relating to authority and notice requirements for religious organizations
HB 5416 requires unincorporated religious organizations (like churches not formally registered as nonprofits) to provide public notice before selling property or taking loans secured by property. Specifically, it mandates either publishing a legal notice in a county newspaper or announcing the sale/loan twice during services at the church. This applies only to groups not incorporated under West Virginia law (excluding existing nonprofit religious corporations). The bill does not change rules for incorporated religious entities, which follow their own bylaws and state nonprofit corporation laws.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 10, 2026
Last action Feb 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Committee Substitute
→
Engrossed Committee Substitute
·
1 edit
·
Feb 25, 2026
MINOR
The bill was updated to reflect its current status as the 'Engrossed Committee Substitute' rather than the original 'Committee Substitute'. The substantive text of the bill, which governs how religious organizations must notify the public before selling property or taking on debt, remains unchanged.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's applicability is unchanged; it continues to apply to unincorporated religious organizations while exempting incorporated ones.
TECHNICAL
Updated version labels and headers to indicate the bill has been processed by the committee and is now in its engrossed form.
Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 25, 2026
How they voted
96–0
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 100
Feb 25, 2026
D
Democratic9
88% Yea
R
Republican91
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
20
Key actions
2
Committee
7
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 188)
lower
Feb 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Committee
To House Legal Services
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Committee
To House Legal Services
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
George Miller
RRepublican
Ask Maddy
·
AI policy assistant
Ask Maddy about HB 5416
Scope: WV
Hi! I can help you understand HB 5416. What would you like to know?
Try one of these
i
Maddy answers using official bill text and legislative records. Always verify before sharing.
Sources cited inline