All conservation police officers are vested with the authority, upon displaying a badge or other credential of office, to issue a summons or to arrest any person found in the act of violating any of the provisions of the hunting, trapping, inland fish and boating laws.

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Terms Used In Virginia Code 29.1-205

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • 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
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • 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

Regular conservation police officers are vested with the same authority as sheriffs and other law-enforcement officers to enforce all of the criminal laws of the Commonwealth.

Any special conservation police officer shall have general police power while performing his duty on properties owned or controlled by the Board.

Any commissioned, warrant or petty officers of the United States Coast Guard and of the United States Coast Guard Reserve while engaged on active duty, in the conduct of their official duties in uniform, and any officers of the customs as defined by 19 U.S.C. § 1709 (b), in the conduct of their official duties in uniform, shall have the same power to make arrests under Chapter 7 of Title 29.1 as conservation police officers.

Code 1950, § 29-32; 1960, c. 540; 1979, c. 264; 1982, c. 64; 1987, c. 488; 1988, c. 605; 2007, c. 87.