# Virginia HB240: Admission to bail; fixing terms of bail, mental health considerations.

Virginia HB240, Admission to bail; fixing terms of bail, mental health considerations., is a 2027 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Debra D. Gardner (Democratic); status in committee, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB240-2027
- As of: 2026-10-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB240
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: Admission to bail; fixing terms of bail, mental health considerations.
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-08
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: Debra D. Gardner (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Criminal
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Admission to bail; fixing terms of bail; mental health considerations. Requires the judicial officer, prior to conducting any hearing on the issue of bail, release, or detention, to obtain the person's criminal history and any emergency custody or temporary detention order or involuntary admission issued for such person. The bill also requires the judicial officer to consider any emergency custody or temporary detention order or involuntary admission issued for the person when determining admission to bail. Lastly, the bill requires the judicial officer to take into account the following factors in fixing the terms of bail if such person is admitted to bail: (i) whether the person is likely to obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice, or threaten, injure, or intimidate, or attempt to threaten, injure, or intimidate a family or household member as defined in relevant law; (ii) the history of the accused or juvenile, including medical, mental health, including any emergency custody or temporary detention order or involuntary admission issued pursuant to relevant law, or substance abuse treatment; (iii) any evidence the person provided indicating that such person (a) is currently pregnant, (b) has recently given birth, or (c) is currently nursing a child; and (iv) whether such person will be an unreasonable danger to himself, family or household members as defined in relevant law, or the public.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Debra D. Gardner (Democratic), House

## Actions (8)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (House)
- 2026-02-11: Continued to 2027 in Courts of Justice (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-02-06: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2028 (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-02-02: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-01-30: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House)
- 2026-01-20: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB240) (House)
- 2026-01-08: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-08: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103796D (House)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-02-02: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228839.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228838.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-08: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229949.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229948.PDF)

## Related bills

- SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report. (in committee)
- HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of statements. (introduced)
- HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information. (introduced)
- SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset. (in committee)
- SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment. (in committee)
- SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion State Prison. (in committee)

## Sources
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228839.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228838.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229949.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229948.PDF)

## Related
- [SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB844-2027)
- [HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of s…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1535-2027)
- [HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1534-2027)
- [SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB843-2027)
- [SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB842-2027)
- [SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion Sta…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB840-2027)
- [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-HB240-2027 (as of 2026-10-11).