An Act to amend and reenact § 2.2-517 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Division of Consumer Counsel; duties; artificial intelligence fraud and abuse.
HB580 amends Virginia’s consumer-protection statute governing the Division of Consumer Counsel in the Department of Law. The bill keeps the Division’s existing role of representing consumers before state agencies, investigating consumer complaints, coordinating with enforcement bodies, and promoting consumer education, but expands its complaint-handling responsibilities to specifically include emerging technologies. It also reinforces the Division’s authority to receive, investigate, and refer complaints involving illegal, fraudulent, deceptive, or dangerous practices affecting consumer transactions.
A key change is the addition of explicit authority for the Division to establish mechanisms for receiving and investigating consumer complaints involving emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence-related fraud and abuse as reflected in the bill caption. The bill also preserves and clarifies the Division’s authority to handle certain towing-related complaints and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies when complaints fall within their jurisdiction. The Attorney General remains responsible for staffing the Division within appropriated funds.
The bill amends § 2.2-517 of the Code of Virginia to broaden the Division of Consumer Counsel’s statutory duties, especially by expressly authorizing complaint intake and investigation related to emerging technologies and AI-related consumer fraud. It does not create a new agency, but it expands the Division’s consumer-protection mandate and may increase referrals, investigations, and public education efforts involving digital scams, deceptive technology practices, and other technology-driven consumer harms. The bill also continues existing authority over towing-related consumer complaints and preserves confidentiality rules for sensitive complaint records.
The available record suggests the bill was enacted without recorded opposition in the provided materials, and there are no committee transcripts or vote tallies showing controversy. The overall sentiment appears favorable or at least noncontroversial, consistent with a consumer-protection measure aimed at updating state enforcement tools for modern fraud risks. The chaptered status indicates it passed and was approved by the Governor.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided transcripts or voting history. Based on the text, any potential debate would likely center on the scope of the Division’s new authority over emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and whether the expanded complaint-handling role could increase workload or overlap with other enforcement agencies. The bill also preserves the Division’s ability to handle towing complaints, but no opposition to that provision is shown in the record.