Virginia Code 46.2-336: Manner of issuing original driver’s licenses to minors
A. Except as provided in subsection B, the Department shall forward all original driver’s licenses issued to persons under the age of 18 years to the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court in the city or county in which the licensee resides. The judge or a substitute judge shall issue to each person to be licensed the license so forwarded, and shall, at the time of issuance, conduct a formal, appropriate ceremony, in which he shall illustrate to the licensee the responsibility attendant on the privilege of driving a motor vehicle. The attorney for the Commonwealth who serves the jurisdiction in which the ceremony is to be conducted may request in writing in advance of such ceremony an opportunity to participate in the ceremony. Any judge who presides over such ceremony shall, upon request, afford the attorney for the Commonwealth the opportunity to participate in such ceremony and to address the prospective licensees and the persons enumerated below who may be accompanying the prospective licensees as to matters of enforcement, prosecutions, applicable punishments, and the responsibility of drivers generally. If the licensee is under the age of 18 years at the time his ceremony is held, he shall be accompanied at the ceremony by a parent, his guardian, spouse, or other person in loco parentis. However, the judge, for good cause shown, may mail or otherwise deliver the driver’s license to any person who is a student at any educational institution outside of the Commonwealth at the time such license is received by the judge as prescribed in this section.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 46.2-336
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Vehicle: means every device in, on or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except personal delivery devices and devices moved by human power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Virginia Code 46.2-100
B. The chief juvenile and domestic relations district court judge may waive the ceremonial requirements of subsection A for each juvenile and domestic relations district court within the district or order that each juvenile and domestic relations district court within the district conduct such ceremony in an alternative manner. In courts where the ceremony has been waived, the Department shall mail or otherwise deliver the driver’s licenses directly to licensees.
C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the issuance of Virginia driver’s licenses to persons who hold valid driver’s licenses issued by other states.
1962, c. 261, § 46.1-375.1; 1964, c. 185; 1984, c. 780; 1989, c. 727; 1993, c. 53; 1998, c. 472; 2012, cc. 30, 100; 2014, c. 352; 2022, cc. 55, 636.