HB 318 VA

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Virginia Parole Board; powers and duties; juvenile offenders; parole procedures and considerations. Increases the members of the Virginia Parole Board (the Board) from up to five to at least 11 members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor within 60 days of inauguration, three of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates within 60 days of a new House being sworn in during a Senate election year, and three of whom shall be appointed by the Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules within 60 days of a new Senate being sworn in after an election, and all of whom shall be subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, if in session when such appointment is made, and if not in session, then at its next succeeding session. The bill specifies that all members of the Board shall have significant professional experience working in criminal law, corrections, reentry and community services, or victim services and that the Board members appointed by the Governor shall include (i) an attorney with significant experience in criminal prosecution; (ii) an attorney with significant experience in criminal defense; (iii) a qualified mental health professional with relevant background in adolescent development, trauma responses, psychology, and decision-making; and (iv) a representative of a crime victims organization or a victim of crime. These provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2028.The bill also requires the Board to provide a meaningful opportunity for release to certain juvenile offenders eligible for parole and specifies various factors the Board shall give substantial weight to when making a determination on whether to grant parole to such juvenile offender. The bill allows a juvenile offender to request for reconsideration or appeal of a decision by the Board not to grant parole based on (a) the Board's failure to give substantial weight to such juvenile offender's age and its related mitigating circumstances as required by the bill or (b) the Board's overreliance on static factors such as the nature and circumstances of the offense and failure to ground its decision in evidence of maturity, rehabilitation, and a lack of present danger to public safety. The bill requires the Board to provide individualized reasons for the grant or denial of parole upon reconsideration or appeal.The bill also requires that if parole is denied for any such juvenile offender, each Board member shall identify his reasoning for such decision at the time such member's vote is cast, including any youth-related factor and evidence of maturity and rehabilitation that was considered. The bill requires that the Board provide to such prisoner for whom parole is denied recommendations to demonstrate commitment to rehabilitation and at the next hearing, the Board is required to consider whether the prisoner has followed such recommendations. The bill also requires the Board to annually review the cases of such juvenile offenders eligible for parole. This bill is identical to SB 60.

• Patrick A. Hope Democratic · primary

1. Jan 10, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104539D · lower
2. Jan 10, 2026 Referred to Committee on General Laws · lower
3. Jan 20, 2026 Referred from General Laws and referred to Public Safety (Voice Vote) · lower
4. Jan 23, 2026 Assigned HMPPS sub: Subcommittee #2 · lower
5. Feb 5, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
6. Feb 5, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 2-N) · lower
7. Feb 5, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
8. Feb 6, 2026 Reported from Public Safety with substitute (19-Y 3-N) · lower
9. Feb 6, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26107070D-H1 · lower
10. Feb 9, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
11. Feb 10, 2026 Read first time · lower
12. Feb 10, 2026 Motion to refer to Appropriations agreed to · lower
13. Feb 10, 2026 Referred to Committee on Appropriations · lower
14. Feb 10, 2026 Assigned HAPP sub: Transportation & Public Safety · lower
15. Feb 11, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (5-Y 2-N) · lower
16. Feb 11, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
17. Feb 11, 2026 Reported from Appropriations with amendment(s) (15-Y 7-N) · lower
18. Feb 13, 2026 Read first time · lower
19. Feb 16, 2026 Read second time · lower
20. Feb 16, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
21. Feb 16, 2026 committee amendments agreed to · lower
22. Feb 16, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute as amended · lower
23. Feb 17, 2026 Read third time and passed House (67-Y 29-N 0-A) · lower
24. Feb 18, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
25. Feb 18, 2026 Referred to Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services · upper
26. Feb 20, 2026 Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 7-N) · upper
27. Feb 20, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
28. Feb 20, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
29. Feb 20, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26108306D-S1 · upper
30. Feb 20, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
31. Feb 25, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (10-Y 5-N) · upper
32. Feb 26, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
33. Feb 26, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
34. Feb 26, 2026 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) · upper
35. Feb 27, 2026 Read third time · upper
36. Feb 27, 2026 Passed by for the day · upper
37. Mar 2, 2026 Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute agreed to · upper
38. Mar 2, 2026 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute · upper
39. Mar 2, 2026 Passed Senate with substitute (20-Y 19-N 0-A) · upper
40. Mar 4, 2026 Senate substitute rejected by House (0-Y 96-N 0-A) · lower
41. Mar 6, 2026 Senate insisted on amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
42. Mar 6, 2026 Senate requested conference committee · upper
43. Mar 9, 2026 House acceded to request · lower
44. Mar 10, 2026 Conferees appointed by House · lower
45. Mar 10, 2026 House Conferees: Hope, Seibold, Wachsmann · lower
46. Mar 10, 2026 Conferees appointed by Senate · upper
47. Mar 10, 2026 Senate Conferees: Surovell, VanValkenburg, Jordan · upper
48. Mar 12, 2026 Conference Report released · legislature
49. Mar 13, 2026 Conference report agreed to by House (65-Y 29-N 0-A) · lower
50. Mar 13, 2026 Conference report agreed to by Senate (21-Y 18-N 0-A) · upper
51. Mar 13, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
52. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · lower
53. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB318ER) · lower
54. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
55. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
56. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · lower
57. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
58. Apr 1, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB318) · lower
59. Apr 11, 2026 Governor's recommendation received by House · executive

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

• Governor Substitute · PDF
• Governor Substitute · HTML
• Governor's Recommendation · HTML
• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Conference Report · HTML
• Conference Report Substitute · PDF
• Conference Report Substitute · HTML
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · PDF
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · HTML
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · PDF
• Rehabilitation and Social Services Substitute · HTML
• Engrossed · PDF
• Engrossed · HTML
• Appropriations Amendment · HTML
• Appropriations Amendment · HTML
• Transportation & Public Safety Subcommittee Amendment · HTML
• Public Safety Substitute · PDF
• Public Safety Substitute · HTML
• Public Safety Substitute · PDF
• Public Safety Substitute · HTML
• Subcommittee #2 Subcommittee Substitute · PDF
• Subcommittee #2 Subcommittee Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML