Virginia § 9.1-116.01 - Universal certification for certain law-enforcement officers

§ 9.1-116.01. Universal certification for certain law-enforcement officers

A. Any sworn law-enforcement officer with at least one year of law-enforcement experience (i) whose training qualifications meet or exceed current training standards established by the Board in accordance with this article and who is in compliance with §§ 15.2-1705 and 15.2-1706, (ii) who has not had a break in service of more than 24 months, and (iii) who is leaving the transferring law-enforcement agency in good standing with no pending investigations or disciplinary actions shall be eligible for employment at any law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof. Any such law-enforcement officer shall complete any other training as determined to be necessary by the Board to ensure understanding of the criminal laws and all other laws of the Commonwealth.

B. Prior to any conditional offer of employment, the hiring law-enforcement agency shall request from all prior employing law-enforcement agencies any information (i) related to an arrest or prosecution of the applicant law-enforcement officer, including any expunged arrest or criminal charge known to the agency or disclosed during the hiring process that would otherwise be prohibited from disclosure in accordance with § 19.2-392.4; (ii) related to a civil suit regarding the applicant law-enforcement officer's employment or performance of his duties; (iii) obtained during the course of any internal investigation related to the applicant law-enforcement officer's alleged criminal conduct, use of excessive force, or other official misconduct in violation of the state professional standards of conduct adopted by the Board; and (iv) related to the applicant law-enforcement officer's job performance that led to such officer's resignation, dismissal, demotion, suspension, or transfer. The hiring law-enforcement agency shall employ all reasonable means to obtain personnel records for law-enforcement officers transferring from an out-of-state or federal law-enforcement agency, including requiring the applicant law-enforcement officer (a) to complete a waiver or release liability authorizing the hiring law-enforcement agency to request such information as listed in this subsection from all prior employing law-enforcement agencies and (b) to provide a full disclosure of any incidents or information that such prior employing law-enforcement agencies have been requested to disclose as listed in this subsection.

Upon the receipt of all requested information by the hiring law-enforcement agency, the applicant law-enforcement officer shall complete a sworn declaration that the provided information or records are, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, a true, correct, and complete response to such request.

C. In addition, the hiring law-enforcement agency may require a candidate for employment to undergo a psychological examination, subsequent to a conditional offer of employment, conducted under the supervision of a licensed psychiatrist or a licensed clinical psychologist.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any sworn law-enforcement officer may be granted an exemption in accordance with the provisions of § 9.1-116 and may be subject to the compulsory minimum training standards established by the Board.

2024, cc. 542, 581.