HB 1262 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising, investigation by Attorney General.

Summary

Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising; investigation by Attorney General; civil penalties. Provides that the Attorney General may issue a civil investigative demand whenever he has reasonable cause to believe that any notary public has, in violation of law, (i) offered or provided legal advice on immigration or other legal matters or represented any person in immigration proceedings or (ii) has assumed, used, or advertised the title "notario," "notario publico," or "licenciado," or other term in a language other than English that indicates that such notary is authorized or licensed to practice law. The bill increases the civil penalties for a violation of clause (ii) from up to $500 to up to $2,500 for a first violation and from up to $1,000 to up to $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation. The bill also provides that the Attorney General may seek to enjoin any such violation and may recover restitution, reasonable expenses, and reasonable attorney fees.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 14, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Subcommittee #3 Subcommittee Substitute → Enrolled · 3 edits · Mar 9, 2026

MINOR

The bill was finalized as an Enrolled Act, changing its status from a House substitute to official law. The substantive policy changes include increasing civil penalties for notaries who illegally advertise as "notarios" and clarifying the application of existing investigation procedures by the Attorney General.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on regulating notary public advertising and immigration-related legal advice, with no changes to who is subject to the law.

ENFORCEMENT

Penalty amounts for violating advertising rules were increased from $500/$1,000 to $2,500/$5,000 for first and subsequent violations.

TECHNICAL

The bill status was updated from a House substitute to an Enrolled Act, indicating it has passed all legislative stages and is ready for the Governor's signature.

Minor formatting adjustments were made to section headers and statutory citations to align with final legislative standards.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 12, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 39

Feb 27, 2026

D Democratic20

18 Yea 2

90% Yea

R Republican19

18 Yea 1

94% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 13, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor-Chapter 763 (effective 7/1/2026)

executive

Mar 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by President

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by Speaker

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1262ER)

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

upper

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Committee

Rereferred from Commerce and Labor to Courts of Justice (12-Y 0-N)

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor

upper

Feb 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time and passed House (94-Y 3-N 0-A)

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Public Safety with substitute (21-Y 1-N)

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Committee

Assigned HMPPS sub: Subcommittee #3

lower

Jan 29, 2026

Committee

Referred from Labor and Commerce and referred to Public Safety (Voice Vote)

lower

Jan 14, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce

lower

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors