Virginia Law

Article 6. Ethics in Public Contracting.

The provisions of this article supplement, but shall not supersede, other provisions of law including, but not limited to, the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act (§ 2.2-3100 et seq.), the Virginia Governmental Frauds Act (§ 18.2-498.1 et seq.), and Articles 2 (§ 18.2-438 et seq.) and 3 (§ 18.2-446 et seq.) of Chapter 10 of Title 18.2.

The provisions of this article shall apply notwithstanding the fact that the conduct described may not constitute a violation of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act.

1982, c. 647, § 11-72; 1987, Sp. Sess., c. 1; 2001, c. 844.

As used in this article:

"Immediate family" means a spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, and any other person living in the same household as the employee.

"Official responsibility" means administrative or operating authority, whether intermediate or final, to initiate, approve, disapprove or otherwise affect a procurement transaction, or any claim resulting therefrom.

"Pecuniary interest arising from the procurement" means a personal interest in a contract as defined in the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act (§ 2.2-3100 et seq.).

"Procurement transaction" means all functions that pertain to the obtaining of any goods, services or construction, including description of requirements, selection and solicitation of sources, preparation and award of contract, and all phases of contract administration.

"Public employee" means any person employed by a public body, including elected officials or appointed members of governing bodies.

1982, c. 647, § 11-73; 1987, Sp. Sess., c. 1; 2001, c. 844.

Except as may be specifically allowed by subdivisions B 1, 2, and 3 of § 2.2-3112, no public employee having official responsibility for a procurement transaction shall participate in that transaction on behalf of the public body when the employee knows that:

1. The employee is contemporaneously employed by a bidder, offeror or contractor involved in the procurement transaction;

2. The employee, the employee's partner, or any member of the employee's immediate family holds a position with a bidder, offeror or contractor such as an officer, director, trustee, partner or the like, or is employed in a capacity involving personal and substantial participation in the procurement transaction, or owns or controls an interest of more than five percent;

3. The employee, the employee's partner, or any member of the employee's immediate family has a pecuniary interest arising from the procurement transaction; or

4. The employee, the employee's partner, or any member of the employee's immediate family is negotiating, or has an arrangement concerning, prospective employment with a bidder, offeror or contractor.

1982, c. 647, § 11-74; 1985, c. 565; 1987, Sp. Sess., c. 1; 1997, c. 83; 2001, c. 844; 2003, c. 694; 2017, cc. 829, 832.

No public employee or former public employee having official responsibility for procurement transactions shall accept employment with any bidder, offeror or contractor with whom the employee or former employee dealt in an official capacity concerning procurement transactions for a period of one year from the cessation of employment by the public body unless the employee or former employee provides written notification to the public body, or a public official if designated by the public body, or both, prior to commencement of employment by that bidder, offeror or contractor.

1982, c. 647, § 11-76; 2001, c. 844.

A. No public employee having official responsibility for a procurement transaction shall solicit, demand, accept, or agree to accept from a bidder, offeror, contractor or subcontractor any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything of more than nominal or minimal value, present or promised, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value is exchanged. The public body may recover the value of anything conveyed in violation of this subsection.

B. No bidder, offeror, contractor or subcontractor shall confer upon any public employee having official responsibility for a procurement transaction any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything of more than nominal value, present or promised, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value is exchanged.

1982, c. 647, §§ 11-75, 11-77; 2001, c. 844.

A. No contractor or subcontractor shall demand or receive from any of his suppliers or his subcontractors, as an inducement for the award of a subcontract or order, any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything, present or promised, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value is exchanged.

B. No subcontractor or supplier shall make, or offer to make, kickbacks as described in this section.

C. No person shall demand or receive any payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of money, services or anything of value in return for an agreement not to compete on a public contract.

D. If a subcontractor or supplier makes a kickback or other prohibited payment as described in this section, the amount thereof shall be conclusively presumed to have been included in the price of the subcontract or order and ultimately borne by the public body and shall be recoverable from both the maker and recipient. Recovery from one offending party shall not preclude recovery from other offending parties.

1982, c. 647, § 11-78; 2001, c. 844.

No person who, for compensation, prepares an invitation to bid or request for proposal for or on behalf of a public body shall (i) submit a bid or proposal for that procurement or any portion thereof or (ii) disclose to any bidder or offeror information concerning the procurement that is not available to the public. However, a public body may permit such person to submit a bid or proposal for that procurement or any portion thereof if the public body determines that the exclusion of the person would limit the number of potential qualified bidders or offerors in a manner contrary to the best interests of the public body.

1997, c. 68, § 11-78.1; 2001, c. 844.

A. No building materials, supplies or equipment for any building or structure constructed by or for a public body shall be sold by or purchased from any person employed as an independent contractor by the public body to furnish architectural or engineering services, but not construction, for such building or structure or from any partnership, association or corporation in which such architect or engineer has a personal interest as defined in § 2.2-3101.

B. No building materials, supplies or equipment for any building or structure constructed by or for a public body shall be sold by or purchased from any person who has provided or is currently providing design services specifying a sole source for such materials, supplies or equipment to be used in the building or structure to the independent contractor employed by the public body to furnish architectural or engineering services in which such person has a personal interest as defined in § 2.2-3101.

C. The provisions of subsections A and B shall not apply in cases of emergency or for transportation-related projects conducted by the Department of Transportation or the Virginia Port Authority.

1982, c. 647, § 11-79; 1993, c. 202; 1994, c. 882; 1996, c. 827; 2001, c. 844.

A. Public bodies may require public employees having official responsibility for procurement transactions in which they participated to annually submit for such transactions a written certification that they complied with the provisions of this article.

B. Any public employee required to submit a certification as provided in subsection A who knowingly makes a false statement in the certification shall be punished as provided in § 2.2-4377.

1992, c. 761, § 11-79.1; 2001, c. 844.

No public employee having official responsibility for a procurement transaction shall knowingly falsify, conceal, or misrepresent a material fact; knowingly make any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations; or make or use any false writing or document knowing it to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry.

1992, c. 761, § 11-79.2; 2001, c. 844.

A. No bidder or offeror who has submitted a bid or proposal to an executive branch agency that is directly responsible to the Governor for the award of a public contract pursuant to this chapter, and no individual who is an officer or director of such a bidder or offeror, shall knowingly provide a contribution, gift, or other item with a value greater than $50 or make an express or implied promise to make such a contribution or gift to the Governor, his political action committee, or the Governor's Secretaries, if the Secretary is responsible to the Governor for an executive branch agency with jurisdiction over the matters at issue, during the period between the submission of the bid and the award of the public contract under this chapter. The provisions of this section shall apply only for public contracts where the stated or expected value of the contract is $5 million or more. The provisions of this section shall not apply to contracts awarded as the result of competitive sealed bidding.

B. Any person who knowingly violates this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 or up to two times the amount of the contribution or gift, whichever is greater. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall initiate civil proceedings to enforce the civil penalties. Any civil penalties collected shall be payable to the State Treasurer for deposit to the general fund.

2010, c. 732; 2011, c. 624.

A. As used in this section:

"Contribution" means the donation of money or in-kind contributions.

"In-kind contribution" means the donation of goods, services, property, or other thing of value, other than money. The basis for arriving at the dollar value of an in-kind contribution is as follows: new items are valued at retail value, used items are valued at fair market value, and services rendered are valued at the actual cost of service per hour.

"Offeror" includes the offeror's owner and any agent, managing member, officer, director, or spouse of the offeror.

"Public institution of higher education" means the same as that term is defined in § 23.1-100.

B. Every offeror awarded a contract by a public institution of higher education for any construction project that has a total cost of $5 million or more shall disclose any contributions the offeror has made within the previous five-year period totaling $25,000 or more to the public institution of higher education or any private foundation that exists solely to support the public institution of higher education. Any offeror who desires to protest the award or decision to award a contract pursuant to this section shall do so in accordance with the provisions of § 2.2-4360; however, no protest shall lie for a claim that the selected offeror was awarded a contract solely based on such offeror's contribution to the public institution of higher education.

C. Any offeror that knowingly fails to submit the disclosure required by this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall initiate civil proceedings to enforce the civil penalties. Any civil penalties collected shall be payable to the State Treasurer for deposit to the general fund.

2022, cc. 96, 97.

Any person convicted of a willful violation of any provision of this article shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Upon conviction, any public employee, in addition to any other fine or penalty provided by law, shall forfeit his employment.

1982, c. 647, § 11-80; 2001, c. 844.