A. Every adult who is convicted of a Tier III offense, as defined in § 9.1-902, shall be prohibited from entering or being present (i) during school hours, and during school-related or school-sponsored activities upon any property he knows or has reason to know is a public or private elementary or secondary school or child day center property; (ii) on any school bus as defined in § 46.2-100; or (iii) upon any property, public or private, during hours when such property is solely being used by a public or private elementary or secondary school for a school-related or school-sponsored activity.
B. The provisions of clauses (i) and (iii) of subsection A shall not apply to such adult if (i) he is a lawfully registered and qualified voter, and is coming upon such property solely for purposes of casting his vote; (ii) he is a student enrolled at the school; or (iii) he has obtained a court order pursuant to subsection C allowing him to enter and be present upon such property, has obtained the permission of the school board or of the owner of the private school or child day center or their designee for entry within all or part of the scope of the lifted ban, and is in compliance with such school board's, school's or center's terms and conditions and those of the court order.
C. Every adult who is prohibited from entering upon school or child day center property pursuant to subsection A may after notice to the attorney for the Commonwealth and either (i) the proprietor of the child day center, (ii) the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the chairman of the school board of the school division in which the school is located, or (iii) the chief administrator of the school if such school is not a public school, petition the circuit court in the county or city where the school or child day center is located for permission to enter such property. The court shall direct that the petitioner shall cause notice of the time and place of the hearing on his petition to be published once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper meeting the requirements of § 8.01-324. The newspaper notice shall contain a provision stating that written comments regarding the petition may be submitted to the clerk of court at least five days prior to the hearing. For good cause shown, the court may issue an order permitting the petitioner to enter and be present on such property, subject to whatever restrictions of area, reasons for being present, or time limits the court deems appropriate.
D. A violation of this section is punishable as a Class 6 felony.
2007, cc. 284, 370; 2008, c. 781; 2010, c. 402; 2011, cc. 648, 796, 855; 2015, c. 688; 2020, c. 829.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
11
cases (
5 in the last 5 years), 2009–2025 · leading case:
Com. v. Doe, 682 S.E.2d 906 (Va. 2009).
Com. v. Doe, 682 S.E.2d 906 (Va. 2009).
· cites it 38× “In this case, we consider whether a court order entered under Code § 18.2-370.5, granting a convicted violent sex offender permission to enter public school property under certain specified conditions, violates Article VIII, Section 7, of the Constitution of Virginia (the…”
John Doe v. Gary Settle, 24 F.4th 932 (4th Cir. 2022).
· cites it 3× “, Va. Code § 18.2-370.5 (prohibiting entering schools and daycares).”
John Allen Baugh, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 809 S.E.2d 247 (Va. Ct. App. 2018).
· cites it 2× “1(B); and (3) prohibited appellant from entering certain school property, Code § 18.2-370.5. He also notes that amendments to VSOR now require registration of any change of owned motor vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft registration information.”
Does 1-5 v. Cooper, 40 F. Supp. 3d 657 (M.D.N.C. 2014).
“3d at 751 (citing Va.Code § 18.2-370.5(B)). Significantly, the plaintiff in Virginia Department of State Police never tried to exercise that option.”
Hester Prynne v. Gary Settle, 848 F. App'x 93 (4th Cir. 2021).
· cites it 3× “” Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5 (A). She is also prohibited from adopting a child, § 63.”
Watson-Buisson v. Dotson, No. 1:24-cv-00603 (E.D. Va. July 16, 2025).
· cites it 6× “July 1, 2019, Watson-Buisson was convicted of three counts of entering school property after having been convicted of a violent sex offense (offense dates—September 28, 2018, October 3, 2018, and October 4, 2018), in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-370.5. Watson-Buisson was…”
John Doe v. Gary Settle, No. 20-1951 (4th Cir. Jan. 28, 2022).
· cites it 3× “, Va. Code § 18.2-370.5 (prohibiting entering schools and daycares).”
NC Rsol v. Nodalski, No. 1:18-cv-00597 (M.D.N.C. Aug. 26, 2019).
· cites it 2× “The Virginia statute that criminalized sex offender presence in certain locations also contemplated that a registered sex offender could “petition the circuit court in the county or city where the school or child day center is located for permission to enter such property” and…”
John Doe v. Colonel Gary T. Settle, No. 0216241 (Va. Ct. App. May 20, 2025).
· cites it 2× “1-228(6)); with exceptions, Doe cannot attend events on or at school buildings (Code § 18.2-370.5); if he travels to another state, he must comply with their registration laws; he must notify VSP ten days in advance before moving out of state; he must get pre-approval from the…”
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5(A): 4 cases
Com. v. Doe, 682 S.E.2d 906 (Va. 2009).
“In this case, we consider whether a court order entered under Code § 18.2-370.5, granting a convicted violent sex offender permission to enter public school property under certain specified conditions, violates Article VIII, Section 7, of the Constitution of Virginia (the…”
Hester Prynne v. Gary Settle, 848 F. App'x 93 (4th Cir. 2021).
“” Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5 (A). She is also prohibited from adopting a child, § 63.”
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5(A)(iii): 1 case
Watson-Buisson v. Dotson, No. 1:24-cv-00603 (E.D. Va. July 16, 2025).
“July 1, 2019, Watson-Buisson was convicted of three counts of entering school property after having been convicted of a violent sex offense (offense dates—September 28, 2018, October 3, 2018, and October 4, 2018), in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-370.5. Watson-Buisson was…”
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5(B): 2 cases
Com. v. Doe, 682 S.E.2d 906 (Va. 2009).
“In this case, we consider whether a court order entered under Code § 18.2-370.5, granting a convicted violent sex offender permission to enter public school property under certain specified conditions, violates Article VIII, Section 7, of the Constitution of Virginia (the…”
Does 1-5 v. Cooper, 40 F. Supp. 3d 657 (M.D.N.C. 2014).
“3d at 751 (citing Va.Code § 18.2-370.5(B)). Significantly, the plaintiff in Virginia Department of State Police never tried to exercise that option.”
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-370.5(c): 1 case
NC Rsol v. Nodalski, No. 1:18-cv-00597 (M.D.N.C. Aug. 26, 2019).
“The Virginia statute that criminalized sex offender presence in certain locations also contemplated that a registered sex offender could “petition the circuit court in the county or city where the school or child day center is located for permission to enter such property” and…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.