Virginia Law

Article 2. Interjurisdictional Law-Enforcement Authority and Agreements.

Whenever the necessity arises (i) for the enforcement of laws designed to control or prohibit the use or sale of controlled drugs as defined in § 54.1-3401 or laws contained in Article 3 (§ 18.2-47 et seq.) of Chapter 4 or Article 3 (§ 18.2-346 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 18.2, (ii) in response to any law-enforcement emergency involving any immediate threat to life or public safety, (iii) during the execution of the provisions of Article 4 (§ 37.2-808 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 37.2 or § 16.1-340 or 16.1-340.1 relating to orders for temporary detention or emergency custody for mental health evaluation or (iv) during any emergency resulting from the existence of a state of war, internal disorder, or fire, flood, epidemic or other public disaster, the police officers and other officers, agents and employees of any locality, the police officers of the Division of Capitol Police, and the police of any state-supported institution of higher learning appointed pursuant to subsection B of § 23.1-812 may, together with all necessary equipment, lawfully go or be sent beyond the territorial limits of such locality, such agency, or such state-supported institution of higher learning to any point within or without the Commonwealth to assist in meeting such emergency or need, or while en route to a part of the jurisdiction which is only accessible by roads outside the jurisdiction. However, the police of any state-supported institution of higher learning may be sent only to a locality within the Commonwealth, or locality outside the Commonwealth, whose boundaries are contiguous with the locality in which such institution is located. No member of a police force of any state-supported institution of higher learning shall be sent beyond the territorial limits of the locality in which such institution is located unless such member has met the requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services as provided in clause (i) of subdivision 2 of § 9.1-102.

In such event the acts performed for such purpose by such police officers or other officers, agents or employees and the expenditures made for such purpose by such locality, such agency, or a state-supported institution of higher learning shall be deemed conclusively to be for a public and governmental purpose, and all of the immunities from liability enjoyed by a locality, agency, or a state-supported institution of higher learning when acting through its police officers or other officers, agents or employees for a public or governmental purpose within its territorial limits shall be enjoyed by it to the same extent when such locality, agency, or a state-supported institution of higher learning within the Commonwealth is so acting, under this section or under other lawful authority, beyond its territorial limits.

The police officers and other officers, agents and employees of any locality, agency, or a state-supported institution of higher learning when acting hereunder or under other lawful authority beyond the territorial limits of such locality, agency, or such state-supported institution of higher learning shall have all of the immunities from liability and exemptions from laws, ordinances and regulations and shall have all of the pension, relief, disability, workers' compensation and other benefits enjoyed by them while performing their respective duties within the territorial limits of such locality, agency, or such state-supported institution of higher learning.

Code 1950, § 15-552; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-131; 1968, c. 800; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 238; 1976, c. 457; 1977, c. 79; 1979, c. 503; 1984, c. 779; 1992, c. 566; 1993, c. 860; 1995, c. 844; 1997, c. 587; 2008, c. 437; 2010, cc. 778, 825; 2013, c. 428; 2020, c. 122.

Any locality owning and operating an airport, public hospital, sanitarium, nursing home, public water supply or watershed, public park, recreational area, sewage disposal plant or system, public landing, dock, wharf or canal, public school, public utility, public buildings and other public property located beyond the limits of the locality shall have and may exercise full police power over the property, and over persons using the property, and may, by ordinance, prescribe rules for the operation and use of the property and for the conduct of all persons using the property and may, further, provide penalties for the violation of such rules contained in an ordinance; such penalties, however, shall not exceed those provided by general law for misdemeanors. However, no ordinances in conflict with an ordinance of the jurisdiction wherein the property is located shall be enacted.

Any locality which maintains or operates in whole or in part any property enumerated in this section may lawfully send its law-enforcement officers to the property owned beyond the limits of the locality for the purpose of protecting the property, keeping order therein, or otherwise enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth and ordinances of the locality owning the property as such laws and ordinances may relate to the operation and use thereof. The law-enforcement officer shall have power to make an arrest for a violation of any law or ordinance relating to the operation and use of the property. The district court in the city or town where the offense occurs shall have jurisdiction of all cases arising therein, and the district court of the county where the offense occurs shall have jurisdiction of all cases arising therein.

It shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth for the locality wherein the offense occurs to prosecute all violators of the ordinances of the locality that pertain to the operation and use of the property enumerated in this section.

Code 1950, § 15-560.1; 1952, c. 382; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-142; 1979, c. 333; 1997, c. 587.

For the purposes of local public safety regulatory authority and enforcement, the territorial limits of the City of Virginia Beach shall extend from its coastal shorelines, the coastal shorelines of Camp Pendleton, the coastal shorelines of First Landing State Park, and the coastal shorelines of False Cape State Park in a perpendicular direction for three miles into the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay waters. This territorial jurisdiction shall be concurrent with the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth. No ordinance enacted under this authority shall conflict with the laws or regulations promulgated by the Commonwealth or any of its agencies. This authority shall not extend to the regulatory authority held by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission as provided in § 28.2-101.

2012, c. 809.

A. Any locality may, in its discretion, enter into a reciprocal agreement with any other locality, any agency of the federal government exercising police powers, the police of any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth appointed pursuant to subsection B of § 23.1-812, the Division of Capitol Police, any private police department certified by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, or any combination of the foregoing, for such periods and under such conditions as the contracting parties deem advisable, for cooperation in the furnishing of police services. Such agreements may include (i) designation of mutually agreed-upon boundary lines between contiguous localities for purposes of organizing 911 dispatch and response and clarifying issues related to coverage under workers' compensation and risk management laws, (ii) provisions allowing for the loan of unmarked police vehicles, and (iii) development of co-response teams staffed by one or more law-enforcement agencies that respond to behavioral health-related calls in multiple jurisdictions. Such localities also may enter into an agreement for the cooperation in the furnishing of police services with the Department of State Police.

B. The governing body of any locality also may, in its discretion, enter into a reciprocal agreement with any other locality, or combination of localities, for the consolidation of police departments or divisions or departments. Subject to the conditions of the agreement, all police officers, officers, agents, and other employees of such consolidated or cooperating police departments shall have the same powers, rights, benefits, privileges, and immunities in every jurisdiction subscribing to such agreement, including the authority to make arrests in every such jurisdiction subscribing to the agreement; however, no police officer of any locality shall have authority to enforce federal laws unless specifically empowered to do so by statute, and no federal law-enforcement officer shall have authority to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth unless specifically empowered to do so by statute.

C. The governing body of a county also may enter into a tripartite contract with the governing body of any town, one or more, in such county and the sheriff for such county for the purpose of having the sheriff furnish law-enforcement services in the town. The contract shall be structured as a service contract and may have such other terms and conditions as the contracting parties deem advisable. The sheriff and any deputy sheriff serving as a town law-enforcement officer shall have authority to enforce such town's ordinances. Likewise, subject to the conditions of the contract, the sheriff and deputy sheriffs while serving as a town's law-enforcement officers shall have the same powers, rights, benefits, privileges, and immunities as those of regular town police officers. The sheriff under any such contract shall be the town's chief of police.

1970, c. 271, § 15.1-131.3; 1978, c. 9; 1984, c. 622; 1989, c. 294; 1994, c. 268; 1997, c. 587; 2008, c. 437; 2013, cc. 250, 472, 594, 775; 2014, c. 581; 2026, cc. 535, 536.

A. For the purposes of this section:

"Federal immigration enforcement agreement" means an agreement with a federal agency authorizing a law-enforcement officer or employee of the Commonwealth or any of its localities to perform a function of a federal immigration officer or an intergovernmental service agreement with a federal agency authorizing the civil immigration detention of a person in a local, regional, or state correctional facility if such facility also detains or incarcerates persons for violations of the criminal laws of the Commonwealth.

"Law-enforcement agency" means any state or local agency that employs law-enforcement officers and that has as its principal function the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth and its localities. "Law-enforcement agency" includes any sheriff's office, any police department, any local or regional correctional facility, the Department of State Police, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, or any other local or state agency or department that performs law-enforcement functions or that was created to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth and its localities.

B. Except as provided in §§ 19.2-81.6, 19.2-83.2, 53.1-218, 53.1-220.1, and 53.1-220.2, no person acting in his capacity as a law-enforcement officer shall assist, cooperate with, or use any law-enforcement resources to facilitate any operation that seeks to identify, arrest, or otherwise impose a penalty upon an individual for any violation of federal civil immigration law unless presented with a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a law-enforcement officer from investigating, or assisting in the investigation of, a state or federal crime, including operations conducted with, or as part of, a joint state-federal law-enforcement task force.

C. No law-enforcement agency shall maintain, renew, or enter into any federal immigration enforcement agreement unless such agreement includes the following provisions:

1. That U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall provide to the law-enforcement agency the names and ranks of all federal agents involved in any immigration enforcement activity within the Commonwealth at least seven days prior to engaging in such immigration enforcement activity;

2. That any federal agent operating pursuant to the federal immigration enforcement agreement shall comply with all applicable laws of the Commonwealth while conducting any immigration enforcement activity within the Commonwealth;

3. That any federal agent operating pursuant to the federal immigration enforcement agreement shall be clearly identified as an agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. No such clear identification shall include wearing any uniform or displaying the word "police" on any uniform, vehicle, or equipment while conducting any immigration enforcement activity within the Commonwealth;

4. That no agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shall conduct any immigration enforcement activity on the property of any school, faith-based organization, or courthouse within the Commonwealth;

5. That, by entering into such federal immigration enforcement agreement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its agents consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Commonwealth for any civil or criminal proceedings arising from any violation of the provisions of this section or for any violation of the laws of the Commonwealth committed while acting in the performance of their official duties pursuant to such federal immigration enforcement agreement;

6. That neither U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor its agents shall make general requests or demands for information from any agency or entity of the Commonwealth or its localities that are not related to the investigation of a specific person;

7. That neither U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor any of its agents shall request information from any locality within the Commonwealth regarding the immigration or citizenship status of any person unless such request is made pursuant to a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena;

8. That no federal agent, during the times the polls are open and ballots are being counted, or within one hour of opening and after closing, shall conduct any immigration enforcement activity within 500 yards of any polling place;

9. That neither U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor its agents shall use any surveillance technology to conduct immigration enforcement within the Commonwealth or otherwise monitor residents of the Commonwealth. Such surveillance technology includes (i) biometric and identification technologies, such as facial recognition systems or fingerprint scanning; (ii) license plate readers; (iii) mobile telephone surveillance, such as cell-site simulators or phone location databases; (iv) digital forensics and hacking tools; and (v) drones or other aerial surveillance. The prohibition under this subdivision shall not apply to the use of surveillance technology to investigate, detain, or arrest any person who (a) is not lawfully present in the United States and (b) has been convicted of any offense set forth in § 17.1-805, 19.2-297.1, or 53.1-40.02;

10. That no federal agent, for the purpose of conducting any immigration enforcement activity, shall enter a home within the Commonwealth without a valid judicial warrant;

11. That, by entering into such federal immigration enforcement agreement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its agents shall adhere to the provisions of Chapter 7.1 (§ 19.2-83.3 et seq.) of Title 19.2 when conducting an arrest or detention related to immigration enforcement; and

12. That, in addition to the provisions of subdivision 5, by entering into such federal immigration enforcement agreement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its agents agree that any shooting involving any agent while such agent is in the performance of his official duties shall be investigated by the Virginia State Police and shall be subject to prosecution by the attorney for the Commonwealth or the Attorney General in the local jurisdiction where such shooting occurred or as otherwise provided by state law.

D. Any law-enforcement agency that has an existing federal immigration enforcement agreement that is in effect on July 1, 2026, shall obtain in writing no later than September 1, 2026, a modified federal immigration enforcement agreement that complies with the conditions provided in subsection C. Any federal immigration enforcement agreement that is not modified in accordance with the provisions of this subsection shall be deemed void and unenforceable.

E. Any federal immigration enforcement agreement entered into or maintained in violation of this section shall be void and unenforceable.

F. In addition to any other available right or remedy, the Attorney General, an attorney for the Commonwealth, or a county or city attorney may enforce the provisions of this section and the conditions provided in subsection C by seeking injunctive or declaratory relief. The prevailing party in any such action shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and costs.

G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Director of the Department of Corrections, a sheriff, or a jail superintendent, upon receipt of a federal immigration detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, from transferring custody of an adult as authorized by § 53.1-220.2.

2026, cc. 1028, 1098.

A locality, public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth may, in its discretion, enter into reciprocal agreements for such periods as it deems advisable with any locality outside the Commonwealth, including the District of Columbia, in order to establish and carry into effect a plan to provide mutual aid through the furnishing of its police and other employees and agents, together with all necessary equipment, in the event of such need or emergency as provided herein. No public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth shall enter into such agreement unless the agreement provides that each of the parties to such agreement shall: (i) waive any and all claims against all the other parties thereto which may arise out of their activities outside their respective jurisdictions under such agreement and (ii) indemnify and save harmless the other parties to such agreement from all claims by third parties for property damage or personal injury which may arise out of the activities of the other parties to such agreement outside their respective jurisdictions under such agreement. Parties responding to a reciprocal agreement for mutual aid between localities shall be liable to third parties only to the extent permitted under and in accordance with the laws of the state of the party rendering aid.

The principal law-enforcement officer in any locality or of any public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth having a reciprocal agreement with a jurisdiction outside the Commonwealth for police mutual aid under the provisions hereof shall be responsible for directing the activities of all police officers and other officers and agents coming into his jurisdiction under the reciprocal agreement. While operating under the terms of the reciprocal agreement, the principal law-enforcement officer is empowered to authorize all police officers and other officers and agents from outside the Commonwealth to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth to the same extent as if they were duly authorized law-enforcement officers of the locality or a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.

The governing body of any locality, public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth is authorized to procure or extend the necessary public liability insurance to cover claims arising out of mutual aid agreements executed with other localities outside the Commonwealth.

The police officers, and other officers, agents and employees of a locality, public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth serving in a jurisdiction outside the Commonwealth under a reciprocal agreement entered into pursuant hereto are authorized to carry out the duties and functions provided for in the agreement under the command and supervision of the chief law-enforcement officer of the jurisdiction outside the Commonwealth.

In counties where no police department has been established and the sheriff is the chief law-enforcement officer, the sheriff may enter into mutual aid agreements and furnish and receive such assistance as provided by this section. Sheriffs and their deputies providing assistance pursuant to such a mutual aid agreement shall enjoy all of the authority, immunities and benefits as provided herein for police officers, including full police powers.

Code 1950, § 15-552; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-131; 1968, c. 800; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 238; 1976, c. 457; 1977, c. 79; 1979, c. 503; 1984, c. 779; 1992, c. 566; 1993, c. 860; 1995, c. 844; 1997, cc. 587, 638, 668; 2004, c. 769; 2007, c. 724.

In any case where exclusive jurisdiction over any property or territory has been granted by the Commonwealth to the United States government, or to a department or agency thereof, the governing body of any contiguous locality or the Division of Capitol Police may enter into a mutual aid agreement with the appropriate federal authorities to authorize police cooperation and assistance within such property or territory. Subject to the conditions of any such agreement, all police officers and agents of the contracting governing body or agency shall have the same powers, rights, benefits, privileges and immunities while acting in the performance of their duties on the property or territory under federal authority as are lawfully conferred upon them within their own jurisdictions.

1987, c. 33, § 15.1-131.10; 1997, c. 587; 2008, c. 437.

A. The governing body of any county may enter into an agreement with the United States government or a department or agency thereof, under the terms of which agreement law-enforcement officers employed by such government, including but not limited to members of the United States Park Police, may enforce the laws of such county and the Commonwealth on federally owned properties within such county, and on the highways located therein and other public places abutting such properties. In the event such an agreement is entered into, all of the provisions of §§ 15.2-1724 and 15.2-1727 shall be applicable, mutatis mutandis.

B. The governing body of any county governed under the provisions of Chapter 8 (§ 15.2-800 et seq.) of Title 15.2 may enter into an agreement with the United States government or a department or agency thereof, under the terms of which agreement law-enforcement officers employed by such government, including but not limited to members of the United States Park Police, may enforce the laws of such county and the Commonwealth on federally owned properties within such county, and on the highways and other public places abutting such properties. In the event such an agreement is entered into, all of the provisions of §§ 15.2-1724 and 15.2-1727 shall be applicable, mutatis mutandis.

1972, c. 743, § 15.1-131.4; 1997, cc. 537, 587.

In case of an emergency declared by the chief law-enforcement officer of a locality, such officer may call upon the chief law-enforcement officer of towns within his county and the chief law-enforcement officer of an adjoining county or city, or towns in adjoining counties for assistance from him or his deputies or other police officers, without the necessity for deputizing such deputies or officers. Such deputies or officers shall have full police powers in such locality as are conferred upon them by law during the period of such emergency.

1974, c. 633, § 15.1-131.5; 1976, c. 206; 1997, c. 587.

In counties where no police department has been established and the sheriff is the chief law-enforcement officer, the sheriff may enter into agreements with any other governmental entity providing law-enforcement services in the Commonwealth, and may furnish and receive interjurisdictional law-enforcement assistance for all law-enforcement purposes, including those described in this chapter, and for purposes of Chapter 3.2 (§ 44-146.13 et seq.) of Title 44. Sheriffs and their deputies, providing or receiving such assistance, shall have all the authority, benefits, immunity from liability and exemptions from laws, ordinances and regulations as officers acting within their own jurisdictions.

1999, c. 352.