Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; petitions for relief of care and custody.
Summary
Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; petitions for relief of care and custody; custodians. Allows the custodian of a child to file a petition for relief of the care and custody of such child in a juvenile and domestic relations district court. Current law only authorizes the parent or parents of a child to file such petition for relief of care and custody. The bill also requires the petitioning parent or custodian to cooperate with any services provided by a local department of social services during the initial investigation by such local department of social services after such petition for relief of care and custody has been filed. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Commission on Youth and is identical to HB 73.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 9, 2026
Signed Apr 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
2 edits
MINOR
This bill converts the legislative text from a draft format to its final, official 'Chaptered' status, meaning it has been approved and will become law. The actual legal content regarding juvenile court jurisdiction, custody petitions, and abortion consent procedures remains substantively unchanged, though minor formatting and spacing adjustments were made during the final printing process.
Scope change
The scope of the law's applicability remains unchanged; the bill now carries the official authority of a passed Virginia Act.
TECHNICAL
The document was updated from a draft 'Enrolled' version to the final 'Chaptered' version, adding the official approval date (April 6, 2026) and chapter number (Chapter 59) while removing draft headers.
Minor formatting adjustments were made to the text layout, such as removing extra blank lines and adjusting indentation, but no legal language was added, removed, or altered.
Floor votes · Senate Jan 23, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 23, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 39
Jan 23, 2026
D
Democratic20
100% Yea
R
Republican19
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
28
Key actions
10
Committee
4
Apr 6, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 59 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB206ER)
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Jan 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
upper
Jan 21, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
upper
1 primary · 4 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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