Virginia Law

Article 3. Miscellaneous Offenses in General.

(a) No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, or agent or employee thereof, shall for profit engage in any business which in whole or in part includes the referral or recommendation of persons to a physician, hospital, health related facility, or dispensary for any form of medical care or treatment of any ailment or physical condition unless the person is advised of the criteria of selection of the physicians, hospitals, health-related facilities or dispensaries considered for the referral or recommendation. The acceptance of a fee or charge for any such referral or recommendation shall create a presumption that the business is engaged in such service for profit. A violation of the provisions of this section shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

(b) Whenever there is a violation of this section, in addition to the criminal sanctions, an application may be made by the Attorney General to the circuit court of the city or county in which the offense occurred, to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such violation. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court or judge that the defendant has, in fact, violated this section, an injunction may be issued by such court or judge enjoining and restraining any further violation, without requiring proof that any person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, prohibit, forbid or prevent any licensed physician or practitioner of the healing arts in the ordinary course of his professional practice from making referrals or recommendations to other members of such groups, so long as no fee is received for such referral or recommendation.

The criminal and civil provisions of this section shall not apply to any individual association or corporation not organized or incorporated for pecuniary profit or financial gain, or to any organization or association which is exempt from taxation pursuant to § 501(c) of Title 26 of the United States Code (Int. Rev. Code of 1954).

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any division of fees prohibited by § 54.1-2962 or any remuneration for referral prohibited by federal law or regulation.

Code 1950, § 18.1-417.2; 1972, c. 642; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1986, c. 632.

No weight loss center or clinic shall, in its name or advertisements, use the words "physicians" or "doctors" or refer to its clients as "patients" or indicate that "medical teams" are available in its facility unless (i) the facility employs at least one registered nurse full-time and employs or contracts with at least one physician licensed by the Board of Medicine for services or consultation in connection with the facility's activities; or (ii) the facility is under the full-time supervision of a physician; or (iii) the clinic or program is operated by or in conjunction with a licensed hospital. Any physician affiliated with a weight loss center or clinic for purposes of consultation or supervision shall have primary responsibility for decisions made within the scope of that affiliation relating to the provision of medical services or care to persons using the services of that facility and shall have primary responsibility for medical decisions relating to the evaluation of the appropriateness of the admission of persons to the weight loss program. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

1988, c. 765.

No commercial medical testing kit designed for consumer home use shall be sold in this Commonwealth unless a warning is provided to the consumer to the effect that such tests may produce erroneous results and that medical testing is more accurate when performed by professionals within the controlled conditions of a laboratory. The consumer shall be advised to seek professional medical consultation and, if recommended, another test for validation of such test results.

Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

1989, c. 142.

(a) No person shall knowingly possess any key to the lock of any building or other property owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a department, division, agency or political subdivision thereof, without receiving permission from a person duly authorized to give such permission to possess such key.

(b) No person, without receiving permission from a person duly authorized to give such permission, shall knowingly duplicate, copy or make a facsimile of any key to a lock of a building or other property owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or a department, division, agency or political subdivision thereof.

Violation of this section shall constitute a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Code 1950, § 18.1-408.1; 1972, c. 139; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1984, c. 61.

If any person fraudulently destroy or conceal any will or codicil, with intent to prevent the probate thereof, he shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.

Code 1950, § 18.1-309; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

If any person residing in this Commonwealth changes his name or assumes another name, unlawfully, he shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Code 1950, § 8-577.1; 1956, c. 402; 1973, c. 401; 1976, c. 115; 1977, c. 624.

(a) No person shall prepare, cause to be prepared or sell any term paper, thesis, dissertation or other written material for another person, for profit, with the knowledge, or under circumstances in which he should reasonably have known, that such term paper, thesis, dissertation or other written material is to be submitted by any other person for academic credit at any public or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.

(b) No person shall make or disseminate, with the intent to induce any other person to enter into any obligation relating thereto, any statement, written or oral, that he will prepare or cause to be prepared, any term paper, thesis, dissertation or other written material, to be sold for profit, for or on behalf of any person who has been assigned the written preparation of such term paper, thesis, dissertation or other written material for academic credit at any public or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.

Code 1950, § 18.1-371.1; 1974, c. 342; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

(a) As used in this article, "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation or association.

(b) As used in this article, "prepare" means to put into condition for intended use. "Prepare" does not include the mere typing or assembling of papers, nor the mere furnishing of information or research.

Code 1950, § 18.1-371.2; 1974, c. 342; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

Whenever an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth shall duly file a civil action in the circuit court of any county or city against any person alleging violations of the provisions of § 18.2-505, and praying that such party defendant be restrained and enjoined from continuing the acts complained of, such court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the issues involved, to issue injunctions pendente lite and permanent injunctions and to decree damages and costs of suit, including reasonable counsel fees to complainants' counsel.

Code 1950, § 18.1-371.3; 1974, c. 342; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2005, c. 681.

Any person found guilty of violating any provision of § 18.2-505 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000.

Code 1950, § 18.1-371.4; 1974, c. 342; 1975, cc. 14, 15.

Any person in any motor vehicle or otherwise who, between a half hour after sunset on any day and a half hour before sunrise the following day, employs a light attached to such vehicle, or employs a spotlight to cast a light beyond the surface of the roadway upon any poultry house or other building inhabited by animals that causes such animals to panic or become injured, except upon his own land or upon private land on which he has permission, shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

1976, c. 332.

When the owner of any animal or grown fowl which has died knows of such death, such owner shall forthwith have its body cremated or buried or request such service from an officer or other person designated for the purpose. If the owner fails to do so, any judge of a general district court, after notice to the owner if he can be ascertained, shall cause any such dead animal or fowl to be cremated or buried by an officer or other person designated for the purpose. Such officer or other person shall be entitled to recover of the owner of every such animal or fowl that is cremated or buried the actual cost of the cremation or burial and a reasonable fee to be recovered in the same manner as officers' fees are recovered, free from all exemptions in favor of such owner. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require the burial or cremation of the whole or portions of any animal or fowl which is to be used for food or in any commercial manner.

This section shall not apply to any county until the governing body thereof shall adopt the same.

Code 1950, § 32-70; 1979, c. 716; 1981, c. 578; 2008, c. 345.

Any person who sells or offers for sale any military grave marker of one or more deceased persons who served in the military service of the Commonwealth, the United States, or any of the states thereof, shall be assessed a $100 civil penalty payable to the Literary Fund.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to the sale or offer for sale of such grave marker if it was (i) conveyed with real property to which it remains affixed, (ii) sold or offered for sale following manufacture or fabrication and prior to initial installation or dedication, or (iii) lawfully acquired.

2004, c. 299.

Any person who smokes or uses an open flame within 25 feet of a medical oxygen source in a health care facility, as defined in § 15.2-2820, when the area is posted as an area where smoking and open flame are prohibited is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

2007, c. 430; 2009, cc. 153, 154.