Virginia
Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for Virginia, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources.
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Licensing Law Tracker
Virginia licenses private security services businesses, and registers the private investigators who work for them, through the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). No law or final rule changed investigator licensing from 2023 through October 2026. A fee increase proposed in 2021 is still awaiting the Governor’s review.
Full Virginia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (2 entries).
Proposal to add human trafficking training for security officers
DCJS proposes to add the human trafficking training required by HB 203 to entry-level and in-service training for unarmed and armed security officers, couriers, security canine handlers, and alarm respondents, adding one hour. An earlier emergency stage…
Human trafficking training for security officers, not investigators
Amends Code of Va. 9.1-102 and 9.1-141 to require training in recognizing and reporting human trafficking for unarmed and armed security officers, couriers, security canine handlers, and alarm respondents. It is the only 2023–2026 amendment to the private…
Officer Certification Tracker
In Virginia the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), under the Criminal Justice Services Board, certifies and decertifies law-enforcement officers, and the Board must decertify an officer when an agency reports a listed conviction or misconduct separation. Since 2023 the State has added impeachment evidence to the mandatory grounds, closed decertification records to FOIA, made experienced officers in good standing eligible for hire at any Virginia agency, adopted statewide conduct standards, and barred officers, including federal officers, from wearing facial coverings on duty, with listed exceptions.
Full Virginia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (4 entries).
Officers, including federal officers, barred from facial coverings on duty and required to display a name or ID and their agency
The acts numbered the new section 19.2-83.6:1. The Code publishes it as 19.2-83.6:2, because 19.2-83.6:1 is now the duty to render aid (2026 ch. 583). Under it, “no law-enforcement officer shall” wear a facial covering that conceals, obscures, or covers…
Statewide conduct standards and a serious-misconduct list for decertification
The Register says the chapter is adopted under Chapter 37 of the 2020 Acts of Assembly, Special Session I; the standards duty is now Va. Code 9.1-102(60). Every certified law-enforcement and jail officer “must” comply with eight conduct standards, such as…
Decertification overhaul: impeachment evidence added, recruits covered, DCJS review, records closed
15.2-1707: the reportable separations now include violations of law where a prosecution ends because the officer resigned; acts “in relation to” duties that compromise credibility, integrity, or honesty; and acts in the performance of duties that are…
Universal certification for transferring officers, with a records check before the offer
A sworn officer with at least one year of experience “shall be eligible for employment” at any Virginia agency if the officer’s training meets current Board standards, the officer meets 15.2-1705 and 15.2-1706, has no break in service over 24 months, and…
Forensic Science Tracker
Virginia has no independent forensic science commission; the state lab is overseen by a policy board and a scientific advisory committee. Since 2023 the State changed DNA notice and data bank rules, and on July 1, 2026 the 2022 facial recognition law expired, which returned local and campus police to a ban on the technology unless a statute expressly authorizes it.
Full Virginia page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed (6 entries).
Facial recognition law expires; local and campus police ban returns
The 2022 act that authorized and limited police use of facial recognition expired on July 1, 2026, and no extension was enacted. Va. Code 15.2-1723.2 and 23.1-815.1 reverted to their 2021 text: no local law enforcement agency or campus police department…
New sealing path does not expunge DNA profiles
Va. Code 19.2-310.7(B) now says a sealing order under the new 19.2-392.12:1, like orders under 19.2-392.7 and 19.2-392.12, is not grounds to expunge a person’s DNA profile from the data bank. This is one small part of a large record sealing act.
Board and committee members serve until replaced
Governor-appointed members of the Forensic Science Board and the Scientific Advisory Committee now serve past the end of their terms until a successor is appointed (Va. Code 9.1-1109(C), 9.1-1111). The act also corrects the name of the Commonwealth’s…
DNA notice, data bank reports, and identity sharing changed
The 19.2-270.5 DNA notice no longer must include the profiles; parties may get the underlying profiles under 19.2-187.2, with a continuance. The Department’s data bank report no longer includes the profile and identifying information (19.2-310.4), and the…
Police must report surveillance technology each year
State and local law enforcement agencies and sheriff’s departments must report to the Department of Criminal Justice Services by November 1 each year the surveillance technologies they used, accessed, or procured in the prior fiscal year (Va. Code…
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & Investigation