Virginia Barrier Crimes List for NEMT Drivers: What Bars a Hire and How to Check in 2027

Who the barrier crime rule covers in Virginia NEMT

DMAS, Virginia’s Medicaid agency, sets minimum rules for fee-for-service Medicaid ride drivers in its NEMT driver, attendant, and vehicle requirements, updated May 26, 2026. Item e bars any driver or attendant convicted of a “barrier crime” from driving for a provider that contracts with the broker. Backup drivers must meet the same rules, and volunteer drivers need a criminal background check that meets them too.

The same item makes the broker require you to get criminal background checks from the Virginia State Police, national databases, or both, including the sex offender registry, for each driver before the driver carries a member. MTM Health, which a September 15, 2026 DMAS bulletin names as the broker selected for fee-for-service members, repeats the rule in its Virginia provider handbook approved August 10, 2026: no barrier crimes, a State Police or national check, and a registry check before the first ride. DMAS calls its rules minimums, lets each broker add more, and tells providers to ask the broker or managed care plan they enroll with for its current requirements.

DMAS points to Virginia Code § 37.2-314(B) for the meaning of the term. That section covers hiring at state facilities run by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and has no list of its own. It relies on the definition in § 19.2-392.02, which is where the Virginia barrier crimes list lives. For those state facility hires, § 37.2-314 applies only the first three parts of the definition, plus felony drug possession within five years.

The DMAS rule does not say whether it means the whole definition or that narrower set, and it names no waiver. MTM Health’s handbook says only “per Virginia code.” Because the rule reaches you through your broker contract, the broker decides how it applies to a given driver. Screen every driver against the whole list, and get the broker’s answer in writing before you put a driver with any old conviction on Medicaid trips.

For the rest of what Virginia asks of a new company, from the DMV carrier certificate to broker enrollment, see the Virginia state guide.

The Virginia barrier crimes list in plain words

Section 19.2-392.02, as in force on October 2, 2026, defines a barrier crime in six parts. The first five have no time limit. The sixth ends five years after the conviction.

1. Listed violent, sexual, and other crimes. Murder and every kind of manslaughter, abduction, malicious wounding, strangulation, robbery, carjacking, threats of death or bodily injury, rape and other sexual assaults, arson, abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults, child abuse and neglect, child pornography, sex trafficking, gang crimes, riot, and escape. It also takes in any violation of the assault and battery law, § 18.2-57, where a simple assault is a Class 1 misdemeanor, and of § 18.2-57.2, assault and battery against a family or household member. Some count only when they are felonies, such as gang crimes, stalking, violating a protective order, brandishing a firearm, and riot.
2. Burglary. Any violation of §§ 18.2-89 through 18.2-94, from burglary to breaking and entering a home to commit a misdemeanor and possessing burglary tools.
3. Felony drug distribution. Felony violations of listed drug laws, such as making or selling a controlled substance, methamphetamine crimes, selling to anyone under 18, and selling near schools.
4. Felony drug possession. A felony under § 18.2-250, the possession law. Possessing a Schedule I or II drug is a Class 5 felony. Possessing a Schedule III to VI drug is a misdemeanor and is not on the list.
5. Crimes that require sex offender registration, in Virginia or in the place where the person was convicted.
6. Any other felony, until five years after the date of the conviction. Grand larceny, a third DUI within 10 years, and every other felony not named above are barrier crimes for five years only.

Parts 1 through 5 also cover a substantially similar offense under the laws of another jurisdiction, so a conviction in Maryland or North Carolina counts the same as one in Virginia. A version of the section that takes effect July 1, 2027 changes only drug law cross-references: it adds § 4.1-1114 and drops § 18.2-248.1, a marijuana section repealed that day.

Common offenses at a glance

A misdemeanor assault is a barrier crime with no time limit, while petit larceny and a first DUI are not barrier crimes at all. Under the Code as of October 2, 2026:

Offense	Virginia Code	Barrier crime
Simple assault or assault and battery (misdemeanor)	§ 18.2-57	Yes, with no time limit
Assault and battery against a family or household member	§ 18.2-57.2	Yes, with no time limit
Burglary, or breaking and entering	§§ 18.2-89 to 18.2-94	Yes, with no time limit
Possessing a Schedule I or II drug (felony)	§ 18.2-250	Yes, with no time limit
Possessing a Schedule III to VI drug (misdemeanor)	§ 18.2-250	No
Grand larceny, $1,000 or more	§ 18.2-95	For 5 years after the conviction
Petit larceny, under $1,000	§ 18.2-96	No
First or second DUI	§ 18.2-270	No, but the driving record rules apply
Third DUI within 10 years (felony)	§ 18.2-270	For 5 years after the conviction
DUI manslaughter or DUI maiming	§§ 18.2-36.1, 18.2-51.4	Yes, with no time limit
Abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult	§ 18.2-369	Yes, with no time limit

Where the NEMT rule is stricter than other Virginia jobs

Many good NEMT applicants come from home care, nursing homes, or assisted living, and a clearance from that work does not carry over. Those laws bar only the first part of the list, and they let the employer hire someone with one old misdemeanor. As of October 2, 2026:

Where the person works	Barrier crimes that bar a hire	Written exception
NEMT driver or attendant (DMAS rules)	Any barrier crime	None
Nursing home (§ 32.1-126.01)	Part 1 only	One misdemeanor without abuse or neglect, after 5 years
Home care organization or hospice (§ 32.1-162.9:1)	Part 1 only	One misdemeanor without abuse or neglect, after 5 years
Assisted living facility or adult day center (§ 63.2-1720)	Part 1 only	One misdemeanor without abuse or neglect, after 5 years
Child-placing agency or independent foster home (§ 63.2-1720)	Any barrier crime	None

Two examples show the gap. A home health aide with a 2008 burglary conviction may work for a home care agency, because burglary sits in part 2, but may not drive Medicaid trips. An aide with one misdemeanor assault and battery from 2012 may work in a nursing home, but the same conviction bars driving under the DMAS rule.

So check every applicant against the full list yourself, even one who passed a background check at a health care job last month.

How to check a Virginia NEMT driver for barrier crimes

Run these checks before a driver’s first Medicaid ride, and keep a copy of each result.

1. Get a signed disclosure. Ask each applicant in writing about convictions and pending charges anywhere, the same statement § 19.2-392.02 requires before a State Police national check. Virginia limits the question. You may not require an applicant to disclose an expunged record (§ 19.2-392.4). The sealing law (§ 19.2-392.15) covers private employers “not subject to federal laws or regulations in the hiring process.” Those employers may not require sealed records, and an application that asks about arrests, charges, or convictions must say that sealed records need not be disclosed. Adding that notice to your application is the safe choice.
2. Run a Virginia State Police name search. Create form SP-167 on the State Police site, print it, and have the applicant’s signature (Section 1) and the signature of the person getting the results (Section 2) notarized. Mail it with payment to the Civil and Applicant Records Exchange. As of October 2026, it costs $15, or $20 with a sex offender registry search, by business check, certified check, money order, Visa, or MasterCard. Expect about 15 business days, with no expedited service. A name search returns Virginia convictions only. Attach a fingerprint card to see Virginia charges, dismissals, and pending charges too.
3. Search beyond Virginia. For anyone who has lived in another state, add a national check. State Police runs national fingerprint checks under the National Child Protection Act for employers whose workers have access to children, older adults, or people with disabilities, and says the worker must live and work in Virginia. Email ncjihelp@vsp.virginia.gov for a tracking number and ask whether your company qualifies, then send form SP-325 with an FD-258 fingerprint card. The form, revised July 1, 2019, lists $27 for an employee. For a private employer, State Police screens the record itself and tells you whether the person has been convicted of or is under indictment for a barrier crime, and the law asks it to try to answer within 15 business days. A national database search through a screening company is the other route, with the federal consent and notice steps in NEMT driver background checks.
4. Search the sex offender registries. Search Virginia’s registry at vspsor.com, or add it to the SP-167 for $20 in all. The Justice Department’s National Sex Offender Public Website searches the registries of every state, Washington, DC, the territories, and Indian Country.
5. Check the federal exclusion list. HHS OIG says anyone who hires a person on its exclusion list may face civil money penalties, and health care entities should routinely check new hires and current employees. MediDrive, the broker for Aetna Better Health of Virginia, lists OIG and GSA/SAM checks among its driver credentials. See the OIG exclusion list.
6. Send the results to your broker and file them. DMAS requires the broker to credential every driver and attendant before the first ride and to review credentials at least once a year. MTM Health’s driver roster asks for each driver’s last background check date. The driver file checklist keeps those dates in one place.

Pending charges, old felonies, and offenses that are not barrier crimes

The list leaves gaps on both sides, so a few cases need a second look.

• Pending charges. The DMAS rule bars convictions. The State Police national check also flags a person under indictment for a barrier crime. Ask your broker before a driver with a pending barrier crime charge carries Medicaid riders.
• Old felonies outside the list. Count five years from the date of the conviction, not the arrest or the end of the sentence. A grand larceny conviction dated March 1, 2022 stops being a barrier crime on March 1, 2027. A felony the list names, such as burglary, never stops counting.
• Offenses off the list. Petit larceny, misdemeanor drug possession, and a first or second DUI are not barrier crimes. Other DMAS rules still apply: no more than two chargeable accidents or moving violations in three years, a DMV point balance no lower than minus 2, no license suspension or revocation for moving violations in the last five years, and no drivers known to abuse alcohol, prescription drugs, or illegal drugs. See motor vehicle record for the driving record side.
• Broker extras. MTM Health requires drivers to be at least 21 with two years of driving experience, against the DMAS minimum of 18 with a license held two years. Any broker may add its own screening rules.

Where no rule bars an offense, the decision is yours. Weigh it against the job and follow the fair chance steps in can a felon be a NEMT driver.

What happens if a barred driver carries Medicaid riders

DMAS lets its staff or the broker take any driver who falls short of the requirements out of service at once, until the broker confirms the problem is fixed, and the action goes into the driver’s permanent record. MTM Health’s handbook says out-of-date driver credentials will bring fewer trips, a performance improvement plan, unpaid trips for drivers with expired documents or otherwise unapproved drivers, or a contract that is not renewed. See MTM Health in Virginia for its provider line and offices.

A clean check on day one does not cover a conviction next year. Ask every driver to tell you the same day about any new arrest or conviction, so a new barrier crime does not wait for the yearly review.