HB 317 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Damage or trespass to public services or utilities or critical infrastructure; penalties.

Summary
Damage or trespass to public services or utilities or critical infrastructure; penalties. Adds the intentional destruction of or damage to any fixture, equipment, or information technology system that is used to provide, process, transmit, or maintain public services, public utilities, cable television, broadband, or other critical infrastructure, as defined in relevant law, to the existing offense of damage or trespass to public services or utilities. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 769 and is identical to SB 743.
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 9, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Criminal Subcommittee Substitute Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized into law (Chapter 105) after passing the House, replacing the draft substitute version. The substantive legal text regarding penalties for damaging critical infrastructure remains identical in both versions. The primary change is in the fiscal impact statement, which now states that the cost of imprisonment and juvenile commitment cannot be determined, whereas the draft version left these amounts blank.
FISCAL

The fiscal impact statement was updated to explicitly state that the estimated cost for imprisonment and juvenile commitment cannot be determined, replacing the blank placeholders found in the draft version.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated from a 'House Substitute' draft to a 'Chaptered' Act, indicating the bill has been approved and enacted into law.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 26, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 26, 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
35
Key actions
11
Committee
7
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 105 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB317ER)
lower
Feb 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (21-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
lower
Jan 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
0 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.