View the agency presentation to learn about DCJS' structure and primary functions.

Agency Mission

The mission of the Department of Criminal Justice Services is to improve and promote public safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Agency Description

The Department of Criminal Justice Services is charged with planning and carrying out programs and initiatives to improve the functioning and effectiveness of the criminal justice system as a whole (§9.1-102 of the Code of Virginia). View our 2004 - 2005 Strategic Plan Executive Summary (.pdf or .doc, 5 pages).

The Department:

• distributes federal and state funding to localities, state agencies and nonprofit organizations in the areas of law enforcement, prosecution, crime and delinquency prevention, juvenile justice, victims services, corrections, and information systems;
• establishes and enforces minimum training standards for law enforcement, criminal justice and private security personnel;
• licenses and regulates the private security industry in Virginia;
• provides training, technical assistance and program development services to all segments of the criminal justice system; and
• conducts research and evaluations.

The agency's primary constituents are local and state criminal justice agencies and practitioners, private agencies, private security practitioners and businesses, and the public-at-large. Other constituents include local governments and state agencies, the federal government and advocacy groups/associations.

The Department is unique in state government because of its systemwide perspective on criminal justice. While it directs programs and services to each component of the system, it has an overarching responsibility to view the system as a whole, to understand how changes in one part of criminal justice will affect other parts, and to work to assure that plans and programs are comprehensive.

The Department of Criminal Justice Services is one of 12 agencies within the Secretariat of Public Safety. The Criminal Justice Services Board is the Department's policy board, with representation from all aspects of the criminal justice system on both state and local levels of government.

Agency Director

Leonard G. Cooke
Department of Criminal Justice Services
1100 Bank Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219

The Department of Criminal Justice Services is organized under four functional Divisions:

• The Division of Administration,
• The Division of Law Enforcement and Regulatory Services
• The Division of Programs & Services and
• The Division of Policy, Planning, & Research

Agency Contact Information

• Email the various agency sections
• Call us at 804.786.4000
• Write us at:

  Department of Criminal Justice Services
  1100 Bank Street
  Richmond, VA 23219