SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2024 SESSION

24101744D
SENATE BILL NO. 630
Offered January 10, 2024
Prefiled January 10, 2024
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 9.1-801 and 65.2-301.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public safety officer; definition.
----------
Patron-- McGuire
----------
Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 9.1-801 and 65.2-301.1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 9.1-801. Public safety officer defined.

As used in this chapter, the term "public safety officer" includes a law-enforcement officer of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions; a correctional officer as defined in § 53.1-1; a correctional officer employed at a juvenile correctional facility as the term is defined in § 66-25.3; a jail officer; a regional jail or jail farm superintendent; a member of any fire company or department or nonprofit or volunteer emergency medical services agency that has been recognized by an ordinance or resolution of the governing body of any county, city, or town of the Commonwealth as an integral part of the official safety program of such county, city, or town; an arson investigator; a member of the Virginia National Guard or the Virginia Defense Force while such a member is serving in the Virginia National Guard or the Virginia Defense Force on official state duty or federal duty under Title 32 of the United States Code; any a special agent of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; any a police agent appointed under the provisions of § 56-353; any a regular or special conservation police officer who receives compensation from a county, city, or town or from the Commonwealth appointed pursuant to § 29.1-200; any a commissioned forest warden appointed pursuant to § 10.1-1135; any a member or employee of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission granted the power to arrest pursuant to § 28.2-900; any a Department of Emergency Management hazardous materials officer; any a nonfirefighter regional hazardous materials emergency response team member; any an investigator who is a full-time sworn member of the security division of the Virginia Lottery; any a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles meeting the Department of Criminal Justice Services qualifications, when fulfilling duties pursuant to § 46.2-217; any a campus police officer appointed under the provisions of Article 3 (§ 23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1; and any a conservation officer of the Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioned pursuant to § 10.1-115; and a dispatcher as defined in § 56-484.16:1.

§ 65.2-301.1. Public safety officers.

In situations where weather constitutes a particular risk of a public safety officer's employment and where the public safety officer's injury arose out of and in the course of his employment, absent a misconduct defense asserted pursuant to § 65.2-306, such injury shall be compensable under this title. As used in this section, "public safety officer" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in § 9.1-801, except that "public safety officer" shall not include dispatchers.