HB16 Community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs; work performed while incarcerated.
Introduced by Marcia S. "Cia" Price (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Requires a court to establish a program and allow any person upon whom a fine and costs have been imposed to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of community service 
work or work performed while incarcerated, defined in the bill as any work done on or after July 1, 2020, by a person confined in any penal or corrective institution of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions who is paid a wage that is less than the Virginia minimum wage.
The bill requires such program be available during such person's imprisonment in a local, regional, or state correctional facility. The bill provides that a person who is performing work while incarcerated shall be credited at the same rate as the community service work rate less any wages received. Under current law, a court is required to establish a program for providing an option for community service work in lieu of payment of fines and costs but offering such option is not mandatory. The bill also requires the local, regional, or state correctional facility to provide confirmation of the hours worked and the credits earned for such work upon request of any person who has performed work while incarcerated or his representative.
12/22/2025 Referred to Committee for House-Courts of Justice

1/20/2026 House Assigned H-CJ sub: Criminal

1/23/2026 House-CJ Criminal subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (10‑Y 0‑N)

1/26/2026 House Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB16)

1/30/2026 House. H-APP General Government and Capital Outlay subcommittee recommends reporting (6‑Y 0‑N)

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HB17 Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated defendant; deferred payment agreement.
Introduced by Marcia S. "Cia" Price (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Extends from 90 days without payment to 180 days without payment the period of delinquency necessary for an account to be included on the required monthly report of delinquent accounts made by the clerk of the circuit court and district court. The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charge for which such defendant received the longest period of active incarceration. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

12/22/2025 Referred to Committee for House-Courts of Justice

01/21/2026 House-CJ Criminal subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) and referring to Appropriations (9‑Y 1‑N)

1/30/2026 House. H-APP General Government and Capital Outlay subcommittee recommends reporting (5‑Y 1‑N)

 

HB331 Payment of costs when proceedings deferred and defendant placed on probation.
Introduced by: Adele Y. McClure (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Provides that if a circuit court or district court has deferred proceedings pursuant to relevant law and imposed costs, and the defendant has satisfied all other terms and conditions of such deferral except for payment of such costs or fees, the court shall not enter a judgment of guilty against such defendant for his failure to pay such costs or fees or participate in an alternative method of satisfying such costs or fees. The bill states that such costs or fees shall remain due until paid, and the court may use the same methods of payment and collection already in place to satisfy or collect any outstanding costs or fees after the underlying case against the defendant has been dismissed.

1/11/2026 Referred to Committee for House-Courts of Justice

1/19/2026 House Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB331)

1/21/2026 House-CJ Criminal subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10‑Y 0‑N)

1/30/2026 House. Read first time

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HB660 Court fines and fees; indigent defendant; waiver of fees.
Introduced by: Michelle Lopes Maldonado (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.

Provides that in any criminal or traffic case, the court may waive the assessment of certain fees specified in the bill, either wholly or in part, if the court determines the defendant to be indigent pursuant to the financial criteria set forth in relevant law and unable to pay such fee. The bill provides that the court may make such determination sua sponte or upon motion of the defendant at any time prior to the entry of an order for which such fee is assessed or the final order has been entered.

1/13/2026 Referred to House-Committee for H-Courts of Justice

1/21/2026 House-CJ Criminal subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (7‑Y 3‑N)

​1/30/2026 House Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB660)

 

HB852 Abolition of fees; legal representation of indigent defendant; jury trial costs; report.
Introduced by: Rae Cousins (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Abolition of fees; legal representation of indigent defendant; jury trial costs; report. Eliminates the fees for the cost of court-appointed counsel or public defender representation for persons who are determined to be indigent. The bill also eliminates fees for persons who utilize a jury trial. The bill contains a reenactment clause for such elimination of fees.

The bill also directs the Indigent Defense Commission to convene a work group with all relevant stakeholders, including the Attorney General or his designee, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court or his designee, and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources or his designee; representatives from the Compensation Board, the Virginia Crime Commission, the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Virginia Court Clerk's Association, the Virginia Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, and the Virginia Probation and Parole Association; a minimum of two criminal justice reform organizations working on fees and other financial assessments imposed in criminal prosecutions in Virginia; and a minimum of two people who have been billed for exercising their constitutional right to counsel through representation by court appointed counsel or their right to a trial by a jury of their peers to identify, in regard to charges for exercising constitutional rights to counsel or to a jury, (i) current collections practices; (ii) where funds that are currently received or collected are directed; (iii) the impact of the reduction in the burden on individuals currently assessed with such fees; (iv) what other states have done to avoid or eliminate public defense and trial by jury costs; and (v) a plan for eliminating these fees no later than July 1, 2027. The bill requires the work group to submit an executive summary and report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1, 2026, that includes (a) current practices for implementation and collection of criminal court debt; (b) recommendations for implementing the provisions of the bill related to elimination of fees, if reenacted by the 2027 Session of the General Assembly, including planning the elimination of public defense and trial by jury costs; and (c) any other recommendations on related costs or fees that may be eliminated.

1/13/2026 Referred to House-Committee for H-Courts of Justice

1/30/2026 House. H-CJ Criminal subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (7‑Y 3‑N)

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SB180 Fines and costs; period of limitations on collection; deferred payment agreement.
Introduced by: Angelia Williams Graves (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Fines and costs; period of limitations on collection; deferred payment agreement. Changes the period of limitations for the collection of court fines and costs from within 60 years from the date of the offense or delinquency giving rise to imposition of such penalty if imposed by a circuit court or within 30 years if imposed by a general district court to within 10 years from the date of the judgment whether imposed by a circuit court or general district court. The bill provides that upon the expiration of the period of limitations, no action shall be brought to collect the debt.

The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charge for which such defendant received the longest period of active incarceration.

1/9/2026 Referred to Committee for Senate-Courts of Justice

1/23/2026 Senate. Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB180)

1/26/2026 Senate -Courts of Justice committee amendment offered

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SB185 Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated defendant; deferred payment agreement.
Introduced by: Angelia Williams Graves (Chief Patron) [D]

View the bill here.
Fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, and restitution; collection fees; assessment against incarcerated defendant; deferred payment agreement. Extends from 90 days without payment to 180 days without payment the period of delinquency necessary for an account to be included on the required monthly report of delinquent accounts made by the clerk of the circuit court and district court.

The bill also provides that for any defendant sentenced to an active term of incarceration and ordered to pay any fine, cost, forfeiture, or penalty related to the charge that such defendant is incarcerated for, or any other charge for which such defendant was sentenced on the same day, the court shall enter such defendant into a deferred payment agreement for such fines, costs, forfeitures, or penalties. The bill requires the due date for such deferred payment agreement to be set no earlier than the defendant's scheduled release from incarceration on the charge for which such defendant received the longest period of active incarceration. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.

1/9/2026 Senate. Referred to Committee for Senate-Courts of Justice

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SB810 Deferred or installment payment agreements; outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs.
Introduced by: Emily M. Jordan (Chief Patron, By Request) [R]

View the bill here.
Deferred or installment payment agreements; outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs. Provides that the attorney for the Commonwealth or the clerk of the circuit court shall not require an individual to pay any outstanding court-assessed fines, fees, taxes, or costs arising from a criminal proceeding during the 180-day period following an individual's release from a term of imprisonment.

1/23/2026 Referred to Committee for Senate-Courts of Justice