Virginia § 15.2-1721.1 - Acquisition of military property by localities

§ 15.2-1721.1. Acquisition of military property by localities

A. No locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive of any agency or department employing deputy sheriffs or law-enforcement officers as defined in § 9.1-101 or any public or private institution of higher education that has established a campus police department pursuant to Article 3 (§ 23.1-809 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 23.1 shall acquire or purchase (i) weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles; (ii) aircraft that are configured for combat or are combat-coded and have no established commercial flight application; (iii) grenades or similar explosives or grenade launchers from a surplus program operated by the federal government; (iv) armored multi-wheeled vehicles that are mine-resistant, ambush-protected, and configured for combat, also known as MRAPs, from a surplus program operated by the federal government; (v) bayonets; (vi) rifles of .50 caliber or higher; (vii) rifle ammunition of .50 caliber or higher; or (viii) weaponized tracked armored vehicles.

Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the acquisition or purchase of an armored high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle, also known as HMMWVs, or preclude the seizure of any prohibited item in connection with a criminal investigation or proceeding or subject to a civil forfeiture. Any property obtained by seizure shall be disposed of at the conclusion of any investigation or as otherwise provided by law.

B. Any locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive of any agency or department employing deputy sheriffs or law-enforcement officers as defined in § 9.1-101 that has previously acquired any item listed in subsection A is prohibited from using such items unless such locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive has received a waiver to use such items from the Criminal Justice Services Board. Any waiver request made to the Criminal Justice Services Board shall be limited to special weapons and tactics unit or other equivalent unit use only. The Criminal Justice Services Board may grant a waiver upon a showing of good cause by the requesting locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive that the continued use of the item that is the subject of the waiver request has a bona fide public safety purpose.

Any locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive that has filed a waiver request with the Criminal Justice Services Board may continue to use such prohibited items while such waiver request is pending before the Criminal Justice Services Board. If such waiver request is denied, the locality, sheriff, chief of police, or director or chief executive that filed such waiver shall no longer use such prohibited item.

C. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the acquisition, purchase, or otherwise acceptance of any personal protective equipment, naloxone or other lifesaving medication, or any personal property that is not specifically prohibited pursuant to subsection A from the federal government.

2020, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 37, 55; 2022, cc. 375, 376.