2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26104841D

SENATE BILL NO. 571

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 14, 2026

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 10.1-202.4, relating to Disabled Veteran's Family Passport established; free entry into state parks.

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Patron—Sturtevant

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Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 10.1-202.4 as follows:

§ 10.1-202.4. Disabled Veteran's Family Passport established; free entry into state parks.

A. For the purposes of this section, "immediate family member" means a spouse or dependent child.

B. The Department shall establish a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport that entitles the bearer to enter state parks in the Commonwealth upon the presentation of such passport without the payment of a parking or admission fee, but does not entitle the bearer to any other discount, such as discounts on special event fees, program fees, amenity fees, or concessions charges, including charges imposed by third-party concessionaires. The passport shall be issued upon request to the following:

1. An immediate family member of a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States who provides to the Department (i) a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or from the military service that discharged the veteran, certifying that such veteran has a service-connected disability rating of 100 percent and (ii) a marriage certificate, birth certificate, adoption record, or other documentation, in a form and manner prescribed by the Department, that is sufficient to demonstrate that the person is an immediate family member; or

2. An immediate family member of a deceased veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States, whose death was the result of a service-connected disability, who provides to the Department (i) documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or from the military service that discharged the veteran, certifying that the death of such deceased veteran was the result of a service-connected disability and (ii) a marriage certificate, birth certificate, adoption record, or other documentation, in a form and manner prescribed by the Department, that is sufficient to demonstrate that the person is an immediate family member.

C. The Department may, no more than once every five years per passport holder, require all persons bearing a Disabled Veteran's Family Passport to provide the documentation required by subdivisions B 1 and 2 to the Department to certify ongoing eligibility for the passport.