HB 1029 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Criminal complaint, warrant, summons, etc.; temporary sealing.

Summary

Criminal complaint, warrant, summons, etc.; temporary sealing. Provides that (i) any complaint that accompanies any warrant, summons, or capias issued pursuant to relevant law may be temporarily sealed for a specific period of time by the appropriate court upon application of the attorney for the Commonwealth for good cause shown in an ex parte hearing and (ii) any individual arrested on or served with such warrant, summons, or capias may move the appropriate court for the unsealing of such complaint. The bill states that the burden of proof with respect to continued sealing shall be upon the Commonwealth.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Courts of Justice Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended from its original introduction to a substitute version by the Courts of Justice Committee. The primary substantive change is the addition of specific start dates for sealing complaints (filing and application), while the rest of the text remains largely unchanged but reformatted.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains the same, covering criminal complaints, warrants, and summonses in Virginia.

TIMELINE

Added specific conditions stating that temporary sealing of complaints begins only after both the warrant is filed in court and the attorney for the Commonwealth applies for it.

TECHNICAL

Changed the document header from 'Introduced' to 'Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute' and updated the date to February 9, 2026.

Reformatted the text to include line numbers and spacing typical of committee substitute bills.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Left in Committee Courts of Justice

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 3-N)

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors