republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-185.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review."
description: "Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review. Provides that when a circuit court acts on or issues an order pertaining to the closure of a proceeding, such order is eligible for immediate appellate review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill further provides that any person aggrieved by such an order may, within 15 days of the entry of such an order, file a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 185"
citation: "Virginia HB 185 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Leslie Chambers Mehta"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 31
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2026-01-07"
last_action: "2026-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cfae61f1-af6e-4c0f-8106-faef34895501"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB185"
source_hash: "a3f28a6688d68751bb066910a95b5dc2b626233774e9b9fc34369c2ef0ced57b"
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 185 (2026) — Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review.

Orders closing a proceeding; petitions for review. Provides that when a circuit court acts on or issues an order pertaining to the closure of a proceeding, such order is eligible for immediate appellate review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. The bill further provides that any person aggrieved by such an order may, within 15 days of the entry of such an order, file a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Virginia. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.

## 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/1082770.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1217690.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1196750.HTML)
4. **Senate Amendments** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1206001.HTML)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213379.PDF)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments — **14–1** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Leslie Chambers Mehta — primary (person)
- Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)
- Destiny LeVere Bolling — cosponsor (person)
- Jessica L. Anderson — cosponsor (person)
- John Chilton McAuliff — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
- Kimberly Pope Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Marty Martinez — cosponsor (person)
- Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
- Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)
- Nicole Cole — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103517D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-19** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-20** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB185)
- **2026-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Courts of Justice (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-02** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-03** Moved from Uncontested Calendar to Regular Calendar
- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-04** Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-09** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-10** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-10** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-10** Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-11** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-11** Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-11** Engrossed by Senate as amended
- **2026-03-11** Passed Senate with amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Senate amendments agreed to by House (97-Y 0-N 0-A) `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB185ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB185)
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 366 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0366)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cfae61f1-af6e-4c0f-8106-faef34895501`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).