A. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is continued. The Department shall be under the management and control of a Commissioner appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, for a term coincident with that of the Governor. Any vacancy in the office of the Commissioner shall be filled by appointment by the Governor pursuant to the provisions of Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Virginia.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-101

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

B. There shall be established, within the Department, to be administered by the Department of Agriculture Education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a unit of specialists in agriculture education. The unit shall: (i) assist in developing and revising local agriculture curricula to integrate the Standards of Learning; (ii) provide professional development for agriculture instructional personnel to improve the quality of agriculture education; (iii) conduct site visits to the schools providing agriculture education; and (iv) seek the input of business and industry representatives regarding the content and direction of agriculture education programs in the public schools of the Commonwealth.

1. Any required reduction in the Department’s budget shall be reflected in a proportional reduction in the operation of the agriculture education unit. The reduction in the allocation for operation of the agriculture education unit shall not exceed the percentage reduction provided for in the appropriation act for the Department.

2. In the event that additional funds are not allocated for these positions, the Department shall not be required to absorb the costs of these positions.

Code 1950, § 3-7; 1966, c. 702, § 3.1-8; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 34; 1978, c. 219; 1985, c. 397; 2004, c. 180, § 3.1-14.2; 2008, c. 860.