VA HB 1299
Status unknownRules of construction; use of "shall," effective clause, report.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did VA HB 1299 pass?
The current status of VA HB 1299 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-03-09): Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (11-Y 4-N)
What is VA HB 1299 about?
Rules of construction; use of "shall." Provides that "shall," as used in the Code of Virginia, establishes a mandatory requirement and is not merely directory, unless the statute explicitly provides otherwise. The bill responds to the holding in Henderson v. Commonwealth, 77 Va. App. 250 (2023), in which the Court of Appeals held that when the General Assembly uses "shall" in a statute commanding action by a public official or public body such usage is directory and not mandatory. The foregoing provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly. The bill requires, effective in due course, the Virginia Code Commission to review the bill's provisions and evaluate the bill's effect on the Code of Virginia and to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2026.
Who sponsors VA HB 1299?
Karrie K. Delaney is the primary sponsor of VA HB 1299, joined by 1 cosponsor.
Description
Rules of construction; use of "shall." Provides that "shall," as used in the Code of Virginia, establishes a mandatory requirement and is not merely directory, unless the statute explicitly provides otherwise. The bill responds to the holding in Henderson v. Commonwealth, 77 Va. App. 250 (2023), in which the Court of Appeals held that when the General Assembly uses "shall" in a statute commanding action by a public official or public body such usage is directory and not mandatory. The foregoing provisions of the bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly. The bill requires, effective in due course, the Virginia Code Commission to review the bill's provisions and evaluate the bill's effect on the Code of Virginia and to report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly no later than December 1, 2026.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-15
- Latest action
- 2026-03-09 — Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (11-Y 4-N)
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Karrie K. Delaneyprimary
- Holly M. Seiboldcosponsor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-15
Presented and ordered printed 26104509D
introduction
2026-01-15
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee
2026-01-28
Referred from Courts of Justice and referred to Rules (Voice Vote)
referral-committee
2026-02-02
Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 0-N)
2026-02-02
Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee
referral-committee
2026-02-06
Reported from Rules with amendment(s) (16-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-10
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-11
Read second time
reading-2
2026-02-11
committee amendments agreed to
amendment-passage
2026-02-11
Engrossed by House as amended
2026-02-12
Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-13
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-13
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee
2026-03-09
Continued to next session in Courts of Justice (11-Y 4-N)
Versions
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends reporting
2026-02-02 · pass · 5-0
Member-level votes (5)
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: yes
Reported from Rules with amendment(s)
2026-02-06 · pass · 16-0
Member-level votes (18)
- Don Scott: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Marcus B. Simon: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: not voting
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Terry L. Austin: yes
- Michael J. Webert: yes
- Israel D. O'Quinn: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: not voting
H VOTE:
2026-02-12 · pass · 98-0
Member-level votes (100)
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: yes
- Jason S. Ballard: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: not voting
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Mitchell Cornett: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Will Davis: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: yes
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- Margaret A. Franklin: yes
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Timothy P. Griffin: yes
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Karen Hamilton: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: yes
- Barry D. Knight: not voting
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Marty Martinez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- Adele Y. McClure: yes
- Garrett McGuire: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: yes
- Joseph P. McNamara: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: yes
- May Nivar: yes
- Delores Oates: yes
- Israel D. O'Quinn: yes
- Justin Pence: yes
- Eric Phillips: yes
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Chris S. Runion: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: yes
- Holly M. Seibold: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Marcus B. Simon: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- JJ Singh: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- Anne Ferrell Tata: yes
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: yes
- Wendell S. Walker: yes
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: yes
- Scott A. Wyatt: yes
- Eric R. Zehr: yes
Continued to next session in Courts of Justice
2026-03-09 · pass · 11-4
Member-level votes (15)
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: no
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Mark J. Peake: no
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: no
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- Michael J. Jones: no
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:
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