The Virginia Administrative Code is the permanent, published collection of regulations adopted by state agencies across the Commonwealth. It covers nearly every area of daily life the General Assembly has handed to an agency to administer: healthcare licensing, environmental permits, vehicle inspections, gaming, taxation, and much more. These regulations carry the same legal weight as statutes. Violating one can lead to civil fines, license suspensions, or, depending on the regulatory scheme, criminal charges.
Think of it this way. The legislature passes broad laws. The Code fills in the operational details that individuals and businesses actually have to follow.
How the Code Is Organized
The Code is divided into 24 Titles, each covering a broad subject area. Title 12 covers Health. Title 18 covers Professional and Occupational Licensing.1Legal Information Institute. Virginia Administrative Code Other titles address Gaming (Title 11), Taxation (Title 23), and Transportation and Motor Vehicles (Title 24). Related agencies live inside the same Title.
Within a Title, the structure narrows: Title, then agency, then chapter, then section. Every regulation gets a unique citation that acts as a precise address. A citation like 11VAC10-100-40 reads as Title 11 (Gaming), agency 10 (Virginia Racing Commission), chapter 100, section 40.2Virginia Register of Regulations. Form, Style, and Procedure Manual for Publication of Virginia Regulations Once you see the pattern, you can decode any Code citation at a glance.3Legal Information Institute. Virginia Administrative Code Title 1 Agency 20 – State Board of Elections
Where Agencies Get the Authority to Regulate
Virginia agencies cannot create regulations on their own initiative. The General Assembly first passes enabling legislation granting a specific agency or board the power to regulate a particular area. That statute sets the outer boundary. The agency can write detailed, technical rules within the scope the legislature defined, and nothing beyond it. A regulation that exceeds the agency’s statutory authority can be challenged in court.
Two more layers of oversight sit on top. The Attorney General reviews proposed regulations to confirm they are legally authorized and do not conflict with state or federal law. The Governor is required by statute to establish a procedure for periodically reviewing executive branch regulations to ensure they remain necessary, clearly written, and legally authorized.4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4017 – Periodic Review of Regulations The Governor can also direct agencies to review all their existing regulations and report on what should be updated, repealed, or replaced.
The people writing the regulations are not elected officials, so these checks keep agency rulemaking accountable to the branches that answer directly to voters.
How Regulations Are Made
The Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) governs how agencies create, amend, and repeal regulations. The standard process runs in stages, each with its own publication and public comment requirements, and skipping steps can invalidate a regulation entirely.
The Standard Process
Before drafting anything, the agency files a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) with the Registrar of Regulations. The NOIRA describes the subject and purpose of the planned regulation and gets published in the Virginia Register of Regulations. A public comment period of at least 30 days follows, including through the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall online forum.5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4007.01 – Notice of Intended Regulatory Action When a new state law requires a regulatory change, the agency must file its NOIRA within 120 days of the law’s effective date.
After the NOIRA period closes, the agency drafts the proposed regulation. The Department of Planning and Budget prepares an Economic Impact Analysis assessing costs and effects. The proposed regulation, the analysis, and the agency’s response are published together in the Register, triggering a 60-day public comment period.6Virginia Register of Regulations. Regulatory Process in Virginia If the final version differs substantially from the proposal, any person can petition within 30 days to request another comment period, and if 25 or more people make that request, the agency must suspend the process for an additional 30 days.7Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4007.06 – Changes Between Proposed and Final Regulations
The Governor then reviews the final regulation and may file a formal objection, suspend the effective date until the end of the next regular General Assembly session, or require an additional 30-day comment period.6Virginia Register of Regulations. Regulatory Process in Virginia Absent objection, the regulation takes effect on the date the agency sets.
Emergency Regulations
When a genuine emergency requires immediate action, agencies can bypass the full pipeline. Emergency regulations take effect quickly but are capped at 18 months. To keep regulating the subject beyond that window, the agency must adopt a permanent replacement through the standard process.8Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4011 – Emergency Regulations; Publication; Exceptions
Fast-Track Regulations
For noncontroversial changes like technical corrections and minor adjustments, agencies can use the fast-track process. With the Governor’s approval and notice to the relevant standing committees and the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules, the agency skips the NOIRA stage. The fast-track regulation is published in the Register with a 30-day comment period and becomes effective 15 days after that period closes.9Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4012.1 – Fast-Track Rulemaking Process If 10 or more people object during the comment period, or if any member of the relevant legislative committee or Joint Commission objects, the agency must convert to the standard process.
What Does Not Need the Full Process
Some regulatory actions are exempt from standard notice-and-comment requirements altogether: internal agency housekeeping, pure style and technical corrections, mandatory conforming changes compelled by a new statute or court order, and rate-setting orders. Exempt regulations that conform to federal requirements still must be published in the Virginia Register at least 30 days before taking effect.10Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4006 – Exemptions from Requirements of This Article
How the Public Can Participate
You do not have to wait for an agency to act. Any person can petition a Virginia agency to adopt a new regulation or amend an existing one. The petition must describe the substance and purpose of the requested change and identify the agency’s legal authority to act.11Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4007 – Petitions for New or Amended Regulations
Within 14 days of receiving a petition, the agency sends notice to the Registrar for publication. A 21-day public comment period follows. The agency then has 90 days to issue a written decision granting or denying the request, with reasoning.11Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4007 – Petitions for New or Amended Regulations One important limit: the agency’s decision on whether to begin rulemaking in response to a petition is not subject to judicial review. You cannot sue to force the agency’s hand.
Public comments during NOIRA and proposed-regulation periods are the other main point of entry, and the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall lets you track regulatory actions and submit comments electronically.
Challenging a Regulation in Court
If you believe a regulation is unlawful, you can challenge it, but you have to identify a specific legal error. Virginia law defines the issues a court will consider: whether the regulation violates a constitutional right or exceeds constitutional power; whether the agency stayed within its statutory authority; whether the agency followed required rulemaking procedures; and whether substantial evidence supports the agency’s factual findings.12Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-4027 – Issues on Review Procedural failures do not count if they were harmless error.
A separate limit sits above state law. Under the Supremacy Clause, federal law overrides a conflicting state administrative rule. In some areas Congress has preempted state regulation entirely; in others, federal agencies set minimum standards and states can impose stricter ones.13Legal Information Institute. Preemption If you work in a federally regulated field, checking preemption is a necessary step before relying on a Code provision.
How to Look Up a Regulation
The current text of the Virginia Administrative Code is published online through Virginia’s Legislative Information System (LIS). You can search by keyword, citation number, title, or agency name at no cost, and because the LIS is maintained by state authorities, it reflects the up-to-date version of every regulation.
The Virginia Register of Regulations is the companion publication that tracks ongoing regulatory activity. Published every other Monday, it contains proposed regulations, final regulations, emergency and fast-track actions, NOIRAs, petitions for rulemaking, and guidance documents.14Virginia Register of Regulations. FAQs About the Register If you need to know what is changing rather than what currently exists, the Register is the place to watch.
Most state agencies also link directly to the Code sections they administer, often alongside guidance documents explaining how the agency interprets its own regulations in practice. For historical research tracking how a regulation evolved, bound copies of the Code are available at the Library of Virginia and law libraries across the Commonwealth.