Bill Text: VA HB2579 | 2019 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: State Police, Department of; reporting hate crimes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-05 - Left in Courts of Justice [HB2579 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HB2579-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §52-8.5 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§52-8.5. Reporting hate crimes.
A. The Superintendent shall establish and maintain within the Department of State Police a central repository for the collection and analysis of information regarding hate crimes and groups and individuals carrying out such acts.
B. State, county and municipal law-enforcement agencies shall report to the Department all hate crimes occurring in their jurisdictions in a form, time and manner prescribed by the Superintendent. Such reports shall not be open to public inspection except insofar as the Superintendent shall permit.
C. For purposes of this section, "hate crime" means
(i) a criminal act committed against a person or his property with the specific
intent of instilling fear or intimidation in the individual against whom the
act is perpetrated because of race, religion,
gender, disability, sexual
orientation, or ethnic national origin or that is
committed for the purpose of restraining that person from exercising his rights
under the Constitution or laws of this the Commonwealth or of the
United States,; (ii) any illegal act directed
against any persons or their property because of those persons' race, religion, gender,
disability, sexual orientation, or
national origin,; and (iii) all other
incidents, as determined by law-enforcement authorities, intended to intimidate
or harass any individual or group because of race, religion,
gender, disability, sexual
orientation, or national origin.
