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1997 SESSION

971657160
HOUSE BILL NO. 2362
Offered January 20, 1997
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-322.1 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-276.01, relating to parental consent for beepers on school property.
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Patron-- Cooper
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Referred to Committee on Education
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18.2-322.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 22.1-276.01 as follows:

§ 18.2-322.1. Possession of beeper or similar communication devices in schools; penalty.

A. It shall be unlawful for any pupil or other person in possession or control of a beeper or similar portable communications communication device to be upon the grounds of any public or private elementary, middle or secondary school, unless, in the case of a pupil, written consent by the pupil's parent has been obtained. Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. Any such school Local school boards and the governing boards of private schools may promulgate rules and regulations prohibiting the use of beepers and other such portable communications communication devices and establishing disciplinary procedures pursuant to § 22.1-277, or other appropriate disciplinary procedures, to which pupils violating this section shall be subject.

C. Any beeper or similar portable communications device possessed or controlled in violation of subsection A shall be subject to seizure by school officials or law-enforcement officers and forfeiture in compliance with the procedures of Chapter 22.1 (§ 19.2-386.1 et seq.) of Title 19.2 which shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to this subsection.

D. This section shall not apply to any school official, teacher, security officer, support employee, rescue squad or volunteer fire department member, law-enforcement officer or any other person who may use or possess such devices in the performance of his duties in a legal volunteer activity, trade, or business or for medical necessity, or to any pupil for whom written consent for such possession and use has been given by the parent of such pupil to the principal of the school where the child attends classes. Such written consent shall specify whether the possession and use of any such device is for medical, health, safety, emergency, or other purpose approved by the parent.

§ 22.1-276.01. Beepers or similar communication devices in schools permitted under certain conditions.

Except as provided in § 18.2-322.1, a pupil shall be allowed to possess and use a beeper or other similar portable communication device on school property, if the parent of such pupil has given written consent, on such form as may be required for this purpose by the relevant school board, for such possession and use to the principal of the school where the pupil attends classes. Such forms shall require the parent of such pupil to indicate whether his consent for the possession and use of such device is for medical, health, safety, emergency, or other purpose approved by the parent.