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HB974 • 2026

Witness impeachment evidence designation; review process.

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 19.2-268.4, relating to witness impeachment evidence designation; review process.

Labor
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Price
Last action
2026-04-08
Official status
Acts of Assembly Chapter
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text does not provide specific details on how the attorney for the Commonwealth should respond to objections from law-enforcement officers or what happens if a police officer does not request a review or object to their designation, leaving these aspects open to interpretation.

Witness Impeachment Evidence Designation and Review Process

This act establishes rules for when an attorney for the Commonwealth designates a law-enforcement officer as a witness with impeachment evidence, including review processes and protections against discipline.

What This Bill Does

  • Defines 'witness impeachment evidence designation' as a determination by the attorney for the Commonwealth about a police officer who has engaged in conduct that meets the requirements for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States.
  • Requires the attorney for the Commonwealth to notify the law-enforcement officer and their employer within seven days of making this designation, specifying the action taken and remedies available.
  • Allows the law-enforcement officer 21 days to request a review of the evidence or materials resulting in their designation.
  • Gives the law-enforcement officer 21 days to object to the designation if they disagree with it, providing specific reasons why.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Law-enforcement officers who are designated as witnesses with impeachment evidence by the attorney for the Commonwealth.
  • The attorney for the Commonwealth and their office.
  • Employing agencies of law-enforcement officers.

Terms To Know

witness impeachment evidence designation
A determination made by or a designation created by the attorney for the Commonwealth relating to a law-enforcement officer who has engaged in conduct that meets the requirements for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States.
attorney for the Commonwealth
The chief prosecutor of Virginia, responsible for prosecuting crimes and representing the state's interests in legal matters.

Limits and Unknowns

  • Does not specify what happens if a law-enforcement officer does not request a review or object to their designation.
  • Does not provide details on how the attorney for the Commonwealth should respond to objections from law-enforcement officers.
  • The effective date of this act is not provided.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB974AHC1

2026-02-09

Courts of Justice Amendment

Plain English: The amendment to HB974 removes certain phrases related to the Commonwealth and the Attorney General from specific lines in the bill text.

  • Removes 'within' after a specified point in the bill text.
  • Strikes out 'or the Attorney General' after mentioning 'Commonwealth'.
  • Eliminates the rest of line 37 after 'Commonwealth'.
  • The exact impact and context of these changes are not fully explained in the provided amendment text.
HB974AHC2

2026-02-09 • Committee

Criminal Subcommittee Amendment

Plain English: The amendment to HB974 removes certain phrases related to the Attorney General and modifies specific lines in the bill text.

  • Removes 'within' from a specified part of the bill.
  • Strikes out 'or the Attorney General' after 'Commonwealth'.
  • Eliminates the rest of line 37 after 'Commonwealth'.
  • The exact impact and context of these changes are not fully explained in the provided amendment text.
HB974AH1

2026-02-11 • Committee

Courts of Justice Amendment

Plain English: The amendment modifies certain sections of HB974 by removing specific phrases related to the Commonwealth and the Attorney General.

  • Removes 'within' from a section in the bill.
  • Strikes out 'or the Attorney General' after 'Commonwealth'.
  • Eliminates the remainder of line 37 that follows 'Commonwealth'.
  • The exact content being removed is not fully specified, making it unclear what specific text will be eliminated.
HB974ASC1

2026-03-05 • Committee

Courts of Justice Amendment

Plain English: The amendment modifies the bill to specify that witness impeachment evidence designation applies only for criminal prosecutions where the officer is involved.

  • Removes language allowing witness impeachment evidence designation under certain conditions.
  • Adds new language limiting the application of witness impeachment evidence designation to criminal cases in which an officer is a participant.
  • The exact impact and scope of removing the original language are unclear without additional context.
HB974AS1

2026-03-09 • Committee

Courts of Justice Amendment

Plain English: The amendment modifies the bill to specify that witness impeachment evidence designation applies only for criminal prosecutions where the officer is involved.

  • Removes language allowing witness impeachment evidence designation under certain conditions.
  • Adds new language limiting the application of witness impeachment evidence designation to criminal cases in which an officer participates.
  • The exact impact and scope of removing the original language is unclear without additional context.
HB974EDOC

2026-03-10 • Senate

Senate Amendments

Plain English: The amendment modifies the bill to specify that witness impeachment evidence designation applies only for criminal prosecutions where the officer is involved.

  • Removes part of the original text after 'who' and before 'otherwise'.
  • Adds new language stating that the witness impeachment evidence designation applies specifically for any criminal prosecution in which an officer is a participant.
  • The exact impact of removing specific words from the original bill without knowing their context may be unclear.
  • It's not clear what other parts of the bill might be affected by this change.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-08 Governor

    Approved by Governor-Chapter 441 (effective 7/1/2026)

  2. 2026-04-08 Governor

    Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0441)

  3. 2026-04-01 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB974)

  4. 2026-03-31 House

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026

  5. 2026-03-31 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

  6. 2026-03-31 House

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026

  7. 2026-03-31 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

  8. 2026-03-31 House

    Signed by Speaker

  9. 2026-03-31 House

    Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026

  10. 2026-03-31 Governor

    Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026

  11. 2026-03-30 Senate

    Signed by President

  12. 2026-03-30 House

    Enrolled

  13. 2026-03-30 House

    Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB974ER)

  14. 2026-03-11 House

    Senate amendments agreed to by House (70-Y 28-N 0-A)

  15. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Read third time

  16. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Read third time

  17. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Engrossed by Senate as amended

  18. 2026-03-10 Courts of Justice

    Courts of Justice Amendments agreed to

  19. 2026-03-10 Senate

    Passed Senate with amendments (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  20. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Rules suspended

  21. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Passed by for the day

  22. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)

  23. 2026-03-09 Senate

    Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)

  24. 2026-03-05 Courts of Justice

    Reported from Courts of Justice with amendments (12-Y 0-N 2-A)

  25. 2026-03-05 Senate

    Senate committee offered

  26. 2026-03-02 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB974)

  27. 2026-02-18 Senate

    Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)

  28. 2026-02-18 Courts of Justice

    Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

  29. 2026-02-17 House

    Read third time and passed House (64-Y 33-N 0-A)

  30. 2026-02-16 House

    Read second time

  31. 2026-02-16 House

    committee amendments agreed to

  32. 2026-02-16 House

    Engrossed by House as amended

  33. 2026-02-16 Courts of Justice

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB974)

  34. 2026-02-13 House

    Read first time

  35. 2026-02-11 Courts of Justice

    Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment(s) (16-Y 6-N)

  36. 2026-02-09 Criminal

    Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (7-Y 3-N)

  37. 2026-02-09 Criminal

    House subcommittee offered

  38. 2026-02-07 Criminal

    Assigned HCJ sub: Criminal

  39. 2026-01-13 House

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103116D

  40. 2026-01-13 Courts of Justice

    Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

Official Summary Text

Witness impeachment evidence designation; review process.
Provides a review process when the attorney for the Commonwealth designates a law-enforcement officer as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation within certain time frames specified in the bill. The bill defines "witness impeachment evidence designation" as a determination that is made by or a designation that is created by the attorney for the Commonwealth relating to a law-enforcement officer who has engaged in conduct that meets the requirements for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States for any criminal prosecution in which the officer is a participant. The bill prohibits a law-enforcement officer from being discharged, disciplined, or threatened with discharge or discipline solely due to the designation of such officer as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
19.2-268.4
, relating to witness impeachment evidence designation; review process.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered
19.2-268.4
as follows:
§
19.2-268.4
. Witness impeachment evidence designation; review process.
A. For purposes of this section:
"Law-enforcement officer" means the same as that term is defined in §
9.1-101
.
"Notice" means written notice given in person or by certified mail or trackable courier service with signature requirement.
"Witness impeachment evidence designation" means a determination that is made by or designation that is created by the attorney for the Commonwealth relating to a law-enforcement officer who
has
engaged in conduct that meets the requirements for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States
for any criminal prosecution in which the officer is a participant
.
B. Within seven days of designating a law-enforcement officer as being a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation, the attorney for the Commonwealth shall serve notice upon such law-enforcement officer and upon the agency employing such officer specifying the action taken and remedies available. Any law-enforcement officer designated as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation may, within 21

days of receipt of such notice, request to review the evidence or materials resulting in his designation by the attorney for the Commonwealth as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation. Such review shall be granted by the attorney for the Commonwealth within five business days.
C. The law-enforcement officer may object to a designation pursuant to subsection B by serving written objections to the attorney for the Commonwealth

within 21 days of receipt of notice of such designation. Such objections shall state with specificity the grounds on which the objection is raised, which may include (i) the factual dispute as to the reasons for such law-enforcement officer's designation as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation or (ii) the factual dispute over whether such law-enforcement officer's conduct rises to the level of conduct that meets the requirements for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States. Such objections may include evidence that the law-enforcement officer would like considered and where such evidence may be found. Within seven days of receiving such objections, the attorney for the Commonwealth

shall issue a written response stating with specificity the grounds on which the law-enforcement officer was designated as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation or indicating that such designation is removed.
D. No law-enforcement officer shall be discharged, disciplined, or threatened with discharge or discipline by his employing agency solely due to his designation in a matter as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation. This subsection shall not prohibit such agency from dismissing, suspending, demoting, or taking other disciplinary actions against a law-enforcement officer based on the underlying actions that resulted in such officer being designated as a witness with a witness impeachment evidence designation, including any conduct that meets the requirement for disclosure in a criminal prosecution according to the Constitution of the United States.