diff --git a/src/djangooidc/exceptions.py b/src/djangooidc/exceptions.py
index 260750a4d..226337f54 100644
--- a/src/djangooidc/exceptions.py
+++ b/src/djangooidc/exceptions.py
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ class AuthenticationFailed(OIDCException):
     friendly_message = "This login attempt didn't work."
 
 
+class NoStateDefined(OIDCException):
+    friendly_message = "The session state is None."
+
+
 class InternalError(OIDCException):
     status = status.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
     friendly_message = "The system broke while trying to log you in."
diff --git a/src/djangooidc/oidc.py b/src/djangooidc/oidc.py
index 91bfddc66..bff766bb4 100644
--- a/src/djangooidc/oidc.py
+++ b/src/djangooidc/oidc.py
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ class Client(oic.Client):
         if authn_response["state"] != session.get("state", None):
             # this most likely means the user's Django session vanished
             logger.error("Received state not the same as expected for %s" % state)
+            if session.get("state", None) is None:
+                raise o_e.NoStateDefined()
             raise o_e.AuthenticationFailed(locator=state)
 
         if self.behaviour.get("response_type") == "code":
@@ -272,6 +274,11 @@ class Client(oic.Client):
 
         super(Client, self).store_response(resp, info)
 
+    def get_default_acr_value(self):
+        """returns the acr_value from settings
+        this helper function is called from djangooidc views"""
+        return self.behaviour.get("acr_value")
+
     def get_step_up_acr_value(self):
         """returns the step_up_acr_value from settings
         this helper function is called from djangooidc views"""
diff --git a/src/djangooidc/tests/test_views.py b/src/djangooidc/tests/test_views.py
index 282e91e1f..63b23df96 100644
--- a/src/djangooidc/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/src/djangooidc/tests/test_views.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 from django.http import HttpResponse
 from django.test import Client, TestCase, RequestFactory
 from django.urls import reverse
+
+from djangooidc.exceptions import NoStateDefined
 from ..views import login_callback
 
 from .common import less_console_noise
@@ -17,6 +19,9 @@ class ViewsTest(TestCase):
     def say_hi(*args):
         return HttpResponse("Hi")
 
+    def create_acr(*args):
+        return "any string"
+
     def user_info(*args):
         return {
             "sub": "TEST",
@@ -34,6 +39,7 @@ class ViewsTest(TestCase):
         callback_url = reverse("openid_login_callback")
         # mock
         mock_client.create_authn_request.side_effect = self.say_hi
+        mock_client.get_default_acr_value.side_effect = self.create_acr
         # test
         response = self.client.get(reverse("login"), {"next": callback_url})
         # assert
@@ -53,6 +59,19 @@ class ViewsTest(TestCase):
         self.assertTemplateUsed(response, "500.html")
         self.assertIn("Server error", response.content.decode("utf-8"))
 
+    def test_callback_with_no_session_state(self, mock_client):
+        """If the local session is None (ie the server restarted while user was logged out),
+        we do not throw an exception. Rather, we attempt to login again."""
+        # mock
+        mock_client.get_default_acr_value.side_effect = self.create_acr
+        mock_client.callback.side_effect = NoStateDefined()
+        # test
+        with less_console_noise():
+            response = self.client.get(reverse("openid_login_callback"))
+        # assert
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302)
+        self.assertEqual(response.url, "/")
+
     def test_login_callback_reads_next(self, mock_client):
         # setup
         session = self.client.session
diff --git a/src/djangooidc/views.py b/src/djangooidc/views.py
index b5905df48..b786ed2e9 100644
--- a/src/djangooidc/views.py
+++ b/src/djangooidc/views.py
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ def error_page(request, error):
 
 def openid(request):
     """Redirect the user to an authentication provider (OP)."""
+
+    # If the session reset because of a server restart, attempt to login again
+    request.session["acr_value"] = CLIENT.get_default_acr_value()
+
     request.session["next"] = request.GET.get("next", "/")
 
     try:
@@ -78,9 +82,13 @@ def login_callback(request):
         if user:
             login(request, user)
             logger.info("Successfully logged in user %s" % user)
+            # Double login bug?
             return redirect(request.session.get("next", "/"))
         else:
             raise o_e.BannedUser()
+    except o_e.NoStateDefined as nsd_err:
+        logger.debug(f"No State Defined: {nsd_err}")
+        return redirect(request.session.get("next", "/"))
     except Exception as err:
         return error_page(request, err)
 
diff --git a/src/registrar/admin.py b/src/registrar/admin.py
index 8d3b1d29f..9ad459a06 100644
--- a/src/registrar/admin.py
+++ b/src/registrar/admin.py
@@ -1239,6 +1239,28 @@ class DraftDomainAdmin(ListHeaderAdmin):
     search_help_text = "Search by draft domain name."
 
 
+class VeryImportantPersonAdmin(ListHeaderAdmin):
+    list_display = ("email", "custom_user_label", "notes", "created_at")
+    search_fields = ["email"]
+    search_help_text = "Search by email."
+    list_filter = [
+        "user",
+    ]
+    readonly_fields = [
+        "user",
+    ]
+
+    def custom_user_label(self, obj):
+        return obj.user
+
+    custom_user_label.short_description = "Requestor"  # type: ignore
+
+    def save_model(self, request, obj, form, change):
+        # Set the user field to the current admin user
+        obj.user = request.user if request.user.is_authenticated else None
+        super().save_model(request, obj, form, change)
+
+
 admin.site.unregister(LogEntry)  # Unregister the default registration
 admin.site.register(LogEntry, CustomLogEntryAdmin)
 admin.site.register(models.User, MyUserAdmin)
@@ -1259,3 +1281,4 @@ admin.site.register(models.Website, WebsiteAdmin)
 admin.site.register(models.PublicContact, AuditedAdmin)
 admin.site.register(models.DomainApplication, DomainApplicationAdmin)
 admin.site.register(models.TransitionDomain, TransitionDomainAdmin)
+admin.site.register(models.VeryImportantPerson, VeryImportantPersonAdmin)
diff --git a/src/registrar/migrations/0063_veryimportantperson.py b/src/registrar/migrations/0063_veryimportantperson.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d56ae1ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/registrar/migrations/0063_veryimportantperson.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.7 on 2024-01-19 00:18
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("registrar", "0062_alter_host_name"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name="VeryImportantPerson",
+            fields=[
+                ("id", models.BigAutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name="ID")),
+                ("created_at", models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)),
+                ("updated_at", models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)),
+                ("email", models.EmailField(blank=True, db_index=True, help_text="Email", max_length=254, null=True)),
+                ("notes", models.TextField(blank=True, help_text="Notes", null=True)),
+                (
+                    "user",
+                    models.ForeignKey(
+                        blank=True,
+                        null=True,
+                        on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.SET_NULL,
+                        related_name="verifiedby_user",
+                        to=settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL,
+                    ),
+                ),
+            ],
+            options={
+                "abstract": False,
+            },
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/__init__.py b/src/registrar/models/__init__.py
index 6afad5a5c..90cb2e286 100644
--- a/src/registrar/models/__init__.py
+++ b/src/registrar/models/__init__.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from .user import User
 from .user_group import UserGroup
 from .website import Website
 from .transition_domain import TransitionDomain
+from .very_important_person import VeryImportantPerson
 
 __all__ = [
     "Contact",
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ __all__ = [
     "UserGroup",
     "Website",
     "TransitionDomain",
+    "VeryImportantPerson",
 ]
 
 auditlog.register(Contact)
@@ -45,3 +47,4 @@ auditlog.register(User, m2m_fields=["user_permissions", "groups"])
 auditlog.register(UserGroup, m2m_fields=["permissions"])
 auditlog.register(Website)
 auditlog.register(TransitionDomain)
+auditlog.register(VeryImportantPerson)
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/user.py b/src/registrar/models/user.py
index d79e4c9ee..269569bfe 100644
--- a/src/registrar/models/user.py
+++ b/src/registrar/models/user.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from registrar.models.user_domain_role import UserDomainRole
 
 from .domain_invitation import DomainInvitation
 from .transition_domain import TransitionDomain
+from .very_important_person import VeryImportantPerson
 from .domain import Domain
 
 from phonenumber_field.modelfields import PhoneNumberField  # type: ignore
@@ -89,6 +90,10 @@ class User(AbstractUser):
         if TransitionDomain.objects.filter(username=email).exists():
             return False
 
+        # New users flagged by Staff to bypass ial2
+        if VeryImportantPerson.objects.filter(email=email).exists():
+            return False
+
         # A new incoming user who is being invited to be a domain manager (that is,
         # their email address is in DomainInvitation for an invitation that is not yet "retrieved").
         invited = DomainInvitation.DomainInvitationStatus.INVITED
diff --git a/src/registrar/models/very_important_person.py b/src/registrar/models/very_important_person.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42621c64a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/registrar/models/very_important_person.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from django.db import models
+
+from .utility.time_stamped_model import TimeStampedModel
+
+
+class VeryImportantPerson(TimeStampedModel):
+
+    """"""
+
+    email = models.EmailField(
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+        help_text="Email",
+        db_index=True,
+    )
+
+    user = models.ForeignKey(
+        "registrar.User",
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+        on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
+        related_name="verifiedby_user",
+    )
+
+    notes = models.TextField(
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+        help_text="Notes",
+    )
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        try:
+            if self.email:
+                return self.email
+        except Exception:
+            return ""
diff --git a/src/registrar/tests/test_admin.py b/src/registrar/tests/test_admin.py
index f7b1ef06e..175bef11f 100644
--- a/src/registrar/tests/test_admin.py
+++ b/src/registrar/tests/test_admin.py
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ from registrar.admin import (
     ContactAdmin,
     DomainInformationAdmin,
     UserDomainRoleAdmin,
+    VeryImportantPersonAdmin,
 )
 from registrar.models import Domain, DomainApplication, DomainInformation, User, DomainInvitation, Contact, Website
 from registrar.models.user_domain_role import UserDomainRole
+from registrar.models.very_important_person import VeryImportantPerson
 from .common import (
     MockSESClient,
     AuditedAdminMockData,
@@ -1737,3 +1739,26 @@ class ContactAdminTest(TestCase):
 
     def tearDown(self):
         User.objects.all().delete()
+
+
+class VeryImportantPersonAdminTestCase(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.superuser = create_superuser()
+        self.factory = RequestFactory()
+
+    def test_save_model_sets_user_field(self):
+        # Create an instance of the admin class
+        admin_instance = VeryImportantPersonAdmin(model=VeryImportantPerson, admin_site=None)
+
+        # Create a VeryImportantPerson instance
+        vip_instance = VeryImportantPerson(email="test@example.com", notes="Test Notes")
+
+        # Create a request object
+        request = self.factory.post("/admin/yourapp/veryimportantperson/add/")
+        request.user = self.superuser
+
+        # Call the save_model method
+        admin_instance.save_model(request, vip_instance, None, None)
+
+        # Check that the user field is set to the request.user
+        self.assertEqual(vip_instance.user, self.superuser)
diff --git a/src/registrar/tests/test_models.py b/src/registrar/tests/test_models.py
index 464d00dc5..ef6522747 100644
--- a/src/registrar/tests/test_models.py
+++ b/src/registrar/tests/test_models.py
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ from registrar.models import (
 )
 
 import boto3_mocking
-from registrar.models.transition_domain import TransitionDomain  # type: ignore
+from registrar.models.transition_domain import TransitionDomain
+from registrar.models.very_important_person import VeryImportantPerson  # type: ignore
 from .common import MockSESClient, less_console_noise, completed_application
 from django_fsm import TransitionNotAllowed
 
@@ -652,6 +653,12 @@ class TestUser(TestCase):
         TransitionDomain.objects.get_or_create(username=self.user.email, domain_name=self.domain_name)
         self.assertFalse(User.needs_identity_verification(self.user.email, self.user.username))
 
+    def test_identity_verification_with_very_important_person(self):
+        """A Very Important Person should return False
+        when tested with class method needs_identity_verification"""
+        VeryImportantPerson.objects.get_or_create(email=self.user.email)
+        self.assertFalse(User.needs_identity_verification(self.user.email, self.user.username))
+
     def test_identity_verification_with_invited_user(self):
         """An invited user should return False when tested with class
         method needs_identity_verification"""