                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ISSUANCE OF REGISTRATIONS; EXEMPTION (§ 3.2-4115)

A. The Commissioner shall establish a registration program to allow a person to
grow, handle, or process industrial hemp in the Commonwealth.

B. Any person seeking to grow, handle, or process industrial hemp in the
Commonwealth shall apply to the Commissioner for a registration on a form
provided by the Commissioner. At a minimum, the application shall include:

   1. The name and mailing address of the applicant;

   2. The legal description and geographic data sufficient for locating (i) the
   land on which the applicant intends to grow industrial hemp, (ii) the site at
   which the applicant intends to handle industrial hemp, or (iii) the site at
   which the applicant intends to process industrial hemp. A registration shall
   authorize industrial hemp growth, handling, or processing only at the location
   specified in the registration;

   3. A signed statement indicating whether the applicant has ever been convicted
   of a felony. A person with a prior felony drug conviction within 10 years of
   applying for a registration under this section shall not be eligible to be
   registered;

   4. Written consent allowing the sheriff&#8217;s office, police department, or
   Department of State Police, if a registration is ultimately issued to the
   applicant, to enter the premises on which the industrial hemp is grown,
   handled, or processed to conduct physical inspections of the industrial hemp
   and to ensure compliance with the requirements of this article. No more than
   two physical inspections shall be conducted under this subdivision per year,
   unless a valid search warrant for an inspection has been issued by a court of
   competent jurisdiction;

   5. Written consent allowing the Commissioner or his designee to enter the
   premises on which the industrial hemp is grown, handled, or processed to
   conduct inspections and sampling of the industrial hemp to ensure compliance
   with the requirements of this article;

   6. A statement of the approximate square footage or acreage of the location he
   intends to use as a production field, handler&#8217;s storage site, or process
   site;

   7. Any other information required by the Commissioner; and

   8. The payment of a nonrefundable application fee, in an amount set by the
   Commissioner.

C. Each registration issued pursuant to this section shall be valid for a period
of one year from the date of issuance and may be renewed in successive years.
Each annual renewal shall require the payment of a registration renewal fee, in
an amount set by the Commissioner.

D. All records, data, and information filed in support of a registration
application submitted pursuant to this section and all information on a hemp
producer license issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture submitted to the
Commissioner pursuant to this section shall be considered proprietary and
excluded from the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (&#xA7;
2.2-3700 et seq.).

E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B, no federally licensed hemp
producer shall be required to apply to the Commissioner for a registration to
grow industrial hemp in the Commonwealth. Each federally licensed hemp producer
shall submit to the Commissioner a copy of his hemp producer license issued by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture pursuant to 7 C.F.R. Part 990.

HISTORY: 2015, cc. 158, 180; 2018, cc. 689, 690; 2019, cc. 653, 654; 2021, Sp.
Sess. I, c. 110; 2023, cc. 744, 794.