Proposed Virginia Firearm Legislation SB471
Legislation Overview
Title: Releasing of hunting dogs; state or local roadway; hunting, fishing, and trapping special license; penalty.
Description: Releasing of hunting dogs; state or local roadway; hunting, fishing, and trapping special license; penalty. Creates a Class 3 misdemeanor for the release of hunting dogs on or within 15 feet of the edge of a roadway owned or maintained by the Department of Transportation or a locality and provides that a second or subsequent offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill allows a court to prohibit any person who released hunting dogs on or within 15 feet of the edge of a roadway owned or maintained by the Department or locality from hunting, trapping, or fishing in the Commonwealth for a period of up to five years. The bill permits the stopping of a vehicle on a highway for the retrieval of a companion animal from a highway or area adjacent to a highway. The bill allows certain people such as a landowner and other people associated with such landowner, stockholder, tenant, or guest of the landowner in certain circumstances, to apply for a special license to hunt, fish, and trap exclusively on a landowner's property in lieu of other hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses required by state law.
Session: 2026 Regular Regular Session
Last Action: Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
Last Action Date: January 13, 2026
Sponsors
Note: the first sponsor listed is normally the primary sponsor. If a sponsor's name is a hyperlink you can click on it to 'follow the money'.
1 sponsors: Dave Marsden (D);
Percentage of Senate sponsoring bill: 3% (1 of 40)
History
| Chamber | Date | Action |
| Senate | Jan 13, 2026 | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102612D |
| Senate | Jan 13, 2026 | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources |
Texts
| Type | Date | State Link | Text |
| Introduced | Jan 13, 2026 | state link | bill text |
Amendments
| Title | Description | Date | State Link | Text | Adopted |
| There are no amendments to this bill at this time | |||||
Votes - Click on description to view vote roll call
There have not been any votes on this bill
Link: link to state bill page
