A. A campus police officer appointed as provided in § 23-233 or appointed and activated pursuant to § 23-233.1 may exercise the powers and duties conferred by law upon police officers of cities, towns, or counties, and shall be so deemed, including but not limited to 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 relevant public or private institution of higher education, or, upon request, any property owned or controlled by another public or private institution of higher education and upon the streets, sidewalks, and highways, immediately adjacent thereto, (ii) pursuant to a mutual aid agreement provided for in § 15.2-1727 between the governing board of a public or private institution and such other institution of higher education, public or private, in the Commonwealth or adjacent political subdivisions, (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 county, city, or town in which the institution, its satellite campuses, or other properties are located. The local governing body may petition the circuit court pursuant only to a request by the local law-enforcement agency for concurrent jurisdiction.

B. All public or private institutions of higher education that have campus police forces established in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall enter into and become a party to mutual aid agreements with one or more of the following: (i) an adjacent local law-enforcement agency or (ii) the Department of State Police, for the use of their joint forces, both regular and auxiliary, 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 the institution of higher education 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. Such notification shall not require a campus police force or the agency with which it has established a mutual aid agreement to disclose identifying information about the victim. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a campus police force from requesting assistance from any appropriate law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth, even though a mutual aid agreement has not been executed with that agency.

C. All public or nonprofit private institutions of higher education that (i) do not have campus police forces established in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and (ii) have security departments, rely on municipal, county, or state police forces, or contract for security services from private parties pursuant to § 23-238 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. Such notification shall not require the law-enforcement agency or the Department to disclose identifying information about the victim.

D. All mutual aid agreements and memoranda of understanding entered into pursuant to this section shall specify the procedure for sharing information.

E. For purposes of 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 related 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.

History

1977, c. 79; 1985, c. 386; 1991, c. 711; 1992, c. 187; 2002, c. 97; 2012, cc. 282, 450; 2015, c. 707; 2016, cc. 513, 571.