The Department shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. In addition to the powers and duties otherwise conferred by law, the Director shall have the powers and duties of a regulatory board as contained in §§ 54.1-201 and 54.1-202, and shall have the power and duty to:

Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-831

  • Amateur: means an individual who has never participated in a boxing, martial arts, or professional wrestling event for money, compensation, or reward other than a suitably inscribed memento. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Boxing: means the contact sport of attack or defense using fists. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Department: means the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation or its successor. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Director: means the Director of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Event: means any boxing, martial arts, or professional wrestling show that includes one or more bouts, contests, or matches. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • 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.
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • Person: means a natural person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, firm, enterprise, franchise, association or any other entity. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
  • Professional: means a person who participates or has ever participated for money, compensation, or reward other than a suitably inscribed memento in any boxing, martial arts, or professional wrestling event. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Professional wrestling: means an event in which contestants incorporate the sport of wrestling into choreographed performances. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Regulant: means any person required by this chapter to obtain a prior authorization from the Department. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Sanctioning organization: means an entity approved by the Director pursuant to § 54. See Virginia Code 54.1-828
  • Wrestling: means any of several styles of physical competition in which individuals attempt to subdue or unbalance an opponent, including Greco-Roman, freestyle, grappling, or submission, usually practiced as a sport. See Virginia Code 54.1-828

1. Promulgate regulations in accordance with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.) which implement the federal Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.) and protect the public against incompetent, unqualified, unscrupulous or unfit persons engaging in the activities regulated by this chapter.

The regulations shall include requirements for (i) initial authorization and renewal of the authorization; (ii) authorization and conduct of events; (iii) standards of practice for persons arranging, promoting, conducting, supervising, and participating in events; (iv) grounds for disciplinary actions against regulants; (v) records to be kept and maintained by regulants; (vi) the manner in which fees are to be accounted for and submitted to the Department, provided, however, that no gate fee shall be required for amateur-only events conducted by a sanctioning organization approved by the Director pursuant to § 54.1-829.1; and (vii) minimum health coverage for injuries sustained in a boxing or martial arts match. The Department shall have direct oversight of professional events to assure the safety and well-being of boxers, martial artists, and professional wrestlers, except that those portions of an event containing amateur bouts shall be conducted under the oversight of a sanctioning organization. Sanctioning organizations shall have sole responsibility for direct oversight of amateur-only events in which martial artists compete.

2. Charge each applicant for authorization and for renewals of authorization a nonrefundable fee subject to the provisions of § 54.1-113 and subdivision A 4 of § 54.1-201. A sanctioning organization shall be subject to the application fee provisions of subsection D of § 54.1-829.1.

3. Conduct investigations to determine the suitability of applicants for authorization and to determine the regulant‘s compliance with applicable statutes and regulations.

4. Conduct investigations as to whether monopolies, combinations, or other circumstances exist to restrain matches or exhibitions of boxing, martial arts, or professional wrestling anywhere in the Commonwealth. The Attorney General may assist investigations at the request of the Department.

5. Exercise jurisdiction over all boxing, martial arts, and professional wrestling conducted within the Commonwealth by any person, except where otherwise exempted.

1998, c. 895; 2010, c. 764; 2012, c. 769; 2015, cc. 216, 264; 2016, c. 756.