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Virginia bills · 2026 Regular Session

Virginia HB 602

Motion picture theaters; definitions, establishes requirements for open captioning.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed House
  4. Passed Senate
  5. To Governor
  6. Became law

Sponsors

Cosponsors (42)

Summary

Official abstract published by the Virginia legislature· SUMMARY AS PASSED

Open captioning at motion picture theaters. Establishes requirements for open captioning for motion picture theaters. The bill requires all motion picture theater companies, excluding outdoor theaters such as drive-in theaters, that own, operate, control, or lease five or more locations in the Commonwealth and are open to the general public to provide open captioning on any film that has at least seven showings per operating week for a period greater than one operating week, provided that open captioning is available to the theater for such film as part of the digital cinema package. The bill specifies that (i) within the first two operating weeks following a film's release, a theater shall provide at least four open captioning viewings; (ii) at least one of such open captioning viewings shall start between (a) 5:59 p.m. and 11:01 p.m. on a Friday, (b) 10:59 a.m. and 11:01 p.m. on a Saturday or Sunday, or (c) 5:59 p.m. and 10:01 p.m. on a Monday through Thursday; and (iii) beginning in the third operating week following a film's release, a theater shall provide at least one open captioning viewing within 72 hours after receiving a request for such a viewing provided that no theater shall be obligated to provide open captioning viewing for any particular screening for which advance tickets have been sold prior to its receipt of such request. Under the bill, motion picture theater companies are required to provide contact information on their websites for receiving and fulfilling requests for open captioning screenings and advertise the date and time of open captioning screenings in the same manner used to advertise all other motion picture screenings and indicate which screenings shall include open captioning by utilizing the character symbol "OC" or such other language or symbols as may reasonably identify which screenings will include open captioning. The bill directs the Office of Civil Rights of the Attorney General of Virginia to establish a process for receiving consumer reports of suspected violations of the bill. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Disability Commission. This bill is identical to SB 722.

Text versions

Roll-call votes

State vote data last updated Oct 15, 2026, 8:04 PM.

DateVoteResultYour legislators
Mar 2, 2026
Senate		Passage RpassSet your home in Virginia to see
Feb 26, 2026
Senate		Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading)passSet your home in Virginia to see
Feb 25, 2026
Senate		Reported from Finance and AppropriationspassSet your home in Virginia to see
Feb 17, 2026
House		H VOTE:passSet your home in Virginia to see
Feb 12, 2026
House		Reported from Health and Human Services with substitutepassSet your home in Virginia to see
Feb 10, 2026
House		Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitutepassSet your home in Virginia to see

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