Virginia statute
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-273.9 — Ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device; certification by Commission on VASAP; regulations; sale or lease; monitoring use; reports; penalty
Current through 2026 Regular Session
Part of Article 2.1: Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (Vasap), Code of Virginia.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-273.9
Statutory text current through the 2026 Regular Session. This publication reproduces the text of the Code of Virginia from the official Virginia Law Portal API published by the Virginia General Assembly's Division of Legislative Automated Systems; it is not the official Code of Virginia.
A. The Executive Director of the Commission or his designee shall, pursuant to approval by the Commission, certify ignition interlock systems for use in the Commonwealth and adopt regulations and forms for the installation, maintenance, and certification of such ignition interlock systems.
The regulations shall include requirements that ignition interlock systems:
1. Do not impede the safe operation of the vehicle;
2. Minimize opportunities to be bypassed, circumvented, or tampered with, and provide evidence thereof;
3. Correlate accurately with established measures of blood alcohol content and are calibrated according to the manufacturer's specifications;
4. Work accurately and reliably in an unsupervised environment;
5. Have the capability to provide an accurate written measure of blood alcohol content for each ignition, attempted ignition, and rolling retest, and record each attempt to circumvent or tamper with the equipment;
6. Minimize inconvenience to other users;
7. Be manufactured or distributed by an entity responsible for installation, user training, service, and maintenance, and meet the safety and operational requirements promulgated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration;
8. Operate reliably over the range of motor vehicle environments or motor vehicle manufacturing standards;
9. Be manufactured by an entity that is adequately insured against liability, in an amount established by the Commission, including product liability and installation and maintenance errors;
10. Provide for an electronic log of the driver's experience with the system with an information management system capable of electronically delivering information to the agency supervising the interlock user within 24 hours of the collection of such information from the data logger; and
11. Provide for a rolling retest of the operator's blood alcohol content.
B. The Executive Director of the Commission or his designee shall, pursuant to approval by the Commission, certify remote alcohol monitoring devices for use in the Commonwealth and adopt regulations and forms for the installation, maintenance, and certification of such remote alcohol monitoring devices.
C. Such regulations shall also provide for the establishment of a fund, using a percentage of fees received by the manufacturer or distributor providing ignition interlock services or remote alcohol monitoring devices, to afford persons found by the court to be indigent all or part of the costs of an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device.
D. The Commission shall design and adopt a warning label to be affixed to an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device upon installation. The warning label shall state that a person tampering with or attempting to circumvent the ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine or incarceration or both.
E. The Commission shall publish a list of certified ignition interlock systems and remote alcohol monitoring devices and shall ensure that such systems and devices are available throughout the Commonwealth. The local ASAP shall make the list available to eligible offenders, who shall have the responsibility and authority to choose which certified ignition interlock company and certified remote alcohol monitoring company will supply the offender's equipment. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system or a remote alcohol monitoring device that seeks to sell or lease the ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device to persons subject to the provisions of § 18.2-270.1 shall pay the reasonable costs of obtaining the required certification, as set forth by the Commission.
F. A person may not sell or lease or offer to sell or lease an ignition interlock system or a remote alcohol monitoring device to any person subject to the provisions of § 18.2-270.1 unless:
1. The system or device has been certified by the Commission; and
2. The warning label adopted by the Commission is affixed to the system.
G. A manufacturer or distributor of an ignition interlock system or remote alcohol monitoring device shall provide such services as may be required at no cost to the Commonwealth. Such services shall include a toll-free, 24-hour telephone number for the users of ignition interlock systems or remote alcohol monitoring devices.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
Is ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device a felony or a misdemeanor in Virginia?
Ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device is a class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia under Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-273.9.
Which Virginia statute covers ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device?
Ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device is governed by Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-273.9 (Ignition interlock system and remote alcohol monitoring device; certification by Commission on VASAP; regulations; sale or lease; monitoring use; reports; penalty).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.