Criminal Subcommittee

Wednesday, February 25, 2026·1h 2m·▶ Watch / Listen

Key Actions

·SB 689 – Oral Threats Against DSS Workers; PenaltyNo Vote

+ 5 more actions

Controversies

Whether existing general trespass statute (18.2-119) already covered the ambulance incident underlying SB 111

Madam Chair and counsel both questioned why the fire station ambulance incident could not have been prosecuted under 18.2-119, while Senator Craig and David Westcott maintained existing law did not cover the situation. Justin Griffith offered an explanation distinguishing a lawful right to be at a location from entering personal property one has been forbidden to enter, though Madam Chair continued to express concern about the 'Christmas tree' effect of adding only one vehicle category to a long-standing statute.

+ 2 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“If I host you at my office and I'm giving you a tour of my office, you have a lawful right to be there. I invited you there. If I say my baseball card room, well, my son's four wheeler's over there. Don't mess with it, please. And then I go to the restroom and I come back, you're lawfully in my office. You were invited into my office, but you're standing on top of my kid's four wheeler. That's kind of this situation.”
Justin Griffith — Griffith was responding to questions about why the existing general trespass statute (18.2-119) did not cover the incident in which individuals entered a fire station ambulance without permission — the individuals had a lawful right to be at the location but entered personal property they had been forbidden to enter.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Carry over SB 689 under Rule 22 to 2027 with a letter to the Crime CommissionNo Vote

Report Senate Bill 111Passed

Amend Senate Bill 559 as reported by counselPassed

Report Senate Bill 559 as amendedPassed

Report Senate Bill 778 and refer to Appropriations CommitteePassed

Amend Senate Bill 142 with a reenactment clausePassed

Report Senate Bill 142 as amendedPassed

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TranscriptPreview

The Courts of Justice Criminal Law Subcommittee of the House will come to order. Clerk, please open the roll. Members cast indicate your presence. We have a quorum. Thank you. The patrons we have in the room. Okay. Senator Mulkey. Thank you. Madam Chair. Members of the committee, we're going to do S.B. 689. H.B. 689. Yes. Senate bill. Yes, ma'. Am. I said H. Excuse me. That's okay. I almost called you Senator Watt, so we're good. So this bill is. It just does one simple thing. It protects Department of Social Services workers and local social service. Well, I had that repeated. Sorry. From oral threats. The same way we already protect teachers and healthcare workers. Right now, under Virginia law, if someone walks up to a teacher on school grounds and threatens to kill them, That's a Class 1 misdemeanor. If someone threatens a nurse at a hospital while they're doing their job, same thing, Class one misdemeanor. But if someone threatens a DSS caseworker or local social services worker, perhaps because the caseworker acted, you know, in a situation like to remove a child from a home or denied an application for benefits, there's no specific…

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