HB327: Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act; definition of law-enforcement officer.
HOUSE BILL NO. 327
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 9.1-500 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 9.1-500. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Agency" means the Department of State Police, the
Division of Capitol Police, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the
Virginia Port Authority, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Department of Conservation and
Recreation, or the
Department of Motor Vehicles;, the Department of Corrections,
or the political subdivision or the campus police department of any public
institution of higher education of the Commonwealth employing the
law-enforcement officer.
"Law-enforcement officer" means any person, other than a Chief of Police or the Superintendent of the Department of State Police, who, in his official capacity, is (i) authorized by law to make arrests and (ii) a nonprobationary officer of one of the following agencies:
a. 1. The Department of State
Police, the Division of Capitol Police, the Virginia Marine Resources
Commission, the Virginia Port Authority, the Department of Game and Inland
Fisheries, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Department of Motor
Vehicles, or the Department of Conservation and Recreation;
b. 2. The police department,
bureau, or force of any political
subdivision or the campus police department of any public institution of higher
education of the Commonwealth where such department, bureau,
or force has ten 10
or more law-enforcement officers; or
c. Any 3. The Department
of Game and Inland Fisheries for any conservation police
officer as defined in
§ 9.1-101 appointed
pursuant to § 29.1-200.
For the purposes of this
chapter, "law-enforcement "Law-enforcement officer" includes any
uniformed, duly sworn employee of the Department of Corrections whose primary
duties relate to maintaining immediate control, supervision, and custody of
prisoners, regardless of whether such employee has the authority to make
arrests.
"Law-enforcement officer"
shall does not include the sheriff's
department of any city or county or city.