Virginia legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Virginia HB1392: An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 18.2-469.1, 53.1-120.1, and 53.1-127.2:1, relating to powers and duties for operation of local and regional correctional facilities and courthouse security; attorney access to courthouses and communication and visitation with incarcerated clients; penalty.
Status: Vetoed, May 19, 2026
Powers and duties for operation of local and regional correctional facilities and courthouse security; attorney access to courthouses and communication and visitation with incarcerated clients; penalty. Provides that if a sheriff allows courthouse employees or law-enforcement officers to bypass any security screening required to enter a courthouse, such sheriff shall also exempt from the security screening any attorney who displays a valid Virginia State Bar-issued bar card and a government-issued identification. The bill creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any attorney who has had his license to practice law in the Commonwealth suspended or revoked and who displays a Virginia State Bar-issued bar card in an effort to be exempt from the security screening. The bill also requires any telephonic, electronic, or web-based communication system for prisoners that is offered by a sheriff or jail superintendent who operates a local or regional correctional facility to include a confidential means for a prisoner to communicate with his attorney at regular and reasonable times.
What the bill says
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 18.2-469.1, 53.1-120.1, and 53.1-127.2:1, relating to powers and duties for operation of local and regional correctional facilities and courthouse security; attorney access to courthouses and communication and visitation with incarcerated clients; penalty. [H 1392] Approved 1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 18.2-469.1, 53.1-120.1, and 53.1-127.2:1 as penalty. Any attorney who has had his license to practice law in the Commonwealth suspended or revoked and who displays a Virginia State Bar-issued.
From the enrolled text, March 30, 2026:
An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 18.2-469.1, 53.1-120.1, and 53.1-127.2:1, relating to powers and duties for operation of local and regional correctional facilities and courthouse security; attorney access to courthouses and communication and visitation with incarcerated clients; penalty. [H 1392] Approved 1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding sections numbered 18.2-469.1, 53.1-120.1, and 53.1-127.2:1 as penalty. Any attorney who has had his license to practice law in the Commonwealth suspended or revoked and who displays a Virginia State Bar-issued attorney member bar card for the purposes of holding himself out to be exempt from a security screening at the entrance of a courthouse in accordance with the provisions of § 53.1-120.1 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. § 53.1-120.1. Courthouse security; certain persons exempt from security screening. Any sheriff who exempts courthouse employees or law-enforcement officers, or both, from any security screening required to enter a courthouse within the sheriff's jurisdiction, including by allowing such courthouse employees or law-enforcement officers to enter through any entrance that is not for public use, shall also exempt any attorney who displays a valid Virginia State Bar-issued attorney member bar card and a government-issued identification. The sheriff shall report to the appropriate law-enforcement agency and to the Virginia State Bar any attorney who enters …