republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-901.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Substantial risk orders; eligible petitioners, court jurisdiction, constr. possession of firearms."
description: "Substantial risk orders; eligible petitioners; substantial risk factors and considerations; court jurisdiction; constructive possession of firearms; penalty. Expands the list of persons eligible to file a petition for an emergency substantial risk order. The bill provides various factors that a judge or magistrate shall consider for the purpose of determining whether to issue an emergency substantial risk order or a substantial risk order. The bill expands court jurisdiction over substantial risk orders from circuit courts to juvenile and domestic relations district courts and general district courts and requires petitions against minors to be filed in juvenile and domestic relations district courts. The bill requires a copy of the order to be served on the parent or guardian of the minor at any address where the minor resides or the local board of social services in the case where the minor is the subject of a dependency or court-approved out-of-home placement. The bill also provides the process for which firearms not owned by the subject of a petition are returned to the lawful owner of such firearms. The bill provides that any emergency substantial risk order or substantial risk order issued remains in full force and effect pending any appeal. Lastly, the bill provides that any person that makes a materially false statement or representation to a court during the petitioning process is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to SB 495."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 901"
citation: "Virginia HB 901 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard C. \"Rip\" Sullivan, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/59b990c2-4d7c-4886-a97e-d1a85128fa30"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB901"
source_hash: "fda9aa45756673732d1d996db44f5185da0de7c59787117cd858862489f1e4a4"
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 901 (2026) — Substantial risk orders; eligible petitioners, court jurisdiction, constr. possession of firearms.

Substantial risk orders; eligible petitioners; substantial risk factors and considerations; court jurisdiction; constructive possession of firearms; penalty. Expands the list of persons eligible to file a petition for an emergency substantial risk order. The bill provides various factors that a judge or magistrate shall consider for the purpose of determining whether to issue an emergency substantial risk order or a substantial risk order. The bill expands court jurisdiction over substantial risk orders from circuit courts to juvenile and domestic relations district courts and general district courts and requires petitions against minors to be filed in juvenile and domestic relations district courts. The bill requires a copy of the order to be served on the parent or guardian of the minor at any address where the minor resides or the local board of social services in the case where the minor is the subject of a dependency or court-approved out-of-home placement. The bill also provides the process for which firearms not owned by the subject of a petition are returned to the lawful owner of such firearms. The bill provides that any emergency substantial risk order or substantial risk order issued remains in full force and effect pending any appeal. Lastly, the bill provides that any person that makes a materially false statement or representation to a court during the petitioning process is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to SB 495.

## 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/1086382.PDF)
2. **Civil Subcommittee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1135557.PDF)
3. **Courts of Justice Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1142392.PDF)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1182509.PDF)

## Votes

- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice — **9–5** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **61–34** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute — **7–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — primary (person)
- Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26105114D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Public Safety `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** Referred from Public Safety and referred to Courts of Justice (Voice Vote) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB901)
- **2026-02-07** Assigned HCJ sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-02-09** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (7-Y 3-N) `substitution`
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-11** Committee substitute printed 26106702D-H1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-16** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** committee substitute agreed to `substitution`
- **2026-02-16** Engrossed by House - committee substitute `substitution`
- **2026-02-17** Read third time and passed House (62-Y 34-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-23** Reported from Courts of Justice (9-Y 5-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-24** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-24** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-25** Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB901)
- **2026-03-02** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-02** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB901ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB901)
- **2026-03-10** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 698 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/59b990c2-4d7c-4886-a97e-d1a85128fa30`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).