HB 896 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Substantial Risk Order Training Program; established, delayed effective date, report.

Summary
Substantial risk orders; Substantial Risk Order Training Program established; annual report. Directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish the Substantial Risk Order Training Program for the purposes of training law-enforcement agencies and other public institutions throughout the Commonwealth to use and implement the substantial risk order law. The bill directs all law-enforcement officers to receive training in the use and implementation of substantial risk orders. The bill requires the programming to provide training regarding proper procedures to follow, the circumstances under which the law can be used, the benefits to public safety from proper use of the law, and the harm that may ensue from the law not being used when lawfully available. The Program also includes efforts to educate the public on and increase awareness of the substantial risk order law. The bill requires the Department to report by November 1 each year to the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security regarding the use of Program funds, details of the content of programming developed, and the effectiveness of the Program in assisting law-enforcement agencies and other public institutions in the use of the substantial risk order law. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.The bill requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to evaluate all potential funding sources for the Program and submit a report on its findings, including the availability of federal funding, to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and for Courts of Justice and the House Committees on Appropriations and for Courts of Justice no later than November 1, 2026.
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 13, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Finance and Appropriations Substitute Engrossed · 5 edits · Mar 10, 2026
MODERATE
The bill was amended to change its status from a Senate Substitute to an Engrossed version, incorporating House amendments. The most significant substantive change is the addition of 'judiciary staff' to the list of personnel required to receive training on Substantial Risk Orders, expanding the program's scope beyond just law enforcement and public institutions. Additionally, several section numbers were updated to reflect formatting changes, and minor spacing adjustments were made throughout the text.
Scope change
The scope of the Substantial Risk Order Training Program was expanded to explicitly include judiciary staff as a required training audience, whereas the previous version only listed law-enforcement agencies and other public institutions.
SCOPE

Added 'judiciary staff' to the list of entities required to receive Substantial Risk Order training, broadening the program's applicability.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill title and metadata from 'Senate Substitute' to 'Engrossed' and changed the bill number from 26109149D to 26104815D to reflect the House amendments.

Added 'Patron Prior to Engrossment' and 'Referred to Committee on Public Safety' to the bill header to track the legislative history.

Corrected spacing and punctuation in various section references (e.g., § 9.1-102, § 46.2-882) throughout the document.

Reformatted the deletion of Section 6 in the list of Board duties to match the visual style of other deleted sections.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 5, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

380
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Mar 5, 2026
D Democratic20
19 Yea 1
95% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
40
Key actions
17
Committee
11
Amendments
2
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 696 (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 (HB896ER)
lower
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Mar 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-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 (61-Y 35-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendments agreed to
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations (15-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 2-N)
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: Transportation & Public Safety
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Public Safety with amendment(s) and referred to Appropriations (15-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (5-Y 2-N)
lower
Feb 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Assigned HMPPS sub: Subcommittee #2
lower
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Public Safety
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors