{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-json\/44-9.1.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-text\/44-9.1.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-xml\/44-9.1.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2026\/code-html\/44-9.1.html"}],"law_id":363932,"edition_id":2,"section_id":363932,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-9.1","catch_line":"Censorship of certain sermons prohibited","history":"2015, c. 283.","full_text":"Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, the religious content of sermons, homilies, preaching, religious messages, or other speeches within religious services made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard while in Title 32 or State Active Duty status or of the Virginia Defense Force shall not be censored or restricted by any state government official or agency, so long as (i) the religious content offered is not in any way a precursor of, introduction to, or part of any official ceremony, gathering, or formation that is not part of the religious service; (ii) the content does not urge disobedience of lawful orders; and (iii) members of the National Guard or Defense Force are not required to attend the service or event where such content is delivered.\n\n","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":1355571,"text":"Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, the religious content of sermons, homilies, preaching, religious messages, or other speeches within religious services made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard while in Title 32 or State Active Duty status or of the Virginia Defense Force shall not be censored or restricted by any state government official or agency, so long as (i) the religious content offered is not in any way a precursor of, introduction to, or part of any official ceremony, gathering, or formation that is not part of the religious service; (ii) the content does not urge disobedience of lawful orders; and (iii) members of the National Guard or Defense Force are not required to attend the service or event where such content is delivered.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":51901,"edition_id":2,"name":"General Administrative Officers","identifier":"2","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":2,"parent_id":51899,"metadata":{"child_laws":24,"child_structures":0},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:50:49","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:33:29","permalink":{"id":1448779,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":51901,"identifier":"2","token":"44\/1\/2","url":"\/44\/1\/2\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":51899,"edition_id":2,"name":"Military Laws of Virginia","identifier":"1","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":51898,"metadata":{"child_laws":150,"child_structures":16},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:50:49","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:33:29","permalink":{"id":1448553,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":51899,"identifier":"1","token":"44\/1","url":"\/44\/1\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":51898,"edition_id":2,"name":"Military and Emergency Laws","identifier":"44","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":97,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{"child_laws":233,"child_structures":28},"date_created":"2026-08-02 02:50:49","date_modified":"2026-08-02 12:33:29","permalink":{"id":1448551,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":51898,"identifier":"44","token":"44","url":"\/44\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":363717,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-10","catch_line":"Divisions of military staff","url":"\/44-10\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-10","metadata":false},{"id":363732,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-11","catch_line":"Department of Military Affairs; Adjutant General","url":"\/44-11\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-11","metadata":false},{"id":363731,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-11.1","catch_line":"Duties of the Department of Military Affairs","url":"\/44-11.1\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-11.1","metadata":false},{"id":363747,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-12","catch_line":"Repealed","url":"\/44-12\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-12","metadata":false},{"id":363765,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-13","catch_line":"Powers of Adjutant General","url":"\/44-13\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-13","metadata":false},{"id":363761,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-13.1","catch_line":"Virginia National Guard Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Program established","url":"\/44-13.1\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-13.1","metadata":false},{"id":363762,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-13.2","catch_line":"Administration of the MWR Program","url":"\/44-13.2\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-13.2","metadata":false},{"id":363763,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-13.3","catch_line":"Virginia National Guard MWR Fund","url":"\/44-13.3\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-13.3","metadata":false},{"id":363764,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-13.4","catch_line":"Risk management","url":"\/44-13.4\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-13.4","metadata":false},{"id":363778,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-14","catch_line":"Expenditures for Department","url":"\/44-14\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-14","metadata":false},{"id":363828,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-15","catch_line":"Reports to Secretary of Defense","url":"\/44-15\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-15","metadata":false},{"id":363837,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-16","catch_line":"Records of Adjutant General","url":"\/44-16\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-16","metadata":false},{"id":363839,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-17","catch_line":"Regulations as to reports and care of property","url":"\/44-17\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-17","metadata":false},{"id":363840,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-18","catch_line":"Repealed","url":"\/44-18\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-18","metadata":false},{"id":363841,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-19","catch_line":"Adjutant General to have charge of military property","url":"\/44-19\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-19","metadata":false},{"id":363844,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-20","catch_line":"Deputy Adjutant General (Army and Air) and Assistant Adjutant General (Army); assistants and clerical forces of Adjutant General","url":"\/44-20\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-20","metadata":false},{"id":363850,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-21","catch_line":"Bonds of Adjutant General and fiscal clerks","url":"\/44-21\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-21","metadata":false},{"id":363851,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-22","catch_line":"Auditing accounts of Adjutant General","url":"\/44-22\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-22","metadata":false},{"id":363852,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-23","catch_line":"Repealed","url":"\/44-23\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-23","metadata":false},{"id":363854,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-24","catch_line":"United States Property and Fiscal Officer","url":"\/44-24\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-24","metadata":false},{"id":363853,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-24.1","catch_line":"Repealed","url":"\/44-24.1\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-24.1","metadata":false},{"id":363921,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-8","catch_line":"Governor as Commander in Chief","url":"\/44-8\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-8","metadata":false},{"id":363933,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-9","catch_line":"Commander in Chief to prescribe regulations","url":"\/44-9\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-9","metadata":false},{"id":363932,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-9.1","catch_line":"Censorship of certain sermons prohibited","url":"\/44-9.1\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-9.1","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":363933,"structure_id":51901,"section_number":"44-9","catch_line":"Commander in Chief to prescribe regulations","url":"\/44-9\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-9","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/44-9.1\/","history_text":"<p>This law was first created in 2015. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter <a href=\"https:\/\/legacylis.virginia.gov\/cgi-bin\/legp604.exe?151+ful+CHAP0283\">283<\/a> of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":1448873,"object_type":"law","relational_id":363932,"identifier":"44-9.1","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-9.1","url":"\/44-9.1\/","edition_id":2,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/44-9.1\/","token":"44\/1\/2\/44-9.1","dublin_core":{"Title":"Censorship of certain sermons prohibited","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 44-9.1","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section><p>Notwithstanding any contrary provisions of <span class=\"dictionary\">law<\/span>, the religious content of sermons, homilies, preaching, religious messages, or other speeches within religious services made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard while in Title 32 or State Active Duty status or of the Virginia Defense Force shall not be censored or restricted by any state government official or agency, so long as (i) the religious content offered is not in any way a precursor of, introduction to, or part of any official ceremony, gathering, or formation that is not part of the religious service; (ii) the content does not urge disobedience of lawful <span class=\"dictionary\">orders<\/span>; and (iii) members of the National Guard or Defense Force are not required to attend the service or event where such content is delivered.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":"                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nCENSORSHIP OF CERTAIN SERMONS PROHIBITED (\u00a7 44-9.1)\n\nNotwithstanding any contrary provisions of law, the religious content of\nsermons, homilies, preaching, religious messages, or other speeches within\nreligious services made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard while in\nTitle 32 or State Active Duty status or of the Virginia Defense Force shall not\nbe censored or restricted by any state government official or agency, so long as\n(i) the religious content offered is not in any way a precursor of, introduction\nto, or part of any official ceremony, gathering, or formation that is not part\nof the religious service; (ii) the content does not urge disobedience of lawful\norders; and (iii) members of the National Guard or Defense Force are not\nrequired to attend the service or event where such content is delivered.\n\nHISTORY: 2015, c. 283.","edition":{"id":2,"name":"2026","slug":"2026","date_created":"2026-07-16 18:40:23","date_modified":"2026-08-02 15:14:36","current":1,"order_by":2,"last_import":"2026-08-02 12:37:30"}}