{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/1-511.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/1-511.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/1-511.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/1-511.html"}],"law_id":59965,"edition_id":1,"section_id":59965,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-511","catch_line":"English designated the official language of the Commonwealth","history":"1996, c. 829, \u00a7 7.1-42; 2005, c. 839.","full_text":"English shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth. Except as provided by law, no state agency or local government shall be required to provide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from providing any documents, information, literature or other written materials in any language other than English.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":219578,"text":"English shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth. Except as provided by law, no state agency or local government shall be required to provide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from providing any documents, information, literature or other written materials in any language other than English.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":15672,"edition_id":1,"name":"Emblems, Designations, and Honors","identifier":"2","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":14574,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:57:41","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:57:41","permalink":{"id":143253,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15672,"identifier":"2","token":"1\/5\/2","url":"\/1\/5\/2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":14574,"edition_id":1,"name":"Emblems","identifier":"5","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":13464,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:48:43","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:48:43","permalink":{"id":143209,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":14574,"identifier":"5","token":"1\/5","url":"\/1\/5\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":13464,"edition_id":1,"name":"General Provisions","identifier":"1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:44:57","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:44:57","permalink":{"id":142799,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":13464,"identifier":"1","token":"1","url":"\/1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":70624,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-510","catch_line":"Official emblems and designations","url":"\/1-510\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-510","metadata":false},{"id":59965,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-511","catch_line":"English designated the official language of the Commonwealth","url":"\/1-511\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-511","metadata":false},{"id":62269,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-512","catch_line":"Poet laureate","url":"\/1-512\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-512","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":70624,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-510","catch_line":"Official emblems and designations","url":"\/1-510\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-510","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":62269,"structure_id":15672,"section_number":"1-512","catch_line":"Poet laureate","url":"\/1-512\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-512","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/1-511\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1996. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 829<\/a> of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. It has been modified 1 time. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. That modification is as follows: in 2005, chapter 839<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":78781,"section_number":"22.1-212.1","catch_line":"Obligations of school boards","order_by":null,"url":"\/22.1-212.1\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":143259,"object_type":"law","relational_id":59965,"identifier":"1-511","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-511","url":"\/1-511\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/1-511\/","token":"1\/5\/2\/1-511","dublin_core":{"Title":"English designated the official language of the Commonwealth","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 1-511","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

English shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth. Except as provided by law<\/span>, no state agency or local government shall be required to provide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from providing any documents, information, literature or other written materials<\/span> in any language other than English.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nENGLISH DESIGNATED THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE COMMONWEALTH (\u00a7 1-511)\n\nEnglish shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth. Except\nas provided by law, no state agency or local government shall be required to\nprovide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from\nproviding any documents, information, literature or other written materials in\nany language other than English.\n\nHISTORY: 1996, c. 829, \u00a7 7.1-42; 2005, c. 839.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}