Friday, September 5, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB342: Law-enforcement officer; circumstances under which may detain person suspected of criminal activity.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 19.2-82.1 as follows:
§ 19.2-82.1. Temporary detention by law-enforcement officer of person suspected of criminal behavior; penalty.
A law-enforcement officer may detain any person whom the officer encounters under circumstances that reasonably indicate that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. A law-enforcement officer may detain the person pursuant to this section only to ascertain his identity and to inquire about the suspicious circumstances surrounding his presence. Any person so detained shall identify himself, but may not be compelled to answer any other inquiry of the officer. Any person who fails to identify himself or who provides a false identity is in violation of this section and is guilty of obstruction of justice under subsection A of § 18.2-460.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.