15.2-1737 - Circuit courts may appoint special police officers.
§ 15.2-1737. Circuit courts may appoint special police officers.
A. The circuit court for any locality may, upon the application of, and ashowing of a necessity for the security of property or the peace by, thesheriff or chief of police, appoint special police officers for a localitywithin its jurisdiction. Effective July 1, 2002, no person employed by alocal school board as a school security officer, as defined in § 9.1-101,shall be eligible for appointment as a special police officer for purposes ofmaintaining safety in a public school in the Commonwealth.
The special police officers shall be suitable and discreet persons and shallserve as such for such length of time as the court may designate, but notexceeding four years under any one appointment. Such person or persons soappointed shall be conservators of the peace under the supervision of theperson or agency making application for the appointment, who shall likewisebe civilly liable for any wrongful action or conduct committed by theappointee while within the scope of his employment.
B. The court shall, prior to appointment, order the applicant to conduct abackground investigation, in accordance with clause A (ii) of § 15.2-1705 ofeach prospective appointee who is not a law-enforcement officer as defined in§ 9.1-101.
C. All appointments made pursuant to this section shall become void onSeptember 15, 2004, and any officers so appointed shall no longer be eligibleto serve.
(Code 1950, § 15-562; 1962, cc. 234, 623, § 15.1-144; 1976, c. 199; 1996, c.850; 1997, c. 587; 2002, cc. 836, 868; 2003, c. 922.)