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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>83220</law_id><section_number>46.2-336</section_number><catch_line>Manner of issuing original driver&amp;#8217;s licenses to minors</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="46.2">Motor Vehicles</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="II">Titling, Registration and Licensure</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="3">Licensure of Drivers</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="5">Licensure of Minors, Student Drivers, School Bus Drivers, and Motorcyclists</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Except as provided in subsection B, the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> shall forward all original <span class="dictionary">driver</span>&#x2019;s licenses issued to persons under the age of 18 years to the <span class="dictionary">judge</span> of the juvenile and domestic relations <span class="dictionary">court</span> in the city or county in which the licensee resides. The <span class="dictionary">judge</span> or a substitute <span class="dictionary">judge</span> shall <span class="dictionary">issue</span> to each person to be licensed the license so forwarded, and shall, at the time of issuance, conduct a formal, appropriate ceremony, in which he shall illustrate to the licensee the responsibility attendant on the <span class="dictionary">privilege</span> of driving a <span class="dictionary">motor vehicle</span>. The attorney for the Commonwealth who serves the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> in which the ceremony is to be conducted may request in writing in advance of such ceremony an opportunity to participate in the ceremony. Any <span class="dictionary">judge</span> who presides over such ceremony shall, upon request, afford the attorney for the Commonwealth the opportunity to participate in such ceremony and to address the prospective licensees and the persons enumerated below who may be accompanying the prospective licensees as to matters of enforcement, <span class="dictionary">prosecutions</span>, applicable punishments, and the responsibility of <span class="dictionary">drivers</span> generally. If the licensee is under the age of 18 years at the time his ceremony is held, he shall be accompanied at the ceremony by a parent, his guardian, spouse, or other person in loco parentis. However, the <span class="dictionary">judge</span>, for good cause shown, may mail or otherwise deliver the <span class="dictionary">driver</span>&#x2019;s license to any person who is a student at any educational institution outside of the Commonwealth at the time such license is received by the <span class="dictionary">judge</span> as prescribed in this section. <a id="paragraph-298144" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/46.2-336/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> The chief juvenile and domestic relations district <span class="dictionary">court</span> <span class="dictionary">judge</span> may <span class="dictionary">waive</span> the ceremonial requirements of subsection A for each juvenile and domestic relations district <span class="dictionary">court</span> within the district or <span class="dictionary">order</span> that each juvenile and domestic relations district <span class="dictionary">court</span> within the district conduct such ceremony in an alternative manner. In <span class="dictionary">courts</span> where the ceremony has been waived, the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> shall mail or otherwise deliver the <span class="dictionary">driver</span>&#x2019;s licenses directly to licensees. <a id="paragraph-298145" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/46.2-336/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> The provisions of this section shall not apply to the issuance of Virginia <span class="dictionary">driver</span>&#x2019;s licenses to persons who hold valid <span class="dictionary">driver</span>&#x2019;s licenses issued by other states. <a id="paragraph-298146" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/46.2-336/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1962, c. 261, &#xA7; 46.1-375.1; 1964, c. 185; 1984, c. 780; 1989, c. 727; 1993, c. 53; 1998, c. 472; 2012, cc. 30, 100; 2014, c. 352; 2022, cc. 55, 636.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
