Penalties for failure to appear; definition, contempt.

The specific procedure allowing prosecutors to charge a separate Class 6 felony for failing to appear after an indictment was removed entirely.

The definition of 'willful failure to appear' was updated to explicitly state that isolated instances of missing court are not evidence of willfulness.

The list of mitigating circumstances the court must consider was expanded to include prior non-appearances that were not willful.

A new subsection was added to clarify that the law does not apply to people already in jail, detention centers, or police custody.

Changed the bill status from 'Introduced' to 'Offered for Consideration' and updated the date to February 11, 2026.

Reformatted the bill header to reflect it is now a substitute amendment proposed by the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice.

Removed the specific definition of 'willful failure to appear' from the summary of contempt cases in Section 18.2-456.

Added new language to Section 19.2-128 allowing prosecutors to charge a separate Class 6 felony for failure to appear if the absence caused material witness unavailability, loss of evidence, or undue hardship for the prosecution.

Established a new 30-day hearing process where the prosecution must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant's absence caused specific negative impacts before a felony charge for failure to appear can proceed.

Set a requirement that the hearing for felony failure to appear must occur at least 30 days before the trial on the underlying felony charge.