Committee advances bill to expand Virginia Parole Board amid geriatric parole concerns

A House subcommittee on the Virginia General Assembly on an undisclosed date reported House Bill 15-89 as amended to increase the Parole Board’s membership, a sponsor said, to prepare for a rise in geriatric parole cases.

Sponsor Delegate Delia Williams said the bill would increase the number of parole board members from five to 10 and asked the committee to report the bill forward with funding to cover the additional members. "This would, increase the number of parole board members from 5 to 10 members," Williams said. "This is anticipation of the number of, people that we have incarcerated who are about to go on geriatric parole." She added she was willing to reduce the membership increase to five if necessary so the bill would not fail, saying "I would be willing to not have this bill die by allowing this bill to have 5 members instead of the 10 members because the rest of the language is strong and fixes several small things that the parole board wishes to fix."

Committee members adopted an amendment during the session; the clerk recorded the bill as passing the subcommittee as amended by a vote of 8 to 0. The amendment and discussion included changes to effective dates noted in committee remarks (committee members referenced effective dates of 2026 and 2027 during discussion). The committee chair opened the roll and announced, "The bill passes as amended 8 to 0."

Committee remarks show staff and members discussed the amendment and effective dates, but the transcript does not specify the full amendment text or the precise funding mechanism beyond the sponsor’s request that the body "fund that difference." The clerk and chair handled procedural motions and roll call; no individual vote-by-name was recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The bill will move forward in the legislative process as reported by the subcommittee; the transcript does not state subsequent committee assignments or final enactment dates.