VA HB 852

Status unknown

Indigent defendant; abolition of fees, legal representation, jury trial costs, report.

Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did VA HB 852 pass?

The current status of VA HB 852 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-03-03): Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)

What is VA HB 852 about?

Abolition of fees; legal representation of indigent defendant; jury trial costs; report. Eliminates the fees for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation for persons who are determined to be indigent. The bill also eliminates fees for persons who utilize a jury trial. The bill contains a reenactment clause for such elimination of fees.The bill also directs the Indigent Defense Commission, in consultation with the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court or his designee, to convene a work group with all relevant stakeholders, including the Attorney General or his designee, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources or his designee; representatives from the Compensation Board, the Virginia Crime Commission, the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Virginia Court Clerk's Association, the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, staff from the House Appropriations and the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees, and the Virginia Probation and Parole Association; and a minimum of two criminal justice reform organizations working on fees and other financial assessments imposed in criminal prosecutions in Virginia; on several topics, including current collection practices, use of funds received as a result of such collections, and the burden of a fee assessment on indigent individuals. The bill requires the work group to submit an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, and a final report by November 1, 2027.

Who sponsors VA HB 852?

Rae Cousins is the primary sponsor of VA HB 852, joined by 9 cosponsors.

Description

Introduced: 2026-01-13
Latest action: 2026-03-03 — Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

2026-01-13
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104806D
filing,introduction
2026-01-13
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee
2026-01-29
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
referral-committee
2026-01-30
Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 3-N)
2026-02-04
Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Appropriations (15-Y 7-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-05
Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay
referral-committee
2026-02-06
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB852)
2026-02-09
Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 1-N)
substitution
2026-02-09
House subcommittee offered
2026-02-09
Reported from Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 7-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-09
Committee substitute printed 26107499D-H1
substitution
2026-02-11
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-12
Read second time
reading-2
2026-02-12
committee substitute agreed to
substitution
2026-02-12
Engrossed by House - committee substitute
substitution
2026-02-13
Read third time and passed House (60-Y 35-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-16
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-16
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
referral-committee
2026-02-20
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB852)
2026-02-23
Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N)
committee-passage
2026-03-03
Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)

Versions

IntroducedCompare
General Government and Capital Outlay Subcommittee SubstituteCompare
Appropriations SubstituteCompare
(document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

Subcommittee recommends reporting
2026-01-30 · pass · 7-3
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: no
- Will Davis: no
- Madison Whittle: no
Reported from Courts of Justice
2026-02-04 · pass · 15-7
Member-level votes (22)
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Marcus B. Simon: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: no
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Wren M. Williams: no
- Will Davis: no
- Madison Whittle: no
- Justin Pence: no
Reported from Appropriations with substitute
2026-02-09 · pass · 15-7
Member-level votes (22)
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- Terry L. Austin: no
- James W. Morefield: no
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
- M. Keith Hodges: no
- Scott A. Wyatt: no
- Bill Wiley: no
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: no
Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute
2026-02-09 · pass · 6-1
Member-level votes (7)
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- James W. Morefield: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
H VOTE:
2026-02-13 · pass · 60-35
Member-level votes (100)
- Jessica L. Anderson: not voting
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: no
- Jason S. Ballard: no
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: no
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: no
- Nadarius E. Clark: not voting
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: not voting
- Mitchell Cornett: no
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Will Davis: no
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: no
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- Margaret A. Franklin: yes
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: no
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Timothy P. Griffin: no
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Karen Hamilton: no
- 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: no
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: no
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: no
- Barry D. Knight: not voting
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: no
- 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: no
- Joseph P. McNamara: no
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: no
- May Nivar: yes
- Delores Oates: no
- Israel D. O'Quinn: no
- Justin Pence: no
- Eric Phillips: no
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Chris S. Runion: no
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: no
- Holly M. Seibold: not voting
- 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: no
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: no
- Wendell S. Walker: no
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- R. Lee Ware: no
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: no
- Madison Whittle: no
- Bill Wiley: no
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: no
- Tony O. Wilt: no
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: no
- Scott A. Wyatt: no
- Eric R. Zehr: no
Reported from Courts of Justice
2026-02-23 · pass · 9-5
Member-level votes (15)
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: no
- Ryan T. McDougle: no
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: not voting
- 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: yes
Continued to next session in Finance and Appropriations
2026-03-03 · pass · 14-0
Member-level votes (15)
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- Bryce E. Reeves: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Lamont Bagby: not voting
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB852

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changes Status and relationship changes

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