Virginia RULES

Welcome to the Administrators' Portal

Finding up-to-date juvenile law information: Virginia's school administrators are responsible for the safety and welfare of the Commonwealth's students as well as for their education. But guidelines, legislation, and the issues themselves change so frequently that it can be difficult to find the latest and most useful information. That's where the handbook comes in. The Virginia Juvenile Law Handbook for School Administrators is offered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Questions about the handbook should be directed to Donna Michaelis at donna.michaelis@dcjs.virginia.gov.

Bookmark this page for access to the latest version of the Virginia Juvenile Law Handook and other information of interest to school administrators. We invite you to check back for updates as we add content and resources to this section.

Juvenile Law Handbook

• Virginia Juvenile Law Handbook - online version

Administrator News and Events

Virginia Rules subject of recent VDOE Superintendent's Memo

On Feb 4, 2011, Virginia Rules was the subject of Patricia Wright's Superintendent's Memo. The memo mentioned the site as a resource for law-related information for Virginia middle- and high-schoolers, and touted the new Virginia Juvenile Law Handbook for School Administrators. Read the memo here.

Gang Prevention in your Community

As school administrators, you understand how important it is to keep our students away from gangs and gang activity. Watch this short video on how mentoring can play a positive role in a child's life.

The Office of the Attorney General has recently produced a new anti-gang video created for students. After careful collaboration with law enforcement, school educators and psychologists, The Big Lie: Unmasking the Truth Behind Gangs was produced to expose the dark reality of gangs preying upon our children through lies and manipulation.

To request gang awareness training, please feel free to contact our Public Safety Initiatives Coordinator Jessica Smith at 804-786-7584 or jcsmith@oag.state.va.us. Submit The Big Lie Video request form to request a copy of the video to show to your students.

For more information on the Gang Prevention Program Resources, visit the OAG website.

Best Practices

Virginia's educational leaders are resourceful and diligent in finding ways to keep their schools safe, and to instill a sense of civic duty in their students. If you or a colleague have a Virginia Rules success story or have developed a unique or compelling program, let us know. We'll feature your stories here as space allows.

Virginia Rules Website Goals

• Deliver accurate, current law education curriculum for instructors of teens with the goal of reducing criminal and behavioral problems in schools and communities.
• Provide a central resource for all agencies of the Commonwealth for teen and family law related education. 
• Be a resource for teens and their parents for applicable law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Encourage instructors to prioritize their instruction by viewing data available which will show statistics by school and student of behavioral and criminal problems.
• Provide downloadable work book information and lesson plans by subject to address individual instructor, school, school district and community priorities for targeted behaviors and crimes. 
• Provide a means of reviewing instruction which over time may have changed statistics reported by student, school district, and community.
• Provide a resource which will encourage a community of adults and teens committed to positive character building across the Commonwealth.