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Portsmouth committee lays out 2026 state legislative package, seeks code authority for ABC permits and public-safety changes
Summary
City legislative committee presented five proposed state initiatives — including adding Portsmouth to Va. Code 15.2-2286 to allow conditioned special exceptions for retail alcohol permits — and six priority budget requests; several items already have delegation sponsors while two bills still lack sponsors.
Miss Neal, presenting the city's legislative advisory committee recommendation, told the Portsmouth City Council during a Nov. 25 work session that the city will submit a 2026 state legislative package that includes five specific statutory initiatives, six budget amendment requests and several state public-policy positions.
The package's first request would add Portsmouth to Virginia Code 15.2-2286 to give the city authority to impose conditions on special exceptions or use permits for retail Alcoholic Beverage Control licenses and to allow those permits to automatically expire on a change of ownership, change in possession or a specified passage of time. "The cities of Norfolk and Hampton have already been given this authority," Miss Neal said, and Portsmouth is asking to be added to the same code section.
Other proposed bills are aimed at public safety: legislation to permit retired law-enforcement officers to execute temporary detention and emergency custody orders to free up…
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