HB 268 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Fines and costs; period of limitations on collection, deferred payment agreement.

Summary
Fines and costs; period of limitations on collection; deferred payment agreement. Changes the period of limitations for the collection of court fines and costs from within 60 years from the date of the offense or delinquency giving rise to imposition of such penalty if imposed by a circuit court or within 30 years if imposed by a general district court to within 10 years from the date of the judgment whether imposed by a circuit court or general district court. The bill provides that upon the expiration of the period of limitations, no action shall be brought to collect the debt.The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charges for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the period of limitations for payment of such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties shall start to run on the due date for such deferred payment agreement.The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 9, 2026 Last action Mar 3, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Courts of Justice Substitute Engrossed · 3 edits · Feb 3, 2026
MINOR
The bill was amended to incorporate House changes, primarily updating the bill's title to include 'deferred payment agreement' and correcting a formatting error in the effective date section. The substantive policy regarding the start date for the statute of limitations on fines for incarcerated defendants was also modified to clarify that the clock starts when the defendant is released, rather than on a specific 180-day post-release date.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded in its title to explicitly include 'deferred payment agreement' as a subject matter, though the operational rules for this agreement remain consistent with the original text.
TIMELINE

The rule for when the statute of limitations begins for fines owed by incarcerated defendants was changed. The original text required the clock to start 180 days after release; the amendment removes this fixed 180-day requirement, allowing the due date to be set based on the defendant's actual release schedule.

TECHNICAL

The bill's title was updated to add 'deferred payment agreement' to the list of topics covered, reflecting the bill's focus on payment plans.

The effective date of the act was corrected from January 1, 2027, to January 1, 2026, removing the future year placeholder.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

797
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 88
Feb 3, 2026
D Democratic53
52 Yea 1
98% Yea
R Republican35
27 Yea 7 Nay 1
77% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
19
Key actions
6
Committee
7
Amendments
2
Feb 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-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 (91-Y 7-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) (19-Y 1-N)
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Lower · Passed
House subcommittee offered
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal
lower
Jan 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Phil Hernandez
Phil Hernandez
DDemocratic
VA
94