VA HB 1215
Status unknownAdmission of evidence; evidentiary hearing, excluded persons.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did VA HB 1215 pass?
The current status of VA HB 1215 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-02-18): Left in Committee Courts of Justice
What is VA HB 1215 about?
Admission of evidence; evidentiary hearing; excluded persons. Exempts no more than two persons whose presence, in the judgment of the court, would be supportive of the complaining witness and would not impair the conduct of a fair hearing or pose a substantial risk of influencing or affecting the content of the testimony from being excluded from evidentiary hearings for certain prosecutions. The bill provides that if such support persons are exempted, the judge shall admonish such support persons to not prompt, communicate with, or influence the complaining witness in any way. Lastly, the bill provides that a court may exercise its discretion to remove a support person from the courtroom if it believes such support person is prompting, communicating with, or influencing the complaining witness.
Who sponsors VA HB 1215?
Delores Oates is the primary sponsor of VA HB 1215.
Description
Admission of evidence; evidentiary hearing; excluded persons. Exempts no more than two persons whose presence, in the judgment of the court, would be supportive of the complaining witness and would not impair the conduct of a fair hearing or pose a substantial risk of influencing or affecting the content of the testimony from being excluded from evidentiary hearings for certain prosecutions. The bill provides that if such support persons are exempted, the judge shall admonish such support persons to not prompt, communicate with, or influence the complaining witness in any way. Lastly, the bill provides that a court may exercise its discretion to remove a support person from the courtroom if it believes such support person is prompting, communicating with, or influencing the complaining witness.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-14
- Latest action
- 2026-02-18 — Left in Committee Courts of Justice
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Delores Oatesprimary
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-14
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103645D
filing,introduction
2026-01-14
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee
2026-02-05
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
referral-committee
2026-02-06
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (10-Y 0-N)
2026-02-06
Reconsidered by Courts of Justice (Voice Vote)
2026-02-06
Subcommittee recommends striking from the docket (10-Y 0-N)
2026-02-18
Left in Committee Courts of Justice
Versions
- IntroducedCompare
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends striking from the docket
2026-02-06 · pass · 10-0
Member-level votes (10)
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
- Will Davis: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
Subcommittee recommends laying on the table
2026-02-06 · pass · 10-0
Member-level votes (10)
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
- Will Davis: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=HB 1215. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
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