HB 226 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

County manager plan of government; independent policing auditor.

Summary

County manager plan of government; independent policing auditor. Allows the governing body of any county with the county manager plan of government (Arlington County) to appoint an independent policing auditor. The independent policing auditor shall support any law-enforcement civilian oversight body created by the governing body and shall have all the powers of the law-enforcement civilian oversight body, to the extent such powers are delegated to the independent policing auditor by the oversight body. The independent policing auditor shall serve at the pleasure of the governing body.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 8, 2026 Signed Apr 8, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled → Chaptered · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was formally enacted into law as Chapter 372 of the 2026 Virginia Acts of Assembly. The substantive content of the legislation, which establishes an independent policing auditor to support civilian oversight bodies, remains unchanged. The only differences are formatting and the addition of official approval dates and chapter numbers.

ENFORCEMENT

The bill's status changed from a proposed draft to an officially enacted law, adding approval dates and chapter numbers while removing draft session headers.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 24, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 5, 2026

How they voted

38–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 39

Feb 24, 2026

D Democratic20

20 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican19

18 Yea 1

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 8, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 372 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB226ER)

lower

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Local Government (8-Y 7-N)

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Local Government

upper

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (63-Y 34-N 0-A)

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (20-Y 1-N)

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 0-N 1-A)

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #3

lower

Jan 8, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors