HB 244 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Robbery; conforms certain provisions of Code to degrees of robbery offenses.

Summary
Robbery. Conforms certain provisions of the Code referencing robbery to the degrees of robbery offenses established by Chapter 534 of the Acts of Assembly of 2021, Special Session I. These changes include: (i) limiting to the three higher degrees of robbery certain non-robbery crimes for which committing such crime with the intent to commit a robbery is an element of the offenses, (ii) limiting the types of robbery that are included in the definition of "acts of violence" to the two higher degrees of robbery, (iii) clarifying how robbery offenses will be scored on the sentencing guidelines, (iv) allowing persons convicted of the two lesser degrees of robbery to be eligible for conditional release if they are terminally ill and for enhanced earned sentence credits, (v) allowing persons who are ineligible for parole as a result of being convicted of three of certain enumerated offenses to be eligible for parole if convicted of an offense that would constitute robbery by presenting of firearms, and (vi) limiting the application of the three-strikes law to the two higher degrees of robbery and making persons convicted under the three-strikes law eligible for parole if one of the three convictions resulting in the mandatory life sentence would constitute one of the two lesser degrees of robbery. The bill leaves unchanged the current law making all degrees of robbery predicate criminal acts by adding the two lesser degrees of robbery to the definition of "predicate criminal act" and specifying that the two higher degrees of robbery are included in the definition of "act of violence." The bill requires the changes made to the eligibility for conditional release of terminally ill prisoners and enhanced earned sentence credits to apply retroactively if certain criteria are met.
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 8, 2026 Last action Mar 9, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Courts of Justice Substitute Finance and Appropriations Substitute · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended from a Courts of Justice substitute to a Finance and Appropriations substitute, which changed the committee oversight but did not alter the substantive policy content. The main substantive change is a clarification in the juvenile confidentiality exception that now specifically mentions 'robbery committed prior to July 1, 2021' rather than just 'robbery', aligning with recent legislative changes to robbery statutes. The bill also removed § 53.1-151 (parole eligibility) from the list of sections being amended, which appears to be a technical error since that section was included in the original Courts of Justice version but not in the Finance version.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on juvenile confidentiality exceptions and robbery-related sentencing provisions, but the Finance and Appropriations substitute removed § 53.1-151 from the list of amended sections, which was likely unintentional since that section deals with parole eligibility for robbery convictions.
DEFINITION

Added specific date reference 'prior to July 1, 2021' to the juvenile confidentiality exception for robbery, clarifying that only pre-July 1, 2021 robbery convictions trigger public disclosure requirements.

TECHNICAL

Removed § 53.1-151 from the list of sections being amended, which appears to be a technical error since that section was included in the original Courts of Justice version.

Changed the committee designation from 'Courts of Justice' to 'Finance and Appropriations' and updated the proposal date from March 2, 2026 to March 9, 2026.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

5333
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 88
Feb 3, 2026
D Democratic53
52 Yea 1
98% Yea
R Republican35
1 Yea 33 Nay 1
94% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
7
Committee
9
Amendments
2
Mar 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate committee offered
upper
Mar 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Finance and Appropriations
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 7-N)
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (64-Y 34-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Introduced
Engrossed by House as amended
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
committee amendments agreed to
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (14-Y 6-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (7-Y 3-N)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
lower
Jan 8, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Vivian Watts
Vivian Watts
DDemocratic
VA
14