Virginia Code 2.2-311: Enforcement of laws by the State Inspector General or investigators; police power of the Office of State Inspector General; training.
A. The State Inspector General may designate himself and no more than 30 members of the investigations unit of the Office to have the same powers as a sheriff or a law-enforcement officer in the investigation of allegations of criminal behavior affecting the operations of a state agency or nonstate agency pursuant to his duties as set forth in this chapter. Such employees shall be subject to any minimum training standards established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services under § 9.1-102 for law-enforcement officers prior to exercising any law-enforcement power under this subsection.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 2.2-311
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Nonstate agency: means any public or private foundation, authority, institute, museum, corporation, or similar organization that is (i) not a unit of state government or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth as established by general law or special act and (ii) wholly or principally supported by state funds. See Virginia Code 2.2-307
- Office: means the Office of the State Inspector General. See Virginia Code 2.2-307
- Officer: means any person who is elected or appointed to a public office in a state agency. See Virginia Code 2.2-307
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
- 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
- State agency: means any agency, institution, board, bureau, commission, council, or instrumentality of state government in the executive branch listed in the appropriation act. See Virginia Code 2.2-307
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
The State Inspector General and the Superintendent of the Virginia State Police shall enter into a Memorandum of Understanding setting forth the respective roles and responsibilities of their agencies, including but not limited to the categories of investigations that will be overseen by each agency and how to avoid redundancy or operation conflicts. The Memorandum of Understanding will be approved by the Governor’s chief of staff and will be reviewed periodically at the request of either agency, but not less than every four years, and revised as agreed to by the agencies and endorsed by the Governor’s chief of staff.
B. The State Inspector General or investigators as may be designated by him also shall have the authority to issue summonses for violations of the statutes that the State Inspector General is required to enforce. In the event a person issued such a summons fails or refuses to discontinue the unlawful acts or refuses to give a written promise to appear at the time and place specified in the summons, the investigator may appear before a magistrate or other issuing authority having jurisdiction to obtain a criminal warrant pursuant to § 19.2-72.
C. All investigators appointed by the State Inspector General are vested with the authority to administer oaths or affirmations for the purpose of receiving complaints and conducting investigations of violations of the statutes and regulations that the State Inspector General is required to enforce. Such investigators are vested with the authority to obtain, serve, and execute any warrant, paper, or process issued by any court or magistrate or under the authority of the State Inspector General, and request and receive criminal history information under the provisions of § 19.2-389.