# Virginia HB1262: Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising, investigation by Attorney General.

Virginia HB1262, Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising, investigation by Attorney General., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Jackie H. Glass (Democratic); status signed, last action 2026-04-13 (Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0763)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1262-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB1262
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising, investigation by Attorney General.
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-14
- Last action: 2026-04-13, Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0763)
- Sponsor: Jackie H. Glass (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 9 (224 yes, 4 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

Notaries; prohibition on certain advertising; investigation by Attorney General; civil penalties. Provides that the Attorney General may issue a civil investigative demand whenever he has reasonable cause to believe that any notary public has, in violation of law, (i) offered or provided legal advice on immigration or other legal matters or represented any person in immigration proceedings or (ii) has assumed, used, or advertised the title "notario," "notario publico," or "licenciado," or other term in a language other than English that indicates that such notary is authorized or licensed to practice law. The bill increases the civil penalties for a violation of clause (ii) from up to $500 to up to $2,500 for a first violation and from up to $1,000 to up to $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation. The bill also provides that the Attorney General may seek to enjoin any such violation and may recover restitution, reasonable expenses, and reasonable attorney fees.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Stronger notary safeguards and higher penalties: mixed, low. Virginia notaries cannot give legal advice or represent people in immigration cases unless they have qualifying legal authority. Exceptions cover notaries authorized to practice law in Virginia or federally accredited to provide immigration legal services. Notaries also cannot use or advertise “not…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jackie H. Glass (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Passed Senate Block Vote | pass | 40 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) | pass | 37 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-27 | Senate | Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-25 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice | pass | 15 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Rereferred from Commerce and Labor to Courts of Justice | pass | 12 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Read third time and passed House | pass | 94 | 3 |   |
| 2026-02-06 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute | pass | 5 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-06 | House | Reported from Public Safety with substitute | pass | 21 | 1 |   |
| 2026-01-29 | House | Referred from Labor and Commerce and referred to Public Safety (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |

## Actions (32)

- 2026-04-13: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0763) (Governor)
- 2026-04-13: Approved by Governor-Chapter 763 (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)
- 2026-03-09: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1262) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1262ER) (House)
- 2026-03-09: Enrolled (House)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2026-03-09: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2026-03-03: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1262) (House)
- 2026-03-02: Passed Senate Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-03-02: Read third time (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (37-Y 0-N 0-A) (Senate)
- 2026-02-27: Rules suspended (Senate)
- 2026-02-25: Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Rereferred from Commerce and Labor to Courts of Justice (12-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-12: Read third time and passed House (94-Y 3-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-11: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-11: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-11: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-10: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-09: Committee substitute printed 26107391D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-06: Reported from Public Safety with substitute (21-Y 1-N) (House)
- 2026-02-06: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-06: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (5-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-03: Assigned HMPPS sub: Subcommittee #3 (House)
- 2026-01-29: Referred from Labor and Commerce and referred to Public Safety (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-14: Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce (House)
- 2026-01-14: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103340D (House)

## Bill text

- Chaptered, 2026-04-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1222587.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1222586.PDF)
- Enrolled, 2026-03-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194202.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194201.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134041.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134040.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131953.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132022.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131952.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132021.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-14: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088250.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088248.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/1222587.HTML)
- [Chaptered (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1222586.PDF)
- [Enrolled (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194202.HTML)
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1194201.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134041.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1134040.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131953.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132022.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1131952.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1132021.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088250.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1088248.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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1262-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).