HB 567: Court records; aggregated case data, request by attorney for the Commonwealth exempted. - Virginia

Criminal Subcommittee Substitute → Chaptered · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was finalized and approved, changing its status from a substitute version to an official chapter. The substantive policy content regarding court record requests remains largely the same, though minor formatting adjustments were made to section headers and a new immunity clause was added to the circuit court records section.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding public access to court records and aggregated data data remains unchanged; the only change is the procedural status of the bill itself.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to reflect its approval as Chapter 172 on April 6, 2026, replacing the draft 'House Substitute' metadata.

Minor formatting changes were applied to section headers and cross-references to align with official chaptered standards.

Draft-specific metadata lines indicating the bill was a 'House Substitute' and listing the delegate patron were removed.

ENFORCEMENT

A new subsection (H) was added to the circuit court records section granting immunity to clerks and the Executive Secretary from lawsuits regarding record production, provided there was no gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Courts of Justice Substitute → Criminal Subcommittee Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted with significant whitespace changes and a new version number. The substantive policy change is that the Social Security Number (SSN) exemption for the Attorney General was narrowed; the bill now allows the Attorney General to receive only the last four digits of an SSN instead of the full number, while maintaining the same restriction on further dissemination of that data.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains the same, covering court records and aggregated case data requests, but the specific data elements available to the Attorney General were restricted.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for the Attorney General to receive full Social Security Numbers was changed to require only the last four digits of the SSN.

TECHNICAL

The document underwent extensive reformatting, including the addition of a new version number (26106413D) and significant changes to whitespace and line breaks.

Enrolled → Courts of Justice Substitute · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill text was converted from an 'Enrolled' version into a 'Courts of Justice Substitute' draft, indicating it is being revised by the House Judiciary Committee. The substantive legal language regarding court record requests and data aggregation remains largely identical, though minor formatting and punctuation adjustments were made during the drafting process.

TECHNICAL

The document status changed from 'Enrolled' (final law) to 'Substitute' (draft revision), indicating the bill is currently under review by the House Committee for Courts of Justice and has not yet been finalized.

Minor formatting and punctuation adjustments were made throughout the text, such as changing section symbols (§) to standard numbers and adjusting line breaks, without altering the underlying legal requirements.

Introduced → Enrolled · 4 edits · Feb 25, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was enacted into law, finalizing the text of HB 567. The most significant substantive change is the modification to the exception for attorneys for the Commonwealth: the law now limits the inclusion of sensitive personal data (names, dates of birth, and the last four digits of social security numbers) to cases within the attorney's specific jurisdiction and requires that this data be redacted before any further dissemination.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on regulating requests for court records and aggregated data, but the eligibility criteria for receiving sensitive data by attorneys for the Commonwealth was narrowed to specific jurisdictions.

ELIGIBILITY

The exception allowing attorneys for the Commonwealth to receive sensitive personal data now includes a new restriction limiting such data to cases arising within the attorney's specific jurisdiction.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement was added mandating that any report containing sensitive personal data provided to an attorney for the Commonwealth must be redacted before it is disseminated further.

DEFINITION

The specific data points to be included for attorneys for the Commonwealth were clarified to include 'the last four digits of the social security number'.

TECHNICAL

The document transitioned from a draft 'Introduced' version to the final 'Enrolled' version, incorporating standard legislative formatting and line numbering.

Court records; aggregated case data, request by attorney for the Commonwealth exempted.

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