Combined, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth.

When sitting in Richmond, the General Assembly holds sessions in the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 and expanded in 1904.

Senators and delegates have their offices in the General Assembly Building across the street directly north of the Capitol, which have been rebuilt and opened in 2023.

"[7] Its existence dates to its establishment at Jamestown on July 30, 1619, by instructions from the Virginia Company of London to the new Governor Sir George Yeardley.

It was initially a unicameral body composed of the Company-appointed Governor and Council of State, plus 22 burgesses elected by the settlements and Jamestown.

[13] Under the Constitution of Virginia, senators and delegates must be twenty-one years of age at the time of the election, residents of the district they represent, and qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly.

[18] Governor Bob McDonnell's Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for the Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1, 2011.

It made two recommendations for each state legislative house that showed maps of districts more compact and contiguous than those adopted by the General Assembly.

About 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U.S. Congressional Districts.

The "Division 1" maps conformed with the Governor's executive order, and did not address electoral competition or representational fairness.

Districts are to be established on the basis of population, in conformance with federal and state laws and court cases, including those addressing racial fairness.

[22] In 2020, a constitutional amendment moved redistricting power to a commission consisting of eight lawmakers, four from each party, and eight citizens.