Virginia Administrative Code › Title 24 - TRANSPORTATION AND MOTOR VEHICLES › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES › Chapter 121 - VIRGINIA DRIVER TRAINING SCHOOLS REGULATIONS › Part I - General Provisions › Section 24VAC20-121-100 - General instructor licensing requirements

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Individuals seeking an instructor's
				  license shall submit, as required by these regulations, a completed application
				  along with any associated fees and other appropriate documentation to the
				  school with which they are employed. Schools shall be responsible for
				  submitting the instructor applications, along with any associated fees and
				  other appropriate documentation, to the department, as required by these
				  regulations. Applicants seeking an original or a renewal of an instructor's
				  license shall submit with their application a national criminal records check
				  completed within 60 days of the submission date of the application.
B. Applicants must be at least 21 years of
				  age and must be able to document with driving records at least five years of
				  licensed driving experience, two years of which shall be experience in the
				  United States or a territory thereof. These driving records must exhibit the
				  individual's name, the driver's license number, the date of issue, the issuing
				  jurisdiction, the date of expiration and notations of any convictions, license
				  withdrawals, suspensions, revocations, cancellations, disqualifications or
				  restrictions. In the event an applicant uses driving records from a foreign
				  country to substantiate licensed driving experience, such records must be
				  translated into English by an appropriate authority, as approved by the
				  department, at the applicant's expense.
C. Individuals seeking an instructor's
				  license must be employed by a licensed school. No instructor shall be employed
				  by more than one school unless all the schools are owned by the same person.
				  Instructors employed by more than one school shall have an application and
				  other appropriate documentation and fees submitted to the department by each
				  school that employs them.
D.
				  Individuals licensed as instructors or seeking an instructor's license must be
				  able to effectively communicate in English in an easily understood and
				  comprehensible manner to their students and the department, as determined by
				  the department.
E. Individuals
				  seeking an instructor's license to teach in-vehicle instruction shall hold a
				  valid driver's license from their state of domicile at the time of licensing
				  and throughout the entire licensure period. If such driver's licenses are from
				  another state or jurisdiction, the applicant must provide to the department a
				  copy of their driving record from that jurisdiction with their application and
				  every three months thereafter if they receive an instructor's license. Such
				  driving record must be produced within 30 days of its submission to the
				  department.
All applicants for a license to teach in-vehicle
					 instruction and those persons who are currently licensed to teach in-vehicle
					 instruction must also provide notice to the department, in a format prescribed
					 by the department, of any traffic accidents, convictions of traffic
					 infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies, as well as any administrative actions
					 relating to driving or any driver's license revocation, suspension,
					 cancellation, disqualification or other loss of driving privileges within 15
					 calendar days of the conviction or administrative action, or within 15 calendar
					 days of the imposition of the revocation, suspension, cancellation,
					 disqualification or other loss of driving privileges.
Applicants for a license to teach in-vehicle instruction
					 shall not be approved if their current driving privileges are expired,
					 suspended, revoked, cancelled or disqualified. Persons required to submit to
					 periodic medical reviews may also be denied an in-vehicle instructor's license
					 if, as determined by the department, their conditions are considered to pose a
					 threat to the safety, health or welfare of driver training students or the
					 public while these persons operate a motor vehicle.
F. Individuals who obtain an instructor's
				  license shall at the time of licensing have a driving record with no more than
				  six demerit points. After licensing, instructors shall maintain a driving
				  record with no more than six demerit points. If during the licensure period the
				  driving record of such individual accumulates more than six demerit points
				  based on violations occurring in a 12-month period, the department shall
				  suspend the person's instructor license and shall notify the instructor and the
				  driver training school where the instructor is employed of such suspension.
				  Safe driving points shall not be used to reduce the accumulated demerit points.
				  In the event that the driving record is from another state, the department will
				  apply Virginia's equivalent demerit points to convictions noted on such record.
Whenever the driver's license of such individual is
					 suspended or revoked, or such person is convicted in any court of reckless
					 driving, driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, the
					 department shall suspend the person's instructor license and shall notify the
					 person and the driver training school where the instructor is employed of the
					 suspension.
G. The
				  department may refuse to approve any application, including originals or
				  renewals, in which the applicant has been convicted of a felony, including but
				  not limited to bribery, forgery, fraud or embezzlement under the laws of the
				  Commonwealth or any other jurisdiction, or a conviction of any offense included
				  in Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 of the Code of
				  Virginia (Criminal Sexual Assault) or of any similar laws of any other
				  jurisdiction, or any misdemeanor or felony conviction involving:
1. Sexual assault as established in Article 7
				  (§ 18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 of the Code of
				  Virginia;
2. Obscenity and related
				  offenses as established in Article 5 (§ 18.2-372 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of
				  Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia;
3. Drugs as established in Article 1 (§
				  18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 of the Code of Virginia;
4. Crimes of moral turpitude;
5. Contributing to the delinquency of a
				  minor;
6. Taking indecent liberties
				  with a minor;
7. The physical or
				  sexual abuse or neglect of a child;
8. Similar offenses in other jurisdictions;
				  or
9. Other offenses, as determined
				  by the department, which would indicate that the applicant may present a danger
				  to the safety of students or the public.
Instructor licenses may be suspended or revoked if a
					 conviction for any of the offenses outlined in this subsection occurs during
					 any licensure period.