Subcommittee backs bill to broaden Virginia stalking law to cover cyberstalking

Senate Bill 673, advanced unanimously by the House Courts subcommittee, would update Virginia’s stalking law to address persistent online harassment that prosecutors say current statutes struggle to capture.

The bill’s sponsor told members the measure updates definitions to reflect modern behavior — including texts, social media, automated calls and location-tracking apps — so that repeat offenders can be more readily charged and, on a second offense, face felony exposure. Counsel explained the substitute consolidates the definitions into §18.2-60.3 so existing cross‑references remain applicable.

Why it matters: Commonwealth’s Attorney Alan Nash described a multi-month case in which a target and several family members received hundreds of harassing calls and messages. Nash said misdemeanor statutes and interstate extradition rules left prosecutors unable to obtain adequate remedy: “You have made a mistake that you will never recover from,” he quoted a voicemail from the perpetrator to illustrate the emotional toll and prosecutorial limits.

Supporters including the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance said prosecutors often lack tools to charge cyberstalking and that the bill provides a needed enforcement path. Committee members asked procedural and drafting questions about how the new definitions interact with existing protective‑order and assault provisions; counsel said those cross‑references remain intact.

The subcommittee voted 10–0 to report SB 673 with the substitute and referred it to the Appropriations Committee. The bill’s supporters said the change aligns criminal remedies with how stalking now occurs and would give prosecutors clearer avenues to pursue serial electronic harassers.

The measure now moves to the Appropriations Committee, where any fiscal questions or budget referrals will be resolved before further floor consideration.