The Virginia Sheriffs' Association and the Virginia Community Policing Institute, and the directors, managers, members, officers and employees of such entities shall be immune from civil liability for their acts or omissions relating to the establishment and operation of an automated victim notification system unless such act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
§ 8.01-226.11.Civil immunity for operation of victim notification program.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 21. Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended 2006 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-226.11 immunizes the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, the Virginia Community Policing Institute, and their directors, managers, members, officers, and employees from civil liability for acts or omissions in establishing and operating an automated victim notification system, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Full Text of § 8.01-226.11
Plain-English Summary
Automated victim notification systems alert crime victims, automatically, by phone or other means, when an offender’s custody status changes, such as a release or transfer. This section protects the two organizations Virginia designates to run that kind of system, and the people who run them: the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, the Virginia Community Policing Institute, and the directors, managers, members, officers, and employees of both, are immune from civil liability for their acts or omissions in establishing and operating the automated notification system.
The immunity has the same limit found throughout this article: it does not cover gross negligence or willful misconduct, only good-faith operational decisions and errors connected to running the system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an automated victim notification system?
A system that automatically notifies crime victims, commonly by phone, of changes in an offender’s custody status, such as release from jail.
Who is protected from liability for running Virginia’s victim notification system?
The Virginia Sheriffs’ Association and the Virginia Community Policing Institute, along with the directors, managers, members, officers, and employees of both organizations.
Does this immunity cover a failure to notify a victim in time?
It covers acts or omissions relating to establishing and operating the system generally, unless that failure amounted to gross negligence or willful misconduct, in which case the immunity does not apply.
Does this section immunize local sheriffs’ offices individually?
The statute names the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association and the Virginia Community Policing Institute specifically, along with their personnel, rather than individual local sheriff’s offices as separate entities.
What conduct falls outside this immunity?
Gross negligence or willful misconduct in establishing or operating the automated victim notification system.
Amendment History
2006, c. 267.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: virginia victim notification system immunitysheriffs association liability virginiaoffender release notification immunity virginiavirginia community policing institute liability