# Virginia HB604: Specialty civil court dockets; business and complex litigation dockets established.

Virginia HB604, Specialty civil court dockets; business and complex litigation dockets established., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Rodney T. Willett (Democratic); status in committee, last action 2026-02-04 (Continued to 2027 in Courts of Justice (Voice Vote)) (as of 2026-10-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB604-2026
- As of: 2026-10-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB604
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Specialty civil court dockets; business and complex litigation dockets established.
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-02-04, Continued to 2027 in Courts of Justice (Voice Vote)
- Sponsor: Rodney T. Willett (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Civil
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 2 (0 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Specialty civil court dockets; business and complex litigation dockets established; criteria for eligible actions. Establishes a specialty docket, known as the business and complex litigation docket, to assist circuit courts with certain civil actions that involve specialized legal issues, complex contexts, intricate transactions, multiple parties, or other complicating factors. The bill provides that for an action to be eligible to be considered for a business and complex litigation docket, the action shall (i) present special complexity, including specialized issues or acute litigation management needs, and (ii) fall into one or more of several enumerated categories of civil actions. The bill also requires that such eligible action has a minimum amount in controversy of $100,000. The bill also enumerates several types of civil actions that are ineligible for such specialty docket but creates an exception for any such action that demonstrates extraordinary circumstances that would require specialized docket management. The bill creates a process by which counsel for any party or the circuit court judge initially assigned to an eligible action may request that the matter be transferred to the specialty docket and directs the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, in collaboration with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Specialty Docket Advisory Committee studying business and complex litigation dockets, to establish any rules or procedures as necessary for the transfer of such eligible actions.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Rodney T. Willett (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-02-04 | House | Continued to 2027 in Courts of Justice (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |
| 2026-01-30 | House | Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote) | pass | 0 | 0 |   |

## Actions (5)

- 2026-02-04: Continued to 2027 in Courts of Justice (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote) (House)
- 2026-01-29: Assigned HCJ sub: Civil (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102359D (House)

## Bill text

- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085149.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085148.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
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085149.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085148.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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB604-2026 (as of 2026-10-11).