Virginia 2026 Session Status: In Committee

HB981 — Criminal cases; prosecutorial misconduct, reasonable costs and attorney fees.

Last action — Left in Committee Courts of Justice

  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.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Stalled 2% · moderate confidence

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Failed a recorded vote

    Failed 1 recorded vote so far — a real headwind.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Criminal cases; prosecutorial misconduct, reasonable costs and attorney fees.

Bill Text

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

Read HB981 on the official Virginia source →

Action History

  1. H Left in Committee Courts of Justice

  2. H Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting (4-Y 6-N)

  3. H Placed on Courts of Justice Agenda

  4. H Assigned HCJ sub: Civil

  5. H Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

  6. H Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104239D

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 147 not signed on · 6 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

Subcommittee failed to recommend reporting

Failed 4 Yea · 6 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4601
Total 4601
% of votes cast 36%55%0%9%
How each member voted (11)
Member Party Vote
Atoosa R. Reaser — Nay
James A. "Jay" Leftwich — Yea
Jason S. Ballard — Yea
Karen Keys-Gamarra — Nay
Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie — Nay
Marcus B. Simon — Nay
Michelle Lopes Maldonado — Nay
Patrick A. Hope — Not Voting
Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. — Nay
Terry G. Kilgore — Yea
Virgil Thornton — Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety 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 HB981 do?
Criminal cases; prosecutorial misconduct, reasonable costs and attorney fees.
Who sponsors HB981?
HB981 is sponsored by Thomas A. Garrett, Jr..
What is the current status of HB981?
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 HB981?
Track HB981 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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