# Virginia SB202: Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies.

Virginia SB202, Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies., is a 2027 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by David R. Suetterlein (Republican); status in committee, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB202-2027
- As of: 2026-10-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB202
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies.
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-09
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: David R. Suetterlein (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Privileges and Elections
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Elections; filling vacancies in county and city governing bodies. Removes the ability to fill a vacancy in a county or city governing body by an interim appointment and requires that a special election be held to fill any such vacancy. The bill requires the local governing body to petition the court for a writ of special election within one day of the occurrence of the vacancy and for the court to promptly issue the writ for a special election no more than 45 days from the date the writ is issued, with extensions for special election dates that would conflict with primary and general elections.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: David R. Suetterlein (Republican), Senate

## Actions (5)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB202) (Senate)
- 2026-01-27: Continued to 2027 in Privileges and Elections (8-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-01-09: Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections (Senate)
- 2026-01-09: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100501D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Introduced, 2026-01-09: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231120.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231119.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
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231120.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231119.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-SB202-2027 (as of 2026-10-11).