Title 30, Title 30. General Assembly

Staff assistance shall be provided to the Commission by the Division of Legislative Services. All agencies, authorities, and institutions of the Commonwealth shall cooperate and provide such assistance to the Commission as the Commission may request.

This chapter may be referred to as the "Virginia Retirement System Oversight Act."

A. Section 11 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia (1971) requires that the General Assembly maintain a state employees retirement system to be administered in the best interest of the beneficiaries thereof. In order to fulfill this duty, continuing legislative oversight …

A. The areas of review and evaluation to be conducted by the Commission shall include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) structure and governance of the Retirement System; (ii) structure of the investment portfolio; (iii) investment practices, policies, and performance, …

A. The Virginia Retirement System shall submit to the General Assembly, through its Commission, both semi-annual and annual reports on the investment programs of the Retirement System. The report shall be presented in a format approved by the Commission and shall include informat…

The Commission may employ on a consulting basis such investment, actuarial, and other professional or technical experts as may be reasonably necessary for the Commission to fulfill its responsibilities under this chapter. Such consultants shall provide, upon request, assistance t…

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate as requested by the Commission in the performance of its duties under this chapter.

The Commission's reasonable and necessary expenses related to its duties under this chapter shall be paid by the Retirement System and shall be borne by each trust fund in the System in the same ratio as the assets of each trust fund, as of the preceding June 30, bear to the tota…

The Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) is hereby established as a permanent legislative agency of the Commonwealth. JCOTS shall generally study all aspects of technology and science and endeavor to stimulate, encourage, promote, and assist in the development of te…

A. JCOTS shall be composed of 12 members, seven of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates from the membership thereof, in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates, and five of whom sha…

JCOTS may appoint, employ, and remove an executive director and such other persons as it deems necessary and determine their duties and fix their salaries or compensation within the amounts appropriated therefor. All agencies, authorities, and institutions of the Commonwealth sha…

JCOTS may establish advisory committees composed of persons with expertise in the matters under consideration by JCOTS. Such persons shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed from funds appropriated or otherwise available to JCOTS for reasonable and necessary expe…

The General Assembly, recognizing that our system of representative government is dependent in part upon (i) citizen legislative members representing fully the public in the legislative process and (ii) its citizens maintaining the highest trust in their public officers, finds an…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Advisory agency" means any board, commission, committee or post which does not exercise any sovereign power or duty, but is appointed by a governmental agency or officer or is created by law for the purpos…

This article applies to generally prohibited conduct which shall be unlawful.

No legislator shall: 1. Solicit or accept money or other thing of value for services performed within the scope of his official duties, except the compensation, expenses or other remuneration paid to him by the General Assembly. This prohibition shall not apply to the acceptance …

A. For purposes of this section: "Widely attended event" means an event at which at least 25 persons have been invited to attend or there is a reasonable expectation that at least 25 persons will attend the event and the event is open to individuals (i) who are members of a publi…

No person shall be in violation of any provision of this chapter prohibiting the acceptance of a gift if the gift is not used by such person and the gift or its equivalent in money is returned to the donor or delivered to a charitable organization within a reasonable period of ti…

This article proscribes certain conduct relating to contracts.

A. No legislator shall have a personal interest in a contract with the legislative branch of state government. B. No legislator shall have a personal interest in a contract with any governmental agency of the executive or judicial branches of state government, other than in a con…

A. The provisions of § 30-105 shall not apply to: 1. The sale, lease or exchange of real property between a legislator and a governmental agency, provided the legislator does not participate in any way as a legislator in such sale, lease or exchange, and this fact is set forth as…

This article relates to conduct by legislators having a personal interest in a transaction.

A legislator who has a personal interest in a transaction shall disqualify himself from participating in the transaction. Unless otherwise prohibited by the rules of his house, the disqualification requirement of this section shall not prevent any legislator from participating in…

This article requires disclosure of certain personal and financial interests by legislators.

A. In accordance with the requirements set forth in § 30-111.1, every legislator and legislator-elect shall file, as a condition to assuming office, a disclosure statement of his personal interests and such other information as is required on the form prescribed by the Council pu…

Every legislator shall file, on or before May 1, a report of gifts accepted or received by him or a member of his immediate family during the period beginning on January 1 complete through adjournment sine die of the regular session of the General Assembly. The gift report shall …

A. The disclosure form to be used for filings required by subsections A and B of § 30-110 shall be prescribed by the Council. All completed forms shall be filed electronically with the Council in accordance with the standards approved by it pursuant to § 30-356. B. Any legislator…

A. A legislator or legislator-elect required to file an annual disclosure on or before February 1 pursuant to this article shall disclose his personal interests and other information as required on the form prescribed by the Council for the preceding calendar year complete throug…

A. The Senate Ethics Advisory Panel and the House Ethics Advisory Panel are established in the legislative branch of state government. The provisions of §§ 30-112 through 30-119 shall be applicable to each panel. B. The Senate Ethics Advisory Panel shall be composed of five nonle…

The powers and duties of the Panel shall be applied and used only in relation to members of the respective house of the General Assembly for which it is created. The Panel shall establish its rules of procedure, including rules for the conduct of open meetings and hearings.

If a complaint is dismissed during the preliminary investigation, such records shall remain confidential and be retained for a period of five years and then destroyed. Records related to a complaint that has proceeded to an inquiry beyond a preliminary investigation shall be made…

A. In response to the signed and sworn complaint of any citizen of the Commonwealth, which is subscribed by the maker as true under penalty of perjury, submitted to the Panel, the Panel shall inquire into any alleged violation of Articles 2 (§ 30-102 et seq.) through 5 (§ 30-109 …

The Panel may issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of documents, books or other records. The Panel may apply to the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond to compel obedience to the subpoenas of the Panel. Notwithstanding any other provisions of …

Within 120 days of the chairman's forwarding the signed and sworn complaint to the Panel, the Panel, or a majority of its members acting in its name, shall dispose of the matter in one of the following ways: 1. a. If the Panel determines in its preliminary investigation that the …

All proceedings during the investigation of any complaint by the Panel shall be confidential. This rule of confidentiality shall apply to Panel members and their staff, the Committee on Privileges and Elections and its staff, and the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advis…

The Panel may hire staff and outside counsel to assist the Panel and to conduct examinations of witnesses, subject to the approval of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the Senate Ethics Advisory Panel and subject to the approval of the Speaker of the House of Delegates …

The Senate and House Ethics Advisory Panels shall have jurisdiction over any complaint alleging a violation of Articles 2 (§ 30-102 et seq.) through 5 (§ 30-109 et seq.) of this chapter that occurs on or after August 1, 1987, and over any complaint alleging a violation of the Com…

Either house of the General Assembly may establish, in its rules, a Committee on Standards of Conduct to be appointed as provided in its rules and consisting of three members, one of whom shall be a member of the minority party. The Committee shall consider any request by a membe…

Each house of the General Assembly shall adopt rules governing procedures and disciplinary sanctions for members who have committed alleged violations of this chapter.

The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Attorney General. In addition to any other powers and duties prescribed by law, the Attorney General shall have the following powers and duties: 1. If he determines that any legislator has knowingly violated any provision of…

Any legislator who knowingly violates any of the provisions of Articles 2 through 5 (§§ 30-102 through 30-111) of this chapter shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. A knowing violation under this section is one in which the person engages in conduct, performs an act or refuse…

A legislator shall not be prosecuted or disciplined for a violation of this chapter if his alleged violation resulted from his good faith reliance on a written opinion of a committee on standards of conduct established pursuant to § 30-120, an opinion of the Attorney General as p…

A. Any contract made in violation of § 30-103 or § 30-105 may be declared void and may be rescinded by the contracting or selling governmental authority within five years of the date of the contract. In cases in which the contract is invalidated, the contractor shall retain or re…

A. In addition to any other fine or penalty provided by law, any money or other thing of value derived by a legislator from a violation of §§ 30-103 through 30-108 shall be forfeited and, in the event of a knowing violation, there may also be imposed a civil penalty in an amount …

A. Violations of this chapter may be prosecuted notwithstanding the jurisdiction of, or any pending proceeding before, the House or Senate Ethics Advisory Panel. B. Nothing in this chapter shall limit or affect the application of other criminal statutes and penalties as provided …

The statute of limitations for the criminal prosecution of a legislator for violation of any provision of this chapter shall be one year from the time the Attorney General has actual knowledge of the violation or five years from the date of the violation, whichever event first oc…