Virginia Code 52-11.3: Acquisition of military property
A. The Superintendent of State Police is authorized to apply for and accept grants or loans of personal property from the U.S. Department of Defense for use in the law-enforcement activities of the Department of State Police or any other law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. In connection with the receipt of such property, the Department of State Police and any other law-enforcement agency to which the property is transferred may agree to hold the United States government harmless against claims for damages arising out of the use of the property received. Such other law-enforcement agencies may also agree to hold the Commonwealth harmless against such claims.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 52-11.3
- Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
B. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, the Superintendent shall not 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.
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 B from the federal government.
1995, c. 149; 2020, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 37, 55; 2022, cc. 375, 376.