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2002 SESSION


CHAPTER 836
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 9.1-101, 9.1-102, 9.1-110, 9.1-184, 15.2-1737, and 19.2-13 of the Code of Virginia, and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-280.2:1, relating to school safety personnel.
[S 295]
Approved April 17, 2002

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 9.1-101, 9.1-102, 9.1-110, 9.1-184, 15.2-1737, and 19.2-13 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 22.1-280.2:1 as follows:

§ 9.1-101. Definitions.

As used in this chapter or in Chapter 23 (§ 19.2-387 et seq.) of Title 19.2, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Administration of criminal justice" means performance of any activity directly involving the detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders or the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information.

"Board" means the Criminal Justice Services Board.

"Conviction data" means information in the custody of any criminal justice agency relating to a judgment of conviction, and the consequences arising therefrom, in any court.

"Correctional status information" means records and data concerning each condition of a convicted person's custodial status, including probation, confinement, work release, study release, escape, or termination of custody through expiration of sentence, parole, pardon, or court decision.

"Criminal history record information" means records and data collected by criminal justice agencies on adult individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, or other formal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom. The term shall not include juvenile record information which is controlled by Chapter 11 (§ 16.1-226 et seq.) of Title 16.1, criminal justice intelligence information, criminal justice investigative information, or correctional status information.

"Criminal justice agency" means (i) a court or any other governmental agency or subunit thereof which as its principal function performs the administration of criminal justice and any other agency or subunit thereof which performs criminal justice activities, but only to the extent that it does so and (ii) for the purposes of Chapter 23 (§ 19.2-387 et seq.) of Title 19.2, any private corporation or agency which, within the context of its criminal justice activities employs officers appointed under § 15.2-1737, or special conservators of the peace or special policemen appointed under Chapter 2 (§ 19.2-12 et seq.) of Title 19.2, provided that (a) such private corporation or agency requires its officers, special conservators or special policemen to meet compulsory training standards established by the Criminal Justice Services Board and submits reports of compliance with the training standards and (b) the private corporation or agency complies with the provisions of Article 3 (§ 9.1-126 et seq.) of this chapter, but only to the extent that the private corporation or agency so designated as a criminal justice agency performs criminal justice activities.

"Criminal justice agency" includes any program certified by the Commission on VASAP pursuant to § 18.2-271.2.

"Criminal justice information system" means a system including the equipment, facilities, procedures, agreements, and organizations thereof, for the collection, processing, preservation, or dissemination of criminal history record information. The operations of the system may be performed manually or by using electronic computers or other automated data processing equipment.

"Department" means the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

"Dissemination" means any transfer of information, whether orally, in writing, or by electronic means. The term shall not include access to the information by officers or employees of a criminal justice agency maintaining the information who have both a need and right to know the information.

"Law-enforcement officer" means any full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, and shall include any (i) special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control; (ii) police agent appointed under the provisions of § 56-353; (iii) officer of the Virginia Marine Patrol; (iv) game warden who is a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; (v) agent, investigator, or inspector appointed under § 56-334; or (vi) investigator who is a full-time sworn member of the security division of the State Lottery Department. Part-time employees are those compensated officers who are not full-time employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff's office. Full-time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles meeting the Department of Criminal Justice Services qualifications shall be deemed to be "law-enforcement officers" when fulfilling their duties pursuant to § 46.2-217.

"School resource officer" means a certified law-enforcement officer hired by the local law-enforcement agency to provide law-enforcement and security services to Virginia public elementary and secondary schools.

"School security officer" means an individual who is employed by the local school board for the singular purpose of maintaining order and discipline, preventing crime, investigating violations of school board policies, and detaining students violating the law or school board policies on school property or at school-sponsored events and who is responsible solely for ensuring the safety, security, and welfare of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors in the assigned school.

§ 9.1-102. Powers and duties of the Board and the Department.

The Department, under the direction of the Board, which shall be the policy-making body for carrying out the duties and powers hereunder, shall have the power and duty to:

1. Adopt regulations, pursuant to the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.), for the administration of (i) this chapter including the authority to require the submission of reports and information by law-enforcement officers within the Commonwealth or (ii) §§ 18.2-268.6, 18.2-268.9, 19.2-188.1, 19.2-310.5 and for any provisions of the Code as they relate to the responsibilities of the Division of Forensic Science. Any proposed regulations concerning the privacy, confidentiality, and security of criminal justice information shall be submitted for review and comment to any board, commission, or committee or other body which may be established by the General Assembly to regulate the privacy, confidentiality, and security of information collected and maintained by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof;

2. Establish compulsory minimum training standards subsequent to employment as a law-enforcement officer in (i) permanent positions, and (ii) temporary or probationary status, and establish the time required for completion of such training;

3. Establish minimum training standards and qualifications for certification and recertification for law-enforcement officers serving as field training officers;

4. Establish compulsory minimum curriculum requirements for in-service and advanced courses and programs for schools, whether located in or outside the Commonwealth, which are operated for the specific purpose of training law-enforcement officers;

5. Establish (i) compulsory minimum training standards for law-enforcement officers who utilize radar or an electrical or microcomputer device to measure the speed of motor vehicles as provided in § 46.2-882 and establish the time required for completion of the training and (ii) compulsory minimum qualifications for certification and recertification of instructors who provide such training;

6. Establish compulsory training courses for law-enforcement officers in laws and procedures relating to entrapment, search and seizure, evidence, and techniques of report writing, which training shall be completed by law-enforcement officers who have not completed the compulsory training standards set out in subdivision 2, prior to assignment of any such officers to undercover investigation work. Failure to complete the training shall not, for that reason, constitute grounds to exclude otherwise properly admissible testimony or other evidence from such officer resulting from any undercover investigation;

7. Establish compulsory minimum entry level, in-service and advanced training standards for those persons designated to provide courthouse and courtroom security pursuant to the provisions of § 53.1-120, and to establish the time required for completion of such training;

8. Establish compulsory minimum entry level, in-service and advanced training standards for deputy sheriffs designated to serve process pursuant to the provisions of § 8.01-293, and establish the time required for the completion of such training;

9. Establish compulsory minimum entry-level, in-service, and advanced training standards for persons employed as deputy sheriffs and jail officers by local criminal justice agencies and for correctional officers employed by the Department of Corrections under the provisions of Title 53.1, and establish the time required for completion of such training;

10. Establish compulsory minimum training standards for all dispatchers employed by or in any local or state government agency, whose duties include the dispatching of law-enforcement personnel. Such training standards shall apply only to dispatchers hired on or after July 1, 1988;

11. Consult and cooperate with counties, municipalities, agencies of the Commonwealth, other state and federal governmental agencies, and with universities, colleges, community colleges, and other institutions, whether located in or outside the Commonwealth, concerning the development of police training schools and programs or courses of instruction;

12. Approve institutions, curricula and facilities, whether located in or outside the Commonwealth, for school operation for the specific purpose of training law-enforcement officers; but this shall not prevent the holding of any such school whether approved or not;

13. Establish and maintain police training programs through such agencies and institutions as the Board deems appropriate;

14. Establish compulsory minimum qualifications of certification and recertification for instructors in criminal justice training schools approved by the Department;

15. Conduct and stimulate research by public and private agencies which shall be designed to improve police administration and law enforcement;

16. Make recommendations concerning any matter within its purview pursuant to this chapter;

17. Coordinate its activities with those of any interstate system for the exchange of criminal history record information, nominate one or more of its members to serve upon the council or committee of any such system, and participate when and as deemed appropriate in any such system's activities and programs;

18. Conduct inquiries and investigations it deems appropriate to carry out its functions under this chapter and, in conducting such inquiries and investigations, may require any criminal justice agency to submit information, reports, and statistical data with respect to its policy and operation of information systems or with respect to its collection, storage, dissemination, and usage of criminal history record information and correctional status information, and such criminal justice agencies shall submit such information, reports, and data as are reasonably required;

19. Conduct audits as required by § 9.1-131;

20. Conduct a continuing study and review of questions of individual privacy and confidentiality of criminal history record information and correctional status information;

21. Advise criminal justice agencies and initiate educational programs for such agencies with respect to matters of privacy, confidentiality, and security as they pertain to criminal history record information and correctional status information;

22. Maintain a liaison with any board, commission, committee, or other body which may be established by law, executive order, or resolution to regulate the privacy and security of information collected by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof;

23. Adopt regulations establishing guidelines and standards for the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information and correctional status information, and the privacy, confidentiality, and security thereof necessary to implement state and federal statutes, regulations, and court orders;

24. Operate a statewide criminal justice research center, which shall maintain an integrated criminal justice information system, produce reports, provide technical assistance to state and local criminal justice data system users, and provide analysis and interpretation of criminal justice statistical information;

25. Develop a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan for strengthening and improving law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice throughout the Commonwealth, and periodically update that plan;

26. Cooperate with, and advise and assist, all agencies, departments, boards and institutions of the Commonwealth, and units of general local government, or combinations thereof, including planning district commissions, in planning, developing, and administering programs, projects, comprehensive plans, and other activities for improving law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice throughout the Commonwealth, including allocating and subgranting funds for these purposes;

27. Define, develop, organize, encourage, conduct, coordinate, and administer programs, projects and activities for the Commonwealth and units of general local government, or combinations thereof, in the Commonwealth, designed to strengthen and improve law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice at every level throughout the Commonwealth;

28. Review and evaluate programs, projects, and activities, and recommend, where necessary, revisions or alterations to such programs, projects, and activities for the purpose of improving law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice;

29. Coordinate the activities and projects of the state departments, agencies, and boards of the Commonwealth and of the units of general local government, or combination thereof, including planning district commissions, relating to the preparation, adoption, administration, and implementation of comprehensive plans to strengthen and improve law enforcement and the administration of criminal justice;

30. Do all things necessary on behalf of the Commonwealth and its units of general local government, to determine and secure benefits available under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-351, 82 Stat. 197), as amended, and under any other federal acts and programs for strengthening and improving law enforcement, the administration of criminal justice, and delinquency prevention and control;

31. Receive, administer, and expend all funds and other assistance available to the Board and the Department for carrying out the purposes of this chapter and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended;

32. Apply for and accept grants from the United States government or any other source in carrying out the purposes of this chapter and accept any and all donations both real and personal, and grants of money from any governmental unit or public agency, or from any institution, person, firm or corporation, and may receive, utilize and dispose of the same. Any arrangements pursuant to this section shall be detailed in the annual report of the Board. Such report shall include the identity of the donor, the nature of the transaction, and the conditions, if any. Any moneys received pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the account of the Department. To these ends, the Board shall have the power to comply with conditions and execute such agreements as may be necessary;

33. Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and execution of its powers under this chapter, including but not limited to, contracts with the United States, units of general local government or combinations thereof, in Virginia or other states, and with agencies and departments of the Commonwealth;

34. Adopt and administer reasonable regulations for the planning and implementation of programs and activities and for the allocation, expenditure and subgranting of funds available to the Commonwealth and to units of general local government, and for carrying out the purposes of this chapter and the powers and duties set forth herein;

35. Certify and decertify law-enforcement officers in accordance with §§ 15.2-1706 and 15.2-1707;

36. Provide forensic laboratory services as detailed in Article 2 (§ 9.1-117 et seq.) of this chapter;

37. Establish training standards and publish a model policy for law-enforcement personnel in the handling of family abuse cases;

38. Establish training standards and publish a model policy for law-enforcement personnel in communicating with and facilitating the safe return of individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease;

39. Establish compulsory training standards for basic training and the recertification of law-enforcement officers to ensure sensitivity to and awareness of cultural diversity;

40. Review and evaluate community policing programs in the Commonwealth, and recommend where necessary statewide operating procedures, guidelines, and standards which strengthen and improve such programs;

41. (Effective until July 1, 2005) Assist, as necessary, in the administration of the Live In Our Community Police Housing Program and Fund established pursuant to Chapter 8.1 (§ 36-140.1 et seq.) of Title 36;

42. Establish a Virginia Law-Enforcement Accreditation Center. The Center shall, in cooperation with Virginia law-enforcement agencies, provide technical assistance and administrative support, including staffing, for the establishment of voluntary state law-enforcement accreditation standards. The Center may provide accreditation assistance and training, resource material, and research into methods and procedures that will assist the Virginia law-enforcement community efforts to obtain Virginia accreditation status;

43. Promote community policing philosophy and practice throughout the Commonwealth by providing community policing training and technical assistance statewide to all law-enforcement agencies, community groups, public and private organizations and citizens; developing and distributing innovative policing curricula and training tools on general community policing philosophy and practice and contemporary critical issues facing Virginia communities; serving as a consultant to Virginia organizations with specific community policing needs; facilitating continued development and implementation of community policing programs statewide through discussion forums for community policing leaders, development of law-enforcement instructors; promoting a statewide community policing initiative; and serving as a statewide information source on the subject of community policing including, but not limited to periodic newsletters, a website and an accessible lending library; and

44. Establish, in consultation with the Department of Education and the Virginia State Crime Commission, compulsory minimum standards for employment and job-entry and in-service training curricula and certification requirements for school security officers, which training and certification shall be administered by the Virginia Center for School Safety pursuant to § 9.1-184. Such training standards shall include, but shall not be limited to, the role and responsibility of school security officers, relevant state and federal laws, school and personal liability issues, security awareness in the school environment, mediation and conflict resolution, disaster and emergency response, and student behavioral dynamics. The Department shall establish an advisory committee consisting of local school board representatives, principals, superintendents, and school security personnel to assist in the development of these standards and certification requirements; and

45. Perform such other acts as may be necessary or convenient for the effective performance of its duties.

§ 9.1-110. School Resource Officer Grants Program and Fund.

A. From the funds appropriated for such purpose and from the gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf, there is established (i) the School Resource Officer Grants Program, to be administered by the Board, in consultation with the Board of Education, and (ii) a special nonreverting fund within the state treasury known as the School Resource Officer Incentive Grants Fund, hereinafter known as the "Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and any moneys remaining in the Fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Interest earned on such funds shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it.

Subject to the authority of the Board to provide for its disbursement, the Fund shall be disbursed to award matching grants to local law-enforcement agencies and local school boards that have established a collaborative agreement to employ uniformed school resource officers, as defined in § 9.1-101, in middle and high schools within the relevant school division. The Board may disburse annually up to five percent of the Fund for the training of the school resource officers. School resource officers shall be certified law-enforcement officers and shall be employed to help ensure safety, to prevent truancy and violence in schools, and to enforce school board rules and codes of student conduct.

B. The Board shall establish criteria for making grants from the Fund, including procedures for determining the amount of a grant and the required local match. Any grant of general funds shall be matched by the locality on the basis of the composite index of local ability to pay. The Board may adopt guidelines governing the Program and the employment and duties of the school resource officers as it deems necessary and appropriate.

§ 9.1-184. Virginia Center for School Safety created; duties.

A. From such funds as may be appropriated, the Virginia Center for School Safety (the "Center") is hereby established within the Department. The Center shall:

1. Provide training for Virginia public school personnel in school safety and the effective identification of students who may be at risk for violent behavior and in need of special services or assistance;

2. Serve as a resource and referral center for Virginia school divisions by conducting research, sponsoring workshops, and providing information regarding current school safety concerns, such as conflict management and peer mediation, school facility design and technology, current state and federal statutory and regulatory school safety requirements, and legal and constitutional issues regarding school safety and individual rights;

3. Maintain and disseminate information to local school divisions on effective school safety initiatives in Virginia and across the nation;

4. Collect, analyze, and disseminate various Virginia school safety data, including school safety audit information submitted to it pursuant to § 22.1-279.8, collected by the Department;

5. Encourage the development of partnerships between the public and private sectors to promote school safety in Virginia;

6. Provide technical assistance to Virginia school divisions in the development and implementation of initiatives promoting school safety; and

7. Develop a memorandum of understanding between the Commissioner of the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ensure collaboration and coordination of roles and responsibilities in areas of mutual concern, such as school safety audits and crime prevention; and

8. Provide training for and certification of school security officers, as defined in § 9.1-101 and consistent with § 9.1-110.

B. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate with the Center and, upon request, assist the Center in the performance of its duties and responsibilities.

§ 15.2-1737. Circuit courts may appoint special police officers.

A. The circuit court for any locality may, upon the application of, and a showing of a necessity for the security of property or the peace by, the sheriff or chief of police, appoint special police officers for a locality within its jurisdiction. Effective July 1, 2002, no person employed by a local school board as a school security officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, shall be eligible for appointment as a special police officer for purposes of maintaining safety in a public school in the Commonwealth.

The special police officers shall be suitable and discreet persons and shall serve as such for such length of time as the court may designate, but not exceeding four years under any one appointment. Such person or persons so appointed shall be conservators of the peace under the supervision of the person or agency making application for the appointment, who shall likewise be civilly liable for any wrongful action or conduct committed by the appointee while within the scope of his employment.

B. The court shall, prior to appointment, order the applicant to conduct a background investigation, in accordance with clause A (ii) of § 15.2-1705 of each prospective appointee who is not a law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9-169.

§ 19.2-13. Special conservators of the peace; authority; jurisdiction; bond; liability of employers.

A. Upon the application of any corporation authorized to do business in the Commonwealth or the owner, proprietor or authorized custodian of any place within the Commonwealth and the showing of a necessity for the security of property or the peace, a circuit court judge of any county or city, in his discretion, may appoint one or more special conservators of the peace who shall serve as such for such length of time as the court may designate, but not exceeding four years under any one appointment. The order of appointment may provide that a special conservator of the peace shall have all the powers, functions, duties, responsibilities and authority of any other conservator of the peace within such geographical limitations as the court may deem appropriate, whenever such special conservator of the peace is engaged in the performance of his duties as such. The order may also provide that the special conservator of the peace is a "law-enforcement officer" for the purposes of §§ 37.1-67.01 and 37.1-67.1. Prior to granting an application for appointment, the circuit court shall order the local law-enforcement agency to conduct a background investigation, in accordance with § 15.2-1705 (ii), of the prospective appointee and file a report of such investigation with the court unless the prospective appointee is a police officer as defined in § 9.1-101. The local law-enforcement agency may charge the prospective appointee a reasonable fee not to exceed the lesser of the actual cost to the local law-enforcement agency or $300 for the time and costs expended in preparing the investigative report.

When the application is made by a corporation, the circuit court shall specify in the order of appointment the geographic jurisdiction of the special conservator of the peace, and this jurisdiction may include any or all counties and cities of the Commonwealth wherein the corporation does business. The clerk of the appointing circuit court shall certify a copy of the order of appointment to the circuit court of every jurisdiction specified in said order, and each special conservator of the peace so appointed on application of a corporation shall present his credentials to the chief of police or sheriff of all such jurisdictions.

Every person initially appointed on or after July 1, 1996, as a special conservator of the peace pursuant to the provisions of this section, before entering upon the duties of such office, shall be required by the court to enter into a bond with approved security before the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city wherein such duties are to be performed, in the penalty of such sum as may be fixed by the court, conditioned upon the faithful performance of such duties. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the faithful performance of such duties in any locality in which he is authorized to act pursuant to the order of the court. No such bond shall be required, however, if such person so appointed has met the minimum entry-level law-enforcement training requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services under § 9.1-102 within three years of the date of initial appointment or has been employed as a law-enforcement officer as defined by § 9.1-101 within the preceding three years.

If any such special conservator of the peace is the employee, agent or servant of another, his appointment as special conservator of the peace shall not relieve his employer, principal or master, from civil liability to another arising out of any wrongful action or conduct committed by such special conservator of the peace while within the scope of his employment.

Effective July 1, 2002, no person employed by a local school board as a school security officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, shall be eligible for appointment as a conservator for purposes of maintaining safety in a public school in the Commonwealth.

B. The court may limit or prohibit the carrying of weapons by any special conservator of the peace initially appointed on or after July 1, 1996, while the appointee is within the scope of his employment as such. If the order of appointment does not prohibit the carrying of weapons, the court may require that the appointee meet the minimum entry training requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Service under § 9-170 for law-enforcement officers within twelve months of his appointment.

§ 22.1-280.2:1. Employment of school safety personnel.

Local school boards may employ school security officers, as defined in § 9.1-101 and for the purposes set forth therein.

2. That, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose, the training and employment standards required by § 9.1-184 shall be applicable to persons employed as school security officers on and after September 15, 2003.