TITLE 52. POLICE (STATE).
§ 52-8.3. See § 2.2-3703; SB 352.
§ 52-8.4 amended.
Commercial motor vehicle safety; hours of service. Exempts from hours-of-service requirements operators of vehicles engaging in the provision or restoration of utility services when the loss of such service is unexpected, unplanned or unscheduled. HB 516; CH. 23 (effective 3/2/04).
§§ 52-11.4 and 52-11.5 added.
Unclaimed property; sale and disposal by State Police. Allows the State Police to provide for the sale or use of unclaimed personal property that has been in its possession unclaimed for more than 60 days. "Unclaimed personal property" is defined to include any personal property, other than firearms or other weapons, that (i) belongs to another that has been acquired by a law-enforcement officer pursuant to his duties; (ii) is not needed in any criminal prosecution; (iii) has not been claimed by its rightful owner; and (iv) the State Treasurer has indicated will be declined pursuant to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. Prior to sale or use of the unclaimed property, the State Police must attempt to notify by mail the rightful owner of the property, receive in writing from the attorney for the Commonwealth that the property is not needed for a criminal prosecution, post on its website for 60 days a description of the property and notice of the time, date, and place of display and sale of the property and publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality where the sale is to be held once a week for two successive weeks prior to the sale, a notice that includes the date, time, place of the sale, general description of items to be sold and the State Police website address. The bill also provides for the disposition of funds from such sale into the Literary Fund. Alternatively, the State Police may retain any unclaimed personal property for its own use, or use of other law-enforcement agencies, if that is a more economical alternative to the purchase of a similar item. No claim may be made or any suit initiated for the recovery of the property or the proceeds after one year from the date of sale. The bill also creates a section that allows the State Police to destroy unclaimed firearms or other weapons if it complies with the notice provisions relating to the disposition of unclaimed personal property set forth above. HB 360; CH. 427.
§ 52-32. See § 15.2-1718; SB 317.
§ 52-34.3 amended.
Amber alert system; issuance of alerts. Clarifies that the initial decision to make a local or regional Amber Alert is at the discretion of the local or regional law-enforcement officials, but the local or regional law-enforcement officials must provide information regarding the abducted child to the State Police prior to issuing the alert. The initial decision to make a statewide Amber Alert is at the discretion of the State Police. HB 214; CH. 270.
§ 52-46 added.
Applicant Fingerprint Database. Requires the State Police to develop a separate fingerprint database for use in criminal background checks for the purpose of allowing agencies and entities who require a criminal background check as a condition of licensure, certification, employment or volunteer service to be advised when an individual who is currently licensed, certified, employed or volunteering is arrested for, or convicted of a criminal offense which would disqualify the individual from his current status. The bill also provides that an entity authorized to submit fingerprints to the database shall not be considered negligent per se in a civil action if it elected not to submit fingerprints. SB 634; CH. 826.