HB 459 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Hate crimes; crime victim's right to nondisclosure of certain information.

Summary
Crime victim's right to nondisclosure of certain information; hate crimes. Prohibits a law-enforcement agency from disclosing to the public information that directly or indirectly identifies the victim of a hate crime, defined in relevant law, except to the extent that disclosure is (i) of the site of the crime, (ii) required by law, (iii) necessary for law-enforcement purposes, or (iv) permitted by the court for good cause unless such victim, or his next of kin if he is a minor and his death results from any crime, provides written consent. The bill also prohibits, at the request of the victim, the Court of Appeals of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Virginia from listing the first or last name of the victim of a hate crime in an appellate decision.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 2 edits
MINOR
This document shows the final formatting changes made when HB 459 was signed into law. The text of the actual law regarding victim privacy rights remained exactly the same; only the surrounding layout, headers, and approval dates were adjusted to match the official state publication style.
TECHNICAL

Removed the original session header and replaced it with the official 'Virginia Acts of Assembly' title page containing the chapter number and approval date.

Converted the bill text from a standard list format to an indented, multi-line layout typical of official state statutes.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 20, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 10, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 20, 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
10
Committee
6
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 147 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB459ER)
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (14-Y 0-N 1-A)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (93-Y 4-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
lower
Jan 12, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Laura Jane Cohen
Laura Jane Cohen
DDemocratic
VA
15