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-06** Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-08** Reported from General Laws (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-11** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-12** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-13** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-14** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-14** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-21** Reported from General Laws and Technology (9-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-26** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-26** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-29** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB816ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-29** Impact statement from DPB (HB816ER)
- **2024-02-29** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-03** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 305 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-02** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0305)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/51f1f067-5da7-46fa-94c8-f9cecbeb20f3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).