SB 329: Va. Sexual & Domestic Violence Victim fund; fee for offenses related to solicitation of minors, etc. - Virginia

Public Safety Substitute → Chaptered · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill transitioned from a House substitute draft to a formally enacted chapter of the Virginia Code. The substantive policy content regarding the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund and the new $500 court fee remains unchanged, but the document now includes official approval dates and formatting consistent with enacted law.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability are unchanged; it establishes a fee and fund for domestic violence and trafficking cases.

TECHNICAL

Removed draft metadata including session headers, bill numbers, committee attribution, and patron information.

Added official chapter designation (Chapter 277), approval date (April 6, 2026), and standard enacted law formatting.

Adjusted line breaks and spacing to conform to the final published format of the Code of Virginia.

Finance and Appropriations Substitute → Public Safety Substitute · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was amended from a Senate Finance version to a Public Safety version, resulting in a significant increase in the court fee charged to convicted offenders. The fee for specific violent crimes was raised from $150 to $500 to generate more revenue for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund.

Scope change

The scope of the fee assessment remains the same (specific violent crimes), but the financial impact on offenders and the resulting fund revenue has increased substantially.

FISCAL

The additional court fee assessed upon conviction for specific violent offenses was increased from $150 to $500.

Courts of Justice Substitute → Finance and Appropriations Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from a Courts of Justice substitute to a Finance and Appropriations substitute, resulting in significant text removal and reformatting. The substantive policy content regarding the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund, including the $150 fee on specific convictions and fund distribution guidelines, remains effectively unchanged, though the text was cleaned of formatting errors and minor wording adjustments were made.

Scope change

No change in the scope or applicability of the bill; the substantive legal provisions remain the same.

TECHNICAL

Removed formatting artifacts, page headers, and extraneous text from the original Courts of Justice version to create a clean Finance and Appropriations version.

Corrected a redundant phrasing error in Section C where the text 'the' appeared twice ('to the credit of this the Fund' and 'such the Fund').

DEFINITION

Added the parenthetical '(the Fund)' to the definition of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund for clarity.

REQUIREMENT

Adjusted the list of eligible recipients in Section B to group 'law-enforcement authorities' and 'local child advocacy organizations' together and added a specific qualifier for forensic nurse examiners to ensure they provide services for eligible cases and victims.

Enrolled → Courts of Justice Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from an Enrolled version to a Courts of Justice Substitute amendment, which introduced two major substantive changes: the fee amount for the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund was doubled from $500 to $1,000, and the specific list of crimes eligible for this fee was narrowed to exclude family abuse and stalking offenses.

Scope change

The scope of the fee was reduced by removing violations of family abuse and stalking statutes from the list of offenses that trigger the additional court cost.

FISCAL

The additional court fee assessed for specific violent offenses was increased from $500 to $1,000 per conviction.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of crimes subject to the new fee was narrowed; violations of family abuse and stalking statutes were removed from the eligible offenses.

The designated use of the collected fees was updated to specifically list criminal sexual assault, human trafficking, and sex trafficking, removing the broader reference to domestic violence and family abuse.

TECHNICAL

The document format was changed from an Enrolled Act to a Substitute Amendment, altering the header and introductory text.

Introduced → Enrolled · 5 edits · Mar 4, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was finalized as Enrolled legislation with significant substantive changes to the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Victim Fund. The scope of offenses triggering a mandatory fee was expanded to include human and sex trafficking, and the fee amount was increased from $100 to $500 per conviction. The fund's purpose was also broadened to explicitly support victims of trafficking.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include human and sex trafficking cases, and the financial penalty for specific child-related offenses was significantly increased.

SCOPE

The fund's purpose was updated to explicitly include support for victims of human and sex trafficking, in addition to domestic violence and sexual assault.

ELIGIBILITY

The specific offenses triggering a mandatory fee were expanded to include human and sex trafficking charges, whereas the original draft only listed child sexual abuse and solicitation of minors.

FISCAL

The mandatory court fee assessed upon conviction for the listed offenses was increased from $100 to $500.

DEFINITION

The designation for how collected fees are used was changed from 'child victims' to 'eligible victims,' broadening the potential range of supported services.

TECHNICAL

The text was updated from a draft introduction format to the official enrolled format, including changes to section numbering and minor phrasing adjustments.

Va. Sexual & Domestic Violence Victim fund; fee for offenses related to solicitation of minors, etc.

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