Hundreds of new laws will be going into effect on July 1st.

Virginia lawmakers are now halfway through the General Assembly session.

Over 180 House bills and almost 80 Senate bills have been filed ahead of the 2024 General Assembly session.

Several new laws go into effect with the start of the new year. We're breaking down the ones you should keep in mind.

The General Assembly will convene in a special session Sept. 6 to approve amendments to the current two-year budget.

The Justice Department is sending out more than $200 million to help states and the District of Columbia administer “red-flag laws” and other crisis-intervention programs.

With the Smith Mountain Lake Pirate Days event coming on July 16, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is reminding Virginia citizens of the new regulation that went into effect on July 1, which bans citizens from intentionally releasing or discarding any non-biodegradable or non-photodegradable balloons outdoors in the Commonwealth.

Most of the legislation passed earlier this year by the divided Virginia General Assembly and signed into law by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will take effect Friday.

BEDFORD COUNTY, VA. – Virginia’s new hands-free driving law began Friday. It’s a new day for Bedford County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. “Outside of someone specifically saying, ‘yes, I was texting and driving,’ the law was almost unenforceable. Hands-free driving started Friday and now, driving with a phone in your hand for any reason is illegal. We saw one woman talking on her phone driving Interstate 81 with out-of-state tags.

The next time you are pulled over in Virginia, an officer will have to write down your race because of a new law called the Community Policing Act. The bill, introduced by a delegate in northern Virginia a year ago, went into effect on July 1. According to the law, Virginia State Police will be in charge of collecting the data from law enforcement agencies in the commonwealth. Virginia State Police will take all the reported data collected annually and hand it over to the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Amherst County told 10 News theyll be sending reports to Virginia State Police every month.

ROANOKE, Va. – President Donald Trump is expected to sign the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act into law on Monday. PACT is a bipartisan bill that criminalizes acts of animal cruelty, including crushing, burning, drowning and impaling animals, among other things. The president is expected to sign the bill at 4:30 p.m., according to his schedule. These crimes will now be considered federal felonies, allowing authorities to prosecute animal abusers who cross state lines. The bill also bans animal cruelty recorded on video.