HB 4656 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to chronic absenteeism

HB 4656 modifies West Virginia's school attendance laws by ending the compulsory attendance requirement at age 18 (previously 17), meaning 18-year-olds no longer face penalties for chronic absenteeism. It replaces "truancy" with "chronic absenteeism," removes criminal penalties for 18-year-olds, and requires schools to notify them directly about unexcused absences - same as parents. The bill establishes new referral pathways to human services for wrap-around support, shifts handling of chronic absenteeism to juvenile welfare (not criminal) proceedings, and defines key terms like "student support specialist." It directly affects students aged 17-18, school staff, and county human services departments.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Last action Mar 11, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute → Engrossed Committee Substitute · 6 edits · Feb 24, 2026

MODERATE

This bill updates West Virginia's truancy laws to eliminate criminal penalties for 18-year-olds and shift the legal framework from 'truancy as a status offense' to 'child in need of supervision.' It redefines the role of school support staff, clarifies court jurisdiction over chronic absenteeism, and sets a specific timeline to dismiss remaining truancy cases by January 1, 2027.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of juvenile court jurisdiction to include chronic absenteeism for 18-year-olds and removes the ability to prosecute truancy as a criminal status offense for this age group, effectively decriminalizing truancy for students up to their 18th birthday.

ELIGIBILITY

Extended compulsory school attendance requirements to end on the student's 18th birthday, ensuring 18-year-olds receive the same attendance notices as younger students.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed criminal penalties and status offense provisions for 18-year-old students who are chronically absent.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'Student Support Specialist' to clarify their powers regarding pending truancy petitions during a specific transition period.

REQUIREMENT

Added provisions allowing courts to refer chronically absent students to wraparound services and prepetition diversion programs instead of criminal prosecution.

TIMELINE

Established a transition period where new truancy petitions are banned after July 1, 2026, and all remaining status offenses must be dismissed by January 1, 2027.

TECHNICAL

Corrected formatting errors in the definition of municipal court jurisdiction and adjusted punctuation in several statutory sections.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 24, 2026

How they voted

96–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 100

Feb 24, 2026

D Democratic9

9 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican91

87 Yea 4

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 11, 2026

Committee

On 2nd reading, rereferred to Education

upper

Mar 11, 2026

Committee

Without recommendation, but first rereferred to Education then Finance

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Committee

To Education

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Committee

To Education then Finance

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 171)

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

By substitute, do pass

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

To House Judiciary

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Do pass, but first to Judiciary

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Committee

To House Education

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Committee

To Education then Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 9 co-sponsors