§ 52-8.3 Disclosure of criminal investigative records and reports; penalty
Any person employed by a law-enforcement agency or other governmental agency within the Commonwealth who has or has had access in an official capacity to an official written record or report submitted in confidence to the Department of State Police relating to an ongoing criminal investigation, and who uses or knowingly permits another to use such record or report for any purpose not consistent with the record exclusions permitted in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.), or other provision of state law, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to impede or prohibit full access to information concerning the existence of any criminal investigation or to other verbal disclosures permitted by state police operating procedures.
History
This law was first created in 1981. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 238 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1981 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 2 times. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1999, chapters 703 and 726; in 2004, chapter 690.
1981, c. 238; 1999, cc. 703, 726; 2004, c. 690.