Va. Code » Title 19.2. Criminal Procedure » Chapter 2. Conservators of the Peace and Special Policemen » Article 1. Appointment
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-12 (2026)

Who are conservators of the peace

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Every judge and attorney for the Commonwealth throughout the Commonwealth and every magistrate within the geographical area for which he is appointed or elected shall be a conservator of the peace. In addition, every commissioner in chancery, while sitting as such commissioner; any special agent or law-enforcement officer of the U.S. Department of Justice, National Marine Fisheries Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Department of the Interior; any inspector, law-enforcement official, or police personnel of the United States Postal Service; any United States marshal or deputy United States marshal whose duties involve the enforcement of the criminal laws of the United States; any officer of the Virginia Marine Police; any criminal investigator of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation who meets the minimum law-enforcement training requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services for in-service training; any criminal investigator of the U.S. Department of Labor; any special agent of the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, or United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations; any special agent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; any sworn municipal park ranger who has completed all requirements under § 15.2-1706; and any investigator employed by an attorney for the Commonwealth who within 10 years immediately prior to being employed by the attorney for the Commonwealth was an active law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101 in the Commonwealth and retired or resigned from his position as a law-enforcement officer in good standing shall be a conservator of the peace while engaged in the performance of his official duties.

Code 1950, § 19.1-20; 1960, c. 366; 1968, c. 639; 1972, c. 549; 1975, c. 495; 1978, c. 697; 1981, cc. 572, 587; 1990, c. 558; 1991, cc. 74, 338; 1994, cc. 375, 569, 626; 1997, c. 34; 2001, cc. 3, 31; 2002, cc. 86, 605, 789; 2004, c. 1009; 2005, c. 372; 2006, c. 88; 2007, c. 224; 2015, cc. 75, 126; 2017, c. 674; 2023, cc. 107, 108.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1991–2024 · leading case: Frias v. Commonwealth, 538 S.E.2d 374 (Va. Ct. App. 2000).
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Frias v. Commonwealth, 538 S.E.2d 374 (Va. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 14× “Appellant argues that the list defining who is a conservator of the peace set forth in Code § 19.2-12 is not an exclusive list. He contends that a broader definition was intended and that under the broader definition a “registered armed security guard” is a “conservator of the…”
Caron Nazario v. Joe Gutierrez, 103 F.4th 213 (4th Cir. 2024). “Virginia has supplied us an exhaustive statutory definition of what constitutes a “conservator of the peace,” outlined in Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-12 . Specifically absent from that definition are, however, State, County, City, or local law enforcement officers.”
Fuller v. Carilion Clinic, 382 F. Supp. 3d 475 (W.D. Va. 2019). “2-1704 3 of the Code of Virginia and is made applicable under § 19.2-12 et seq. of the Code of Virginia .”
Terrell v. Petrie, 763 F. Supp. 1342 (E.D. Va. 1991). · cites it 2× “2-18 (1990) provides: “Powers and duties generally.”
Commonwealth v. Stickle, 72 Va. Cir. 494 (Loudoun Cir. Ct. 2007). · cites it 2× “” Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-12 . As a conservator of the peace, Ranger Morrison could make an arrest for a misdemeanor committed in his presence.”
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