# Virginia SB793: Court of Appeals of Virginia; increases maximum number of judges, hearings en banc.

Virginia SB793, Court of Appeals of Virginia; increases maximum number of judges, hearings en banc., is a 2027 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Scott A. Surovell (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-SB793-2027
- As of: 2026-10-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Virginia SB793
- State: Virginia
- Session: 2027 Regular Session
- Title: Court of Appeals of Virginia; increases maximum number of judges, hearings en banc.
- Status: in committee
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2026-01-23
- Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session
- Sponsor: Scott A. Surovell (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: Finance and Appropriations
- Touches household money: no
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

Maximum number of judges on the Court of Appeals of Virginia; hearings en banc. Increases from 17 to 21 the maximum number of authorized judges on the Court of Appeals of Virginia. The bill provides that the Supreme Court of Virginia shall prescribe by rule the number of judges needed for the Court of Appeals to sit en banc, and that such number shall not be fewer than 13 judges.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Scott A. Surovell (Democratic), Senate

## Actions (8)

- 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (Senate)
- 2026-02-11: Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 1-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-06: Committee substitute printed 26106480D-S1 (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Senate committee offered (Senate)
- 2026-02-04: Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) (Senate)
- 2026-02-02: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB793) (Senate)
- 2026-01-23: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice (Senate)
- 2026-01-23: Presented and ordered printed 26106064D (Senate)

## Bill text

- Substitute, 2026-02-06: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230144.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230143.PDF)
- Substitute, 2026-02-04: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231553.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231552.PDF)
- Introduced, 2026-01-23: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230582.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230581.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/1230144.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230143.PDF)
- [Substitute (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231553.HTML)
- [Substitute (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231552.PDF)
- [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230582.HTML)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1230581.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)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB793-2027 (as of 2026-10-11).