Virginia Law

Article 2. Support Activities.

A. The law-enforcement division of the Commission shall be designated as the Virginia Marine Police. It shall exercise such powers and duties as the General Assembly may confer upon it by law and as provided in regulations adopted pursuant to law, including but not limited to:

1. Patrolling the tidal waters and shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay, its tidal tributaries, and territorial sea;

2. Enforcing marine fishery and habitat conservation laws and regulations;

3. Enforcing health laws pertaining to the harvesting of seafood from condemned areas;

4. Enforcing or assisting other agencies in enforcing laws pertaining to the removal of obstructions and abandoned vessels from the water, to boating operation and navigation, and to larceny on the water;

5. Providing for water-borne safety;

6. Conducting search and rescue activities; and

7. Protecting from terrorist attack federal and state water-related installations and other water-related locations within the tidal waters of the Commonwealth as may be designated by federal or state officials as important to national security.

B. Officers of the Virginia Marine Police shall have the same powers as (i) sheriffs and other law-enforcement officers to enforce all of the criminal laws of the Commonwealth, and (ii) regular conservation police officers appointed pursuant to Chapter 2 (§ 29.1-200 et seq.) of Title 29.1.

C. A person shall be (i) at least twenty-one years old and (ii) a high school graduate or equivalent to qualify for appointment as an officer.

D. Each officer shall qualify before the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city in which he resides, or in which his district may be, by taking the oaths prescribed by law.

Code 1950, § 28-36; 1962, c. 406, §§ 28.1-41, 28.1-42; 1964, c. 115; 1972, c. 824; 1973, c. 19; 1990, c. 521, § 28.1-45.1; 1991, c. 338, § 28.1-45.2; 1992, c. 836; 2001, c. 232; 2002, c. 789.

Pursuant to federal authorization or upon request from a federal agency, the Virginia Marine Police, conservation police officers of the Department of Wildlife Resources, and the marine patrol divisions of police departments located in Tidewater Virginia may patrol and enforce all federal security zones, federal safety zones, and federal restricted areas located within the tidal waters of the Commonwealth.

2002, c. 789; 2005, c. 516; 2007, c. 554; 2010, cc. 153, 500; 2020, c. 958.

A. The Commission is authorized, following consultation with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to establish, by regulation, state water safety zones and restricted areas within the tidal waters of the Commonwealth wherein public access shall be restricted or prohibited in the interest of public safety. Such zones or areas shall be consistent with federal law and made effective immediately upon establishment by the Commission. When, in the judgment of the Commissioner, time is of the essence and circumstances require action before a meeting of the Commission may be convened, the Commissioner is authorized, following consultation with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to establish state water safety zones or restricted areas, subject to ratification by the Commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) and §§ 28.2-209 through 28.2-215 shall not apply to regulations promulgated under this section. The Commission shall publicize the establishment and location of state water safety zones and restricted areas.

B. The Virginia Marine Police shall patrol and enforce all state water safety zones and restricted areas.

C. In times of officially declared national or state emergency, the Governor may adjust the boundaries of state water safety zones or restricted areas by executive order. Upon termination of emergency status, the boundaries shall return to those set forth in regulations.

D. A violation of any regulation promulgated under this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

2003, c. 389.

The Commission shall take steps to implement an effective marine police radio dispatch system. In establishing and operating such a system on a permanent basis, the Commissioner may negotiate appropriate leases or other necessary agreements for base radio stations.

1972, c. 779, § 28.1-46.1; 1979, c. 670; 1992, c. 836; 2002, c. 789.

A. The Marine Patrols Fund is continued and hereinafter referred to as the Fund, which shall consist of moneys appropriated to it by the General Assembly. The Comptroller shall annually distribute moneys from the Fund for the following purposes:

1. To cover the Commission's costs for its operation of a marine police dispatch service.

2. To reimburse each county or city in Tidewater Virginia or any county abutting Smith Mountain Lake for its operation of a marine patrol or for providing marine patrol services in waters under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth. The amount to be paid to each county or city shall be as specifically provided for in the General Appropriations Act. The Comptroller, upon certification by the Commissioner, shall make such payments no later than February 1. The total amount provided to any county or city shall not exceed twenty dollars per motorboat registered in the locality on January 1 of that year, as determined by the records of the Board of Wildlife Resources.

B. If total distributions allowable under subsection A of this section exceed the amount of revenues appropriated to the Fund, each qualifying county or city shall receive a prorated share.

C. The Commissioner may obtain from any county or city seeking funds under this section any information he needs to determine the amount of funds to which such county or city may be entitled.

D. For the purposes of this section, the terms "marine patrol" and "marine patrol services" mean water-borne law-enforcement, safety, and rescue activities.

1979, c. 670, § 28.1-46.4; 1982, c. 127; 1986, c. 153; 1990, c. 168; 1992, c. 836; 2002, c. 789; 2020, c. 958.