HB 1217 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Keeper of livery stable; liens, requirements.

Summary
Keeper of livery stable; liens; requirements. Creates a process by which any person that boards, pastures, or otherwise keeps any horse, cattle, or other animal pursuant to an agreement with the owner of such horse, cattle, or other animal may impose a possessory lien for the reasonable charges due for such animal's care, feeding, and maintenance, which includes a provision for the lienholder to retain possession of the animal for 30 days until certain conditions are met and a procedure for the owner of the animal to dispute such lien. The bill also provides that if no such action has occurred upon the expiration of the 30 days, the lienholder may proceed with enforcing the lien as provided by current law.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Enrolled · 3 edits · Apr 13, 2026
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enacted into law, moving from a draft introduction to an official enrolled version. The text was slightly expanded to clarify that the new lien rights apply specifically to animals kept under an agreement with the owner and added a provision allowing lienholders to sell animals after a 30-day retention period if the debt remains unpaid.
Scope change
The scope of the new lien section (43-32.1) was clarified to apply only to animals kept pursuant to an agreement with the owner, and a new pathway for selling animals after 30 days was introduced.
ELIGIBILITY

The new lien for boarding animals now explicitly requires that the keeper has an agreement with the animal's owner.

ENFORCEMENT

A new provision allows lienholders to proceed with selling the animal after 30 days if charges are not paid, the owner does not agree to an extension, and no court order is issued.

TECHNICAL

The text was reformatted and expanded with additional spacing and headers to reflect its status as an officially enrolled act of the Virginia General Assembly.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 9, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 9, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
27
Key actions
13
Committee
7
Amendments
3
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 753 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1217ER)
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate amendments agreed to by House (95-Y 4-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with amendments Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by Senate as amended
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Courts of Justice Amendment agreed to
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (87-Y 10-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (21-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Civil
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Delores Oates
Delores Oates
RRepublican
VA
31