# Virginia HB124: Assault and battery; adds district court temporary recall judge, penalty.

Virginia HB124, Assault and battery; adds district court temporary recall judge, penalty., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Atoosa R. Reaser (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-06 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0071)) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB124-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB124
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Assault and battery; adds district court temporary recall judge, penalty.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-02
- Last action: 2026-04-06, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0071)
- Sponsor: Atoosa R. Reaser (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 8 (233 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

Assault and battery; district court temporary recall judge; penalty. Adds a judge of a district court under temporary recall to the definition of "judge" as it relates to the crime of assault and battery, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor that is enhanced to a Class 6 felony with a mandatory minimum term of confinement of six months if such judge is engaged in his public duties at the time of the offense. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts and is identical to SB 144.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Stronger penalties for hate-based assaults: benefit, low. Beginning April 6, 2026, bias-based simple assault carries at least six months in jail. Bias-based means the victim was chosen for race, religion, gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, color, or national origin. If the assault causes bodily injury, it is a Class 6 felony and also…
- Tougher penalties for assaults on officials: benefit, low. Beginning April 6, 2026, assaulting a judge, magistrate, police officer, correctional officer, firefighter, or EMS worker doing public duties is a Class 6 felony. A conviction includes at least six months in jail. The law also says “judge” includes district court judges, including temporary recall…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Atoosa R. Reaser (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-26 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-25 | Senate | Reported from Finance and Appropriations | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations Block Vote | pass | 13 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-17 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 97 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice | pass | 21 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-11 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (28)

- 2026-04-06: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0071) (Governor)
- 2026-04-06: Approved by Governor-Chapter 71 (effective 7/1/2026) (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 (Governor)
- 2026-03-10: Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026 (House)
- 2026-03-05: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB124) (House)
- 2026-03-04: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB124ER) (House)
- 2026-03-04: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-04: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-04: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-02-27: Passed Senate Block Vote (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-26: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations Block Vote (13-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-02-18: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-17: Read third time and passed House Block Vote (97-Y 0-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Read second time and engrossed (House)
- 2026-02-15: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-13: Reported from Courts of Justice (21-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-11: Subcommittee recommends reporting (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-10: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House)
- 2026-01-20: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB124) (House)
- 2026-01-06: Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/6/2026 3:10 pm) (House)
- 2026-01-02: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-02: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101360D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216244.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216243.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191198.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191197.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-02: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082490.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082489.PDF)

## Related bills

- HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties. (signed)
- HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with rental agreement. (signed)
- HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for certain individuals. (signed)
- HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, termination by landlord. (signed)
- HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil penalty. (signed)

## Sources
- [Chaptered (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216244.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1216243.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191198.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1191197.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082490.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1082489.PDF)

## Related
- [HB5: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB5-2026)
- [SB199: Employment; paid sick leave, civil penalties.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB199-2026)
- [HB95: Va. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; landlord remedies, noncompliance with…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB95-2026)
- [HB1393: Electric utilities; pilot program for energy assistance and weatherization for…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1393-2026)
- [HB834: Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; fire or casualty damage, terminat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB834-2026)
- [HB675: Protection of employees; coercion or threat based on immigration status, civil…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB675-2026)
- [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills)
- [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB124-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).