2026 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 259
Commending Colonel Matthew D. Hanley.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 9, 2026
WHEREAS, Colonel Matthew D. Hanley retired as superintendent of the Virginia State Police after 32 years of service to the Commonwealth as a law-enforcement officer; and
WHEREAS, Matthew Hanley joined the Virginia State Police in 1993 and held numerous leadership roles, including director of the Bureau of Field Operations, director of the Office of Performance Management and Internal Controls, training officer, assistant division commander, and area commander; and
WHEREAS, Matthew Hanley was appointed as the 14th superintendent of the Virginia State Police on February 26, 2025, and led the Virginia State Police through a period of significant growth and modernization, working diligently to ensure that the agency was not only one of the best police organizations in the country, but also one of the best agencies to work for in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, during Matthew Hanley's tenure as superintendent, traffic fatalities in the Commonwealth fell to a nine-year low, the Virginia State Police helped preserve the right to peaceful free expression at large-scale events throughout the Commonwealth, and the agency deployed resources to assist Virginians during several dangerous weather events; and
WHEREAS, under Matthew Hanley's leadership, the Virginia State Police aggressively targeted the criminal trafficking of illicit drugs, resulting in the seizure of $650 million worth of narcotics, $7.1 million of which was fentanyl, directly contributing to a decline in fatal opioid overdoses in the Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Matthew Hanley also oversaw operations targeting violent offenders and high-crime areas, which resulted in the seizure of 1,241 illegal firearms from criminal actors; and