                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REPORTING HATE CRIMES (§ 52-8.5)

A. The Superintendent shall establish and maintain within the Department of
State Police a central repository for the collection and analysis of information
regarding hate crimes and groups and individuals carrying out such acts.

B. State, county, and municipal law-enforcement agencies shall report to the
Department all hate crimes occurring in their jurisdictions in a form, time, and
manner prescribed by the Superintendent. Such reports shall not be open to
public inspection except insofar as the Superintendent shall permit.

C. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Disability&#8221; means a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more of a person&#8217;s major life activities.
			&#8220;Hate crime&#8221; means (i) a criminal act committed against a person
or his property with the specific intent of instilling fear or intimidation in
the individual against whom the act is perpetrated because of race, religion,
gender, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national
origin or that is committed for the purpose of restraining that person from
exercising his rights under the Constitution or laws of the Commonwealth or of
the United States; (ii) any illegal act directed against any persons or their
property because of those persons&#8217; race, religion, gender, disability,
gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin; and (iii) all
other incidents, as determined by law-enforcement authorities, intended to
intimidate or harass any individual or group because of race, religion, gender,
disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic or national origin.

HISTORY: 1988, c. 838; 2002, cc. 588, 623; 2020, cc. 124, 746, 1171.