CHAPTER 468
An Act to amend and reenact §§15.2-1705 and 15.2-1707 of the
Code of Virginia, relating to law-enforcement officers; grounds for
decertification; notification.
[S 1026]
Approved March 16, 2013
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§15.2-1705 and 15.2-1707 of the Code of Virginia
are amended and reenacted as follows:
§15.2-1705. Minimum qualifications; waiver.
A. The chief of police and all police officers of any
locality, all deputy sheriffs and jail officers in this Commonwealth, and all
law-enforcement officers as defined in §9.1-101 who enter upon the duties of
such office after July 1, 1994, are required to meet the following minimum
qualifications for office. Such person shall (i) be a citizen of the United
States, (ii) be required to undergo a background investigation including
fingerprint-based criminal history records inquiries to both the Central
Criminal Records Exchange and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (iii) have a
high school education or have passed the General Educational Development exam,
(iv) possess a valid driver's license if required by the duties of office to
operate a motor vehicle, (v) undergo a physical examination, subsequent to a
conditional offer of employment, conducted under the supervision of a licensed
physician, (vi) be at least eighteen years of age, (vii) not have been
convicted of or pleaded pled guilty or no contest to a felony or
any offense that would be a felony if committed in Virginia the
Commonwealth, and (viii) not have produced a positive result on a
pre-employment drug screening, if such screening is required by the hiring
law-enforcement agency or jail, where the positive result cannot be explained
to the law-enforcement agency or jail administrator's satisfaction. In
addition, all such officers who enter upon the duties of such office on or
after July 1, 2013, shall not have been convicted of or pled guilty or no
contest to (a) any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, including but not
limited to petit larceny under §18.2-96, or any offense involving moral
turpitude that would be a misdemeanor if committed in the Commonwealth, (b) any
misdemeanor sex offense in the Commonwealth, another state, or the United
States, including but not limited to sexual battery under §18.2-67.4 or
consensual sexual intercourse with a minor 15 or older under clause (ii) of §
18.2-371, or (c) domestic assault under §18.2-57.2 or any offense that would
be domestic assault under the laws of another state or the United States.
B. Upon request of a sheriff or chief of police, or the
director or chief executive of any agency or department employing
law-enforcement officers as defined in §9.1-101, or jail officers as defined
in §53.1-1, the Department of Criminal Justice Services is hereby authorized
to waive the requirements for qualification as set out in subsection A of this
section for good cause shown.
§15.2-1707. Decertification of law-enforcement officers.
Upon written notification from the sheriff, chief of police
or agency administrator that A. The sheriff, chief of police, or agency
administrator shall notify the Criminal Justice Services Board in writing when any
certified law-enforcement or jail officer currently employed by his agency
has (i) been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to a felony or any
offense that would be a felony if committed in Virginia the
Commonwealth, (ii) been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to a
Class 1 misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or any offense that would be any
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, including but not limited to petit
larceny under §18.2-96, or any offense involving moral turpitude that would be
a misdemeanor if committed in the Commonwealth, (iii) been convicted of or pled
guilty or no contest to any misdemeanor sex offense in the Commonwealth,
another state, or the United States, including but not limited to sexual
battery under §18.2-67.4 or consensual sexual intercourse with a minor 15 or
older under clause (ii) of §18.2-371, (iv) been convicted of or pled guilty or
no contest to domestic assault under §18.2-57.2 or any offense that would be
domestic assault under the laws of another state or the United States, (v)
failed to comply with or maintain compliance with mandated training
requirements, or (iii) (vi) refused to submit to a drug screening
or has produced a positive result on a drug screening reported to the employing
agency, where the positive result cannot be explained to the agency
administrator's satisfaction, which. Notification shall also be
provided in writing for any employee who resigned or was terminated in advance
of being convicted or found guilty of an offense that requires decertification
or who resigned or was terminated in advance of a pending drug screening. The
notification, where appropriate, shall be accompanied by a copy of the judgment
of conviction. Upon receiving such notice from the sheriff, chief of police,
or agency administrator, or from an attorney for the Commonwealth, the
Criminal Justice Services Board shall decertify such law-enforcement or jail
officer. Such officer shall not have the right to serve as a law-enforcement
officer within this the Commonwealth until his certification has
been reinstated by the Board.
The clerk of any court in which a conviction of a felony is
made who has knowledge that a law-enforcement or jail officer has been
convicted shall have a duty to report these findings promptly to the employing
agency.
B. When a conviction has not become final, the Board
may decline to decertify the officer until the conviction becomes final, after
considering the likelihood of irreparable damage to the officer if such officer
is decertified during the pendency of an ultimately successful appeal, the
likelihood of injury or damage to the public if the officer is not decertified,
and the seriousness of the offense.
C. The Department of Criminal Justice Services is hereby
authorized to waive the requirements for decertification as set out in
subsection A for good cause shown.
D. The Criminal Justice Services Board may initiate
decertification proceedings against any former law-enforcement or jail officer
whom the Board has found to have been convicted of an offense that requires
decertification or who has failed to comply with or maintain compliance with
mandated training requirements.
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