Title 30, General Assembly

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…

Any prosecution for a violation of this chapter shall be brought in the circuit court of the jurisdiction in which the legislator resides, or the jurisdiction in which he resided at the time of the alleged violation if he is no longer a resident of the Commonwealth.

The Council shall conduct an orientation session (i) for new and returning General Assembly members preceding each even-numbered year regular session and (ii) for any new General Assembly member who is elected in a special election and whose term commences after the date of the o…

The orientation session shall provide information and training for the members on ethics and conflicts of interests, on the provisions of the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act (§ 30-100 et seq.), on relevant federal law provisions, and on related issues involving lobbyi…

Those conducting the orientation sessions may call on other agencies in the legislative or executive branches for assistance, may invite experts to assist in the sessions, and shall, upon request of a member who holds a professional license or certification, apply for continuing …

The Auditor of Public Accounts shall be elected by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, for the term of four years, as provided in Article IV, Section 18 of the Constitution of Virginia, and he shall receive such compensation as may be appropriated by law for…

The Auditor of Public Accounts and the employees in the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts shall be bonded in accordance with § 2.2-1840, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of their duties.

A. The Auditor of Public Accounts may employ, with the approval of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the necessary assistants to enable him to carry out the provisions of this chapter. B. The office of the Auditor of Public Accounts shall be located in the City o…

A. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall audit all the accounts of every state department, officer, board, commission, institution, or other agency handling any state funds as determined necessary by the Auditor of Public Accounts. In the performance of such duties and the exercis…

In addition to all other responsibilities and duties required under law, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall, promptly upon completion of the annual audit for each public institution of higher education, certify in writing to the Chairman of the Board of Visitors or other govern…

As part of the annual audit of the Department of Taxation, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall perform a review of the collection and distribution of the Retail Sales and Use Tax (§ 58.1-600 et seq.), with an important focus being the collection and distribution of local retail …

A. At least once in every two years, and at other times as the Governor directs, the Auditor of Public Accounts, either in person or through his assistants, shall audit all accounts and records of every city and county official and agency in the Commonwealth handling state funds,…

A. The Auditor of Public Accounts or his deputy shall, from time to time, inspect and scrutinize the accounts and vouchers of all state officers referred to in § 2.2-803. B. The Auditor of Public Accounts shall have access to records of all state institutions, departments and age…

The Auditor of Public Accounts, or his deputy, while conducting any examination authorized by this chapter, shall have power to (i) administer an oath to any person whose testimony may be required in any such examination, and (ii) compel the appearance and attendance of such pers…

A. The Auditor of Public Accounts, under the direction of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall devise a modern, effective and uniform system of bookkeeping and accounting for the use of all county, city and town officials and agencies handling the revenues of t…

A. Upon the discovery of circumstances suggesting a reasonable possibility that a fraudulent transaction has occurred involving funds or property under the control of any state department, court, officer, board, commission, institution or other agency of the Commonwealth, includi…

If, at any time, the Auditor of Public Accounts discovers any unauthorized, illegal, irregular, or unsafe handling or expenditure of state funds, or if comes to his attention that any unauthorized, illegal, or unsafe handling or expenditure of state funds is contemplated but not …

A. Each authority, commission, district, or other political subdivision the members of whose governing body are not elected by popular vote shall annually, within five months after the end of its fiscal year, have an audit performed covering its financial transactions for such fi…

The Auditor of Public Accounts shall make an annual report of the activities of his office to the Governor and the General Assembly.

Whenever the General Assembly is not in session, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission may perform any of the duties of the Auditor of Public Accounts upon its determination that the Auditor is unable or unwilling to perform any of his duties by reason of incapacity, …

A. The Virginia Code Commission (the Commission) is established in the legislative branch of state government. The Commission shall consist of not less than 11 members nor more than 13 members as follows: 1. Two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules for…

The Commission is charged with the responsibility of publishing and maintaining a Code of the general and permanent statutes of the Commonwealth. The Commission shall also have the responsibility of publishing and maintaining the Virginia Administrative Code, and publishing the V…

A. The Commission may enter into contracts with any reputable person for such editorial work, printing, indexing, annotating and other work as may be necessary. All parts of any code published or authorized to be published by the Commission, including statute text, regulation tex…

Immediately following each regular session of the General Assembly, the Commission shall arrange for the codification and incorporation into the Code of Virginia of all general and permanent statutes enacted at such regular sessions and at all special sessions that have occurred …

The Commission may correct unmistakable printer's errors, misspellings and other unmistakable errors in the statutes as incorporated into the Code of Virginia, and may make consequential changes in the titles of officers and agencies, and other purely consequential changes made n…

The Commission may correct unmistakable printer's errors, misspellings and other unmistakable errors in the regulations as incorporated into the Virginia Administrative Code, and may make consequential changes in the titles of officers and agencies, and other purely consequential…

The Commission shall review the Code of Virginia and uncodified provisions in the Virginia Acts of Assembly to identify obsolete chapters, articles, sections, or enactments. The Commission shall from time to time, but not less than every four years, make such recommendation to th…

The Code of Virginia shall continue to be gradually revised by revising one title at a time. The Commission shall have the responsibility for drafting title revision and recodification bills for introduction into the General Assembly. During the recodification or title revision p…

The Commission, in conjunction with the Virginia State Bar, shall arrange for the incorporation of all advisory opinions issued by the Virginia State Bar's Standing Committees on Legal Ethics, Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation, and Unauthorized Practice of Law into the Code of …

The Code Commission shall annually arrange for the codification and incorporation into the Code of Virginia of all general, special and limited compacts to which the Commonwealth is a party. Within the discretion of the Commission, such incorporation may be through insertion with…

A. In conjunction with the responsibility granted to the Commission for publishing and maintaining the Virginia Administrative Code as set forth in § 30-146, the Commission shall continually monitor the operation of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) and the Virg…