Virginia § 19.2-12 - Who are conservators of the peace

§ 19.2-12. Who are conservators of the peace

Every judge and attorney for the Commonwealth throughout the Commonwealth and every magistrate within the geographical area for which he is appointed or elected shall be a conservator of the peace. In addition, every commissioner in chancery, while sitting as such commissioner; any special agent or law-enforcement officer of the U.S. Department of Justice, National Marine Fisheries Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Department of the Interior; any inspector, law-enforcement official, or police personnel of the United States Postal Service; any United States marshal or deputy United States marshal whose duties involve the enforcement of the criminal laws of the United States; any officer of the Virginia Marine Police; any criminal investigator of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation who meets the minimum law-enforcement training requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services for in-service training; any criminal investigator of the U.S. Department of Labor; any special agent of the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, or United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations; any special agent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; any sworn municipal park ranger who has completed all requirements under § 15.2-1706; and any investigator employed by an attorney for the Commonwealth who within 10 years immediately prior to being employed by the attorney for the Commonwealth was an active law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101 in the Commonwealth and retired or resigned from his position as a law-enforcement officer in good standing shall be a conservator of the peace while engaged in the performance of his official duties.

Code 1950, § 19.1-20; 1960, c. 366; 1968, c. 639; 1972, c. 549; 1975, c. 495; 1978, c. 697; 1981, cc. 572, 587; 1990, c. 558; 1991, cc. 74, 338; 1994, cc. 375, 569, 626; 1997, c. 34; 2001, cc. 3, 31; 2002, cc. 86, 605, 789; 2004, c. 1009; 2005, c. 372; 2006, c. 88; 2007, c. 224; 2015, cc. 75, 126; 2017, c. 674; 2023, cc. 107, 108.