SB 23 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Plea agreements and court orders; prohibited provisions.

Summary
Plea agreements and court orders; prohibited provisions. Prohibits plea agreements and court orders executed or entered on or after July 1, 2026, from containing any provision that purports to waive, release, or extinguish a defendant's (i) rights under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution of Virginia; (ii) right to file a petition requesting expungement of the police records and the court records; or (iii) right to have criminal history record information and court records sealed. The bill provides that any such prohibited provision of a plea agreement or court order is void and unenforceable as against public policy.The bill provides that such prohibition does not apply to any plea agreements, written agreements, or court orders entered into by a defendant and the Commonwealth in certain cases.The bill further provides that any waiver, release, or extinguishment of rights under the Fourth Amendment permissible by law shall be no longer than the period of supervised probation imposed against the defendant; if the defendant is not placed on supervised probation, it shall be no longer than five years.
Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Vetoed
Apr 2026
Introduced Nov 17, 2025 Vetoed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed Enrolled · 2 edits · Mar 10, 2026
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enrolled for signature, removing internal committee marks and placeholder text. The substantive legal text remains unchanged, establishing a ban on plea agreements that waive Fourth Amendment rights, with specific exceptions for specialty dockets and child sexual abuse cases.
Scope change
No change in scope; the bill's applicability and legal provisions remain identical to the engrossed version.
TECHNICAL

Removed internal legislative markers, committee references, and placeholder brackets indicating pending decisions.

Replaced the placeholder text for the sentence suspension period with the final statutory language specifying a five-year limit.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 10, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 10, 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
28
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Amendments
2
Apr 13, 2026
Vetoed
Vetoed by Governor
executive
Mar 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (64-Y 34-N 1-A)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 7-N)
lower
Feb 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 3-N)
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by Senate as amended (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (9-Y 6-N)
upper
Nov 17, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Saddam Salim
Saddam Salim
DDemocratic
VA
37