Virginia 2026 Session Status: In Committee

HB775 — Removal hearings; foster care, termination of parental rights, status as an Indian child, etc.

Last action — Left in Committee Appropriations

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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 13, 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

Advancing 34% · 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.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

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.

Summary

Removal hearings; foster care, termination of parental rights, status as an Indian child, etc.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB775 on the official Virginia source →

How this bill changes current law

40 changes Share ↗

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

This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Code of Virginia: 16.1-252.

  • 16.1-252

    B1. If the petitioner intends to introduce any evidence at such hearing, he shall provide such evidence to the parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, or his attorney at least

    Inserts “B1. If the petitioner intends to introduce any evidence at such hearing, he shall provide such evidence to the parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, or his attorney at least”.

  • 16.1-252

    24

    Inserts “24”.

  • 16.1-252

    hours prior to such hearing.

    Inserts “hours prior to such hearing.”.

  • 16.1-252

    D1.

    Inserts “D1.”.

  • 16.1-252

    Prior to the removal hearing, the petitioner shall make a dilige

    Inserts “Prior to the removal hearing, the petitioner shall make a dilige”.

  • 16.1-252

    nt effort to determine whether the child is

    Inserts “nt effort to determine whether the child is”.

  • 16.1-252

    an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.

    Inserts “an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.”.

  • 16.1-252

    , or

    Inserts “, or”.

  • 16.1-252

    a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth.

    Inserts “a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth.”.

  • 16.1-252

    Such diligent effort shall include consulting the

    Inserts “Such diligent effort shall include consulting the”.

  • 16.1-252

    child's parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, and any other person that can

    Inserts “child's parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, and any other person that can”.

  • 16.1-252

    reasonably

    Inserts “reasonably”.

  • 16.1-252

    be expected to have information regarding the child's possible membersh

    Inserts “be expected to have information regarding the child's possible membersh”.

  • 16.1-252

    ip or eligibility for membership in an Indian tribe.

    Inserts “ip or eligibility for membership in an Indian tribe.”.

  • 16.1-252

    If the petitioner finds

    Inserts “If the petitioner finds”.

  • 16.1-252

    at any point

    Inserts “at any point”.

  • 16.1-252

    that the child is an Indian child or is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth, the petitioner shall

    Inserts “that the child is an Indian child or is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth, the petitioner shall”.

  • 16.1-252

    notify

    Inserts “notify”.

  • 16.1-252

    the court, the child's

    Inserts “the court, the child's”.

  • 16.1-252

    parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, or his attorney, and any tribe that the child may

    Inserts “parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis, or his attorney, and any tribe that the child may”.

  • 16.1-252

    be a member o

    Inserts “be a member o”.

  • 16.1-252

    f

    Inserts “f”.

  • 16.1-252

    , or eligible for membership in

    Inserts “, or eligible for membership in”.

  • 16.1-252

    , if applicable

    Inserts “, if applicable”.

  • 16.1-252

    .

    Inserts “.”.

  • 16.1-252

    If contact information for any such

    Inserts “If contact information for any such”.

  • 16.1-252

    tribe is unknown, notice

    Inserts “tribe is unknown, notice”.

  • 16.1-252

    shall be provided

    Inserts “shall be provided”.

  • 16.1-252

    to the Secretary of the Commonwealth

    Inserts “to the Secretary of the Commonwealth”.

  • 16.1-252

    as liaison to Virginia Indian Tribes

    Inserts “as liaison to Virginia Indian Tribes”.

  • 16.1-252

    , or the Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation,

    Inserts “, or the Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation,”.

  • 16.1-252

    pursuant to § 2.2-401.01

    Inserts “pursuant to § 2.2-401.01”.

  • 16.1-252

    to satisfy such requirement. The Secretary or Ombudsman shall make a good faith

    Inserts “to satisfy such requirement. The Secretary or Ombudsman shall make a good faith”.

  • 16.1-252

    effort

    Inserts “effort”.

  • 16.1-252

    to contact the leadership of any such tribe and provide documentation of such effort to the petitioner and th

    Inserts “to contact the leadership of any such tribe and provide documentation of such effort to the petitioner and th”.

  • 16.1-252

    e court.

    Inserts “e court.”.

  • 16.1-252

    At the removal hearing, or as soon as possible thereafter, and pr

    Inserts “At the removal hearing, or as soon as possible thereafter, and pr”.

  • 16.1-252

    ior to any adjudicatory hearing, the court shall

    Inserts “ior to any adjudicatory hearing, the court shall”.

  • 16.1-252

    make a finding as to whether diligent efforts have been made to determine whether the child is an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., or a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth.

    Inserts “make a finding as to whether diligent efforts have been made to determine whether the child is an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., or a member of, or eligible for membership in, a tribe recognized by the Commonwealth.”.

  • 16.1-252

    or

    Strikes “or”.

Action History

  1. H Left in Committee Appropriations

  2. H Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 0-N)

  3. H Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB775)

  4. H Placed on Appropriations Agenda

  5. H Assigned HAPP sub: Health & Human Resources

  6. H Referred to Committee on Appropriations

  7. H Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)

  8. H Committee substitute printed 26106743D-H1

  9. H Placed on Courts of Justice Agenda

  10. H Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 1-N)

  11. H Placed on Courts of Justice Agenda

  12. H Placed on Courts of Justice Agenda

  13. H Assigned HCJ sub: Civil

  14. H Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

  15. H Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104981D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 147 not signed on · 1 voted No

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (147)

147 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 147 →

"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

Votes

Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and referred to Appropriations

Passed 22 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 22000
Total 22000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (22)
Member Party Vote
Atoosa R. Reaser — Yea
Charlie Schmidt — Yea
James A. "Jay" Leftwich — Yea
Jason S. Ballard — Yea
Justin Pence — Yea
Karen Keys-Gamarra — Yea
Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie — Yea
Karrie K. Delaney — Yea
Katrina Callsen — Yea
Leslie Chambers Mehta — Yea
Madison Whittle — Yea
Marcus B. Simon — Yea
Michelle Lopes Maldonado — Yea
Patrick A. Hope — Yea
Phil M. Hernandez — Yea
Rae Cousins — Yea
Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — Yea
Terry G. Kilgore — Yea
Virgil Thornton — Yea
Vivian E. Watts — Yea
Will Davis — Yea
Wren M. Williams — Yea

Official roll call →

Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations

Passed 7 Yea · 1 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 7103
Total 7103
% of votes cast 64%9%0%27%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Atoosa R. Reaser — Yea
James A. "Jay" Leftwich — Yea
Jason S. Ballard — Nay
Karen Keys-Gamarra — Yea
Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie — Yea
Marcus B. Simon — Yea
Michelle Lopes Maldonado — Yea
Patrick A. Hope — Not Voting
Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — Not Voting
Terry G. Kilgore — Not Voting
Virgil Thornton — Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

housing civil-rights
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 HB775 do?
Removal hearings; foster care, termination of parental rights, status as an Indian child, etc.
Who sponsors HB775?
HB775 is sponsored by Virgil Thornton.
What is the current status of HB775?
This bill is in committee in the House of Delegates. Introduced January 13, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB775?
Track HB775 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 4 months ago · updated continuously

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