SB 798 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Boyd-Graves Conference, et al.; work group to address legal deserts within the Commonwealth, report.

Summary

Boyd-Graves Conference and Virginia Criminal Justice Conference; work group to address legal deserts within the Commonwealth; report. Directs the Boyd-Graves Conference, in conjunction with the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference, to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to make recommendations for legislative solutions to address the disparities in the geographical distribution of available legal services within the Commonwealth. The bill directs the work group to report its findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by November 1, 2026.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 11, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Courts of Justice Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill was amended from its original version to shift responsibility for convening a work group on legal deserts from the Boyd-Graves and Virginia Criminal Justice Conferences to the Judicial Council of Virginia. The amendment also updated the composition of the work group, replacing the Director of Workforce Development with the Commissioner of that department and adding the Executive Director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. These changes reflect a more centralized approach within the judicial system to address access to legal services.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from a joint effort between two legislative conferences to being led by the Judicial Council of Virginia, which may streamline coordination with court-related stakeholders.

REQUIREMENT

The entity responsible for convening the work group changed from the Boyd-Graves Conference and Virginia Criminal Justice Conference to the Judicial Council of Virginia.

The work group composition was updated: the Director of the Virginia Department on Workforce Development and Advancement was replaced with the Commissioner of that department, and the Executive Director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission was added as a new member.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was changed from 'Introduced' to 'Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute' with updated formatting and line numbers, indicating this is a revised version proposed by the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate committee offered

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Presented and ordered printed 26104548D

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors