Virginia 2027 Regular Session Status: In Committee

HB 1162 — State correctional facilities; required education or vocational training.

Last action — Continued from last session

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 14, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House of Delegates.

Prognosis

Stalled 24% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 24 sponsors

    1 primary, 23 co-sponsors signed on.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

Requires prisoners to complete education or training before release.

The bill mandates that prisoners in state correctional facilities must finish a high school equivalency test or receive vocational training before being released. It also includes progress reviews for earned sentence credits based on educational achievements.

What this means for you
  • Workers: For workers, this bill could enhance the skills of former prisoners, potentially leading to a more qualified workforce.

Summary

State correctional facilities; required education or vocational training; earned sentence credits classification levels. Requires a prisoner in a state correctional facility, as a part of his reentry plan developed and implemented by the Department of Corrections, to complete a high school equivalency test or vocational, technical, or other certification prior to such prisoner's release. The bill also provides that the annual review of a prisoner's classification level for earned sentence credits shall include such prisoner's quantifiable or measurable progress, as available, in any programs, job assignments, and educational curricula in which he is participating, such as test scores achieved or completion of a high school equivalency test or other trade or vocational certification.

Bill Text

How this bill changes current law

38 changes Share ↗

Compared against the Code of Virginia as published AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

This bill amends 2 section(s) of the Code of Virginia: 53.1-32.2, 53.1-202.3.

  • 53.1-32.2

    Any such

    Inserts “Any such”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    reentry

    Inserts “reentry”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    plan shall require that

    Inserts “plan shall require that”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    a prisoner complete a high school equivalency test or

    Inserts “a prisoner complete a high school equivalency test or”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    a vocational,

    Inserts “a vocational,”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    technical, or other trade

    Inserts “technical, or other trade”.

  • 53.1-32.2

    certification, as applicable.

    Inserts “certification, as applicable.”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    , in

    Inserts “, in”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    cluding

    Inserts “cluding”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    ,

    Inserts “,”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    as

    Inserts “as”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    available,

    Inserts “available,”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    a

    Inserts “a”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    review

    Inserts “review”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    of

    Inserts “of”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    a person's

    Inserts “a person's”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    quantifiable

    Inserts “quantifiable”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    or measureable

    Inserts “or measureable”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    progress

    Inserts “progress”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    in such programs, job assignments, and educational

    Inserts “in such programs, job assignments, and educational”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    curricul

    Inserts “curricul”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    a

    Inserts “a”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    such as

    Inserts “such as”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    test scores

    Inserts “test scores”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    achieved

    Inserts “achieved”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    in a functional literacy

    Inserts “in a functional literacy”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    or other educational

    Inserts “or other educational”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    program,

    Inserts “program,”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    completion of a high school equivalency test

    Inserts “completion of a high school equivalency test”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    ,

    Inserts “,”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    or

    Inserts “or”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    receipt of

    Inserts “receipt of”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    a

    Inserts “a”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    vocational program

    Inserts “vocational program”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    or other

    Inserts “or other”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    technical or

    Inserts “technical or”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    trade

    Inserts “trade”.

  • 53.1-202.3

    certification

    Inserts “certification”.

Action History

  1. Continued from last session

  2. Continued to next session in Public Safety (Voice Vote)

  3. Subcommittee recommends continuing to (Voice Vote)

  4. Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1162)

  5. Assigned HMPPS sub: Subcommittee #2

  6. Referred to Committee on Public Safety

  7. Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103663D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 23 co-sponsors · 124 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (23)

Not signed on (124)

124 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 124 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 1162 do?
State correctional facilities; required education or vocational training; earned sentence credits classification levels. Requires a prisoner in a state correctional facility, as a part of his reentry plan developed and implemented by the Department of Corrections, to complete a high school equivalency test or vocational, technical, or other certification prior to such prisoner's release. The bill also provides that the annual review of a prisoner's classification level for earned sentence credits shall include such prisoner's quantifiable or measurable progress, as available, in any programs, job assignments, and educational curricula in which he is participating, such as test scores achieved or completion of a high school equivalency test or other trade or vocational certification.
Who sponsors HB 1162?
HB 1162 is sponsored by Ellen H. McLaughlin, Thomas C. Wright, Jr., Tony O. Wilt, Wren M. Williams, Bill Wiley, Madison Whittle, Michael J. Webert, H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr., Anne Ferrell Tata, Chris S. Runion, Eric Phillips, Justin Pence, Delores Oates, James W. Morefield, James A. "Jay" Leftwich, Terry G. Kilgore, M. Keith Hodges, Karen Hamilton, Will Davis, Mitchell Cornett, Mike A. Cherry, Jason S. Ballard, Wendell S. Walker, and Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr..
What is the current status of HB 1162?
This bill is in committee in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 14, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB 1162?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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