Campus police forces and auxiliary police forces; powers and duties; jurisdiction
Va. Code Ann. § 23.1-815
in effectA. As used in this section:
"Campus" means (i) any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education located within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner relating to, the institution's educational purposes, including residence halls, and (ii) any building or property that is within or reasonably contiguous to the area described in clause (i) that is owned by the institution but controlled by another person, is frequently used by students, and supports institutional purposes, such as a food or other retail vendor.
"Noncampus building or property" means (i) any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by an institution of higher education or (ii) any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education that is used in direct support of, or in relation to, the institution's educational purposes, is frequently used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution.
"Public property" means all public property, including thoroughfares, streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities, that is within the campus, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from the campus.
B. A campus police officer appointed as provided in § 23.1-812 or a member of an auxiliary police force appointed and activated pursuant to §§ 23.1-811 and 23.1-812 shall be deemed police officers of localities who may exercise the powers and duties conferred by law upon such police officers, including the provisions of Chapters 5 (§ 19.2-52 et seq.), 7 (§ 19.2-71 et seq.), and 23 (§ 19.2-387 et seq.) of Title 19.2, (i) upon any property owned or controlled by the public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education, or, upon request, any property owned or controlled by another public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education, and upon the streets, sidewalks, and highways immediately adjacent to any such property; (ii) pursuant to a mutual aid agreement (a) as provided for in § 15.2-1727 or (b) between the governing board of a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education and another public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or an adjacent political subdivision; (iii) in close pursuit of a person as provided in § 19.2-77 ; and (iv) upon approval by the appropriate circuit court of a petition by the local governing body for concurrent jurisdiction in designated areas with the police officers of the locality in which the institution, its satellite campuses, or other properties are located. The local governing body may only petition the circuit court for such concurrent jurisdiction pursuant to a request by the local law-enforcement agency.
C. Each public institution of higher education and private institution of higher education that establishes a campus police force pursuant to this article shall enter into and become a party to a mutual aid agreement with an adjacent local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police for the use of their regular and auxiliary joint forces, equipment, and materials when needed in the investigation of any felony criminal sexual assault or medically unattended death occurring on property owned or controlled by such institution or any death resulting from an incident occurring on such property. Such mutual aid agreements shall include provisions requiring either the campus police force or the agency with which it has established a mutual aid agreement pursuant to this subsection, in the event that such police force or agency conducts an investigation that involves a felony criminal sexual assault as set forth in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 occurring on campus, in or on a noncampus building or property, or on public property, to notify the local attorney for the Commonwealth of such investigation within 48 hours of beginning such investigation. No such notification provision shall require a campus police force or the agency with which it has established a mutual aid agreement to disclose identifying information about the victim. Nothing in this section prohibits a campus police force or auxiliary police force from requesting assistance from any appropriate law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth with which the institution has not entered into a mutual aid agreement.
D. Each public institution of higher education and nonprofit private institution of higher education that (i) has not established a campus police force or auxiliary police force pursuant to this article and (ii) has a security department, relies on local or state police forces, or contracts for security services from private parties pursuant to § 23.1-818 shall enter into and become a party to a memorandum of understanding with an adjacent local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police (the Department) to require either such local law-enforcement agency or the Department, in the event that such agency or the Department conducts an investigation that involves a felony criminal sexual assault as set forth in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 occurring on campus, in or on a noncampus building or property, or on public property, to notify the local attorney for the Commonwealth of such investigation within 48 hours of beginning such investigation. No such notification provision shall require the law-enforcement agency or the Department to disclose identifying information about the victim.
E. All mutual aid agreements and memoranda of understanding entered into pursuant to this section shall specify the procedure for sharing information.
1977, c. 79, § 23-234; 1985, c. 386; 1991, c. 711; 1992, c. 187; 2002, c. 97 ; 2012, cc. 282 , 450 ; 2015, c. 707 ; 2016, cc. 513 , 571 , 588 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/23.1-815/Fetched: 10/16/2026