HB 438 VA

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Became Law

Delinquency petition; referral to court service unit. Provides that at any point prior to the commencement of an adjudication hearing on a petition alleging that a child is delinquent, the court, upon request of the child with consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, if a party to the case, may refer the delinquency charge back to the court service unit in writing and the intake officer shall proceed informally pursuant to relevant law. Additionally, the bill provides that upon such referral, the court shall dismiss the petition and order that the court records pertaining to the petition be expunged pursuant to relevant law. Lastly, the bill allows an intake officer to proceed informally on a complaint alleging a child is in need of services, in need of supervision, or delinquent if the juvenile has previously been proceeded against informally.Current law does not permit proceeding informally when a juvenile (i) commits a violent juvenile felony or (ii) is alleged delinquent for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult if such juvenile had previously been (a) proceeded against informally by intake or (b) adjudicated delinquent for a prior offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult. This bill is identical to SB 70.

• Destiny LeVere Bolling Democratic · primary

1. Jan 12, 2026 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103735D · lower
2. Jan 12, 2026 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice · lower
3. Jan 29, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB438) · lower
4. Feb 3, 2026 Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal · lower
5. Feb 6, 2026 House subcommittee offered · lower
6. Feb 6, 2026 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 2-N) · lower
7. Feb 11, 2026 Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (15-Y 7-N) · lower
8. Feb 11, 2026 Committee substitute printed 26106927D-H1 · lower
9. Feb 13, 2026 Read first time · lower
10. Feb 16, 2026 Read second time · lower
11. Feb 16, 2026 committee substitute agreed to · lower
12. Feb 16, 2026 Engrossed by House - committee substitute · lower
13. Feb 17, 2026 Read third time and passed House (63-Y 33-N 0-A) · lower
14. Feb 18, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) · upper
15. Feb 18, 2026 Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice · upper
16. Feb 20, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB438) · lower
17. Mar 2, 2026 Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) · upper
18. Mar 2, 2026 Senate committee offered · upper
19. Mar 4, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB438) · lower
20. Mar 9, 2026 Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) · upper
21. Mar 10, 2026 Rules suspended · upper
22. Mar 10, 2026 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
23. Mar 10, 2026 Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) · upper
24. Mar 11, 2026 Read third time · upper
25. Mar 11, 2026 Courts of Justice Amendment agreed to · upper
26. Mar 11, 2026 Engrossed by Senate as amended · upper
27. Mar 11, 2026 Passed Senate with amendments Block Vote (39-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
28. Mar 11, 2026 Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
29. Mar 11, 2026 Passed Senate with amendments Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) · upper
30. Mar 12, 2026 Senate amendments agreed to by House (64-Y 34-N 0-A) · lower
31. Mar 30, 2026 Enrolled · lower
32. Mar 30, 2026 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB438ER) · lower
33. Mar 30, 2026 Signed by President · upper
34. Mar 31, 2026 Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB438) · lower
35. Mar 31, 2026 Signed by Speaker · lower
36. Mar 31, 2026 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 · lower
37. Mar 31, 2026 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 · executive
38. Apr 13, 2026 Approved by Governor-Chapter 613 (effective 7/1/2026) · executive
39. Apr 13, 2026 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0613) · 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.

• Chaptered · PDF
• Chaptered · HTML
• Enrolled · PDF
• Enrolled · HTML
• Senate Amendments · HTML
• Courts of Justice Amendment · HTML
• Courts of Justice Amendment · HTML
• Courts of Justice Substitute · PDF
• Courts of Justice Substitute · HTML
• Courts of Justice Substitute · PDF
• Courts of Justice Substitute · HTML
• Criminal Subcommittee Substitute · PDF
• Criminal Subcommittee Substitute · HTML
• Introduced · PDF
• Introduced · HTML