Minor witnesses; appointment of guardian ad litem in circuit court.
Summary
Minor witnesses; appointment of guardian ad litem in circuit court. Authorizes a circuit court to appoint a discreet and competent attorney-at-law as guardian ad litem for a minor witness called to testify in a matter before the circuit court involving certain sex offenses. Under current law, a general district court may appoint a guardian ad litem for a minor witness called to testify in any proceeding and the circuit court may continue the appointment or appoint a new guardian ad litem for such matter on appeal.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 8, 2025
Signed Mar 21, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
3 edits
MINOR
This bill converts a legislative bill into an official chapter of the Virginia Code, making the provisions permanent law. The substantive content of the law regarding guardian ad litem appointments for minor witnesses remains unchanged from the enrolled version.
Scope change
No substantive scope change; the bill transitions from proposed legislation to enacted law
TECHNICAL
Formatting and layout changes converting the bill from enrolled draft format to official chapter format with proper spacing and alignment
Addition of chapter number (Chapter 334) and approval date (March 21, 2025) to formalize the law
Minor text reformatting for readability while maintaining identical legal language and provisions
Floor votes · Senate Jan 31, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 13, 2025
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Jan 31, 2025
D
Democratic21
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
30
Key actions
11
Committee
7
Mar 21, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 334 (Effective 07/01/25)
executive
Feb 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB1277ER)
upper
Feb 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House (96-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
Assigned Courts sub: Civil
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
Jan 31, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Jan 29, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 8, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Russet Perry
DDemocratic
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