# Virginia HB852: Indigent defendant; abolition of fees, legal representation, jury trial costs, report.

Virginia HB852, Indigent defendant; abolition of fees, legal representation, jury trial costs, report., is a 2027 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Rae Cousins (Democratic); status passed house, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB852-2027
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB852
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: Indigent defendant; abolition of fees, legal representation, jury trial costs, report.
- Status: passed house
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: Rae Cousins (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Finance and Appropriations
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Rae Cousins (Democratic), House

## Actions (22)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (Senate)
- 2026-03-03: Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-23: Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 5-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-20: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB852) (House)
- 2026-02-16: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-02-16: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) (Senate)
- 2026-02-13: Read third time and passed House (60-Y 35-N 0-A) (House)
- 2026-02-12: Engrossed by House - committee substitute (House)
- 2026-02-12: committee substitute agreed to (House)
- 2026-02-12: Read second time (House)
- 2026-02-11: Read first time (House)
- 2026-02-09: Committee substitute printed 26107499D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-09: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-09: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 1-N) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Reported from Appropriations with substitute (15-Y 7-N) (House)
- 2026-02-06: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB852) (House)
- 2026-02-05: Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay (House)
- 2026-02-04: Reported from Courts of Justice and referred to Appropriations (15-Y 7-N) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (7-Y 3-N) (House)
- 2026-01-29: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104806D (House)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-02-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230467.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229866.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229056.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230466.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229055.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229865.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228689.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228688.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/1230467.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229866.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229056.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230466.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229055.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1229865.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228689.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1228688.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-HB852-2027 (as of 2026-10-12).