# Virginia HB885: Court Date Reminder Program; established, report.

Virginia HB885, Court Date Reminder Program; established, report., is a 2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Patrick A. Hope (Democratic); status passed house, last action 2026-03-03 (Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)) (as of 2026-10-13).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB885-2026
- As of: 2026-10-13
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia HB885
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2026 Regular Session
- Title: Court Date Reminder Program; established, report.
- Status: passed house
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2026-01-13
- Last action: 2026-03-03, Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
- Sponsor: Patrick A. Hope (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Finance and Appropriations
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 7 (184 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Court Date Reminder Program established. Establishes a Court Date Reminder Program, to be developed or procured by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, for the purpose of reminding criminal defendants to appear at each of their scheduled court appearances. The bill directs the Program to send a text message notification to any defendant with a criminal case in general district court or circuit court for whom the court has a telephone number prior to any scheduled hearing that requires his appearance and allows a defendant to opt out of participating in the Program. The Program has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.The bill also directs the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court to convene a Court Date Reminder Program work group to advise on the implementation and expansion of the Program and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice by December 1, 2026.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Patrick A. Hope (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-03 | Senate | Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations | pass | 14 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Reported from Courts of Justice and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations Block Vote | pass | 13 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Read third time and passed House Block Vote | pass | 96 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting | pass | 7 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-09 | House | Reported from Appropriations | pass | 22 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-04 | House | Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and referred to Appropriations | pass | 22 | 0 |   |
| 2026-02-02 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations | pass | 10 | 0 |   |

## Actions (21)

- 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 Block Vote (13-Y 0-N) (Senate)
- 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 Block Vote (96-Y 0-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: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB885) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-09: Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-05: Assigned HAPP sub: General Government and Capital Outlay (House)
- 2026-02-04: Committee substitute printed 26106715D-H1 (House)
- 2026-02-04: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-02-02: House subcommittee offered (House)
- 2026-02-02: Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute and referring to Appropriations (10-Y 0-N) (House)
- 2026-01-30: Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal (House)
- 2026-01-27: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB885) (House)
- 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (House)
- 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101227D (House)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-02-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127418.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127417.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-02: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107948.HTML), [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1108108.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1108107.PDF), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107947.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086312.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086311.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
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127418.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1127417.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107948.HTML)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1108108.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1108107.PDF)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1107947.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086312.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1086311.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-HB885-2026 (as of 2026-10-13).