Flag at half staff or mast for certain public safety personnel killed in the line of duty
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-488.1
in effectA. As used in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Emergency medical services provider" means the same as that term is defined in § 32.1-111.1 and any member of a volunteer emergency medical services agency.
"Firefighter" means the same as that term is defined in § 9.1-300 , and any member of a volunteer fire department.
"Police officer" means any full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of the Commonwealth and a state correctional officer of the Department of Corrections.
"Service member" means a member of the United States armed forces, Virginia National Guard, or Virginia Defense Force.
B. Whenever a service member, police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services provider who is a resident of Virginia is killed in the line of duty, all flags, state and local, flown at any building owned and operated by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof shall be flown at half staff or mast for one day to honor and acknowledge respect for those who made the supreme sacrifice.
C. The Department of General Services shall develop procedures to effectuate the purposes of this section.
2012, c. 767 ; 2015, cc. 502 , 503 ; 2017, c. 344 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-488.1/Fetched: 10/16/2026