Title 5 — Judicial Procedure
63 chapters · 721 sections in this title.
5 V.I.C. § 2501 A Children's Policy for the Territory
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(a) The purpose of this act is to establish a Children's Policy for the territory. (b) This policy shall be interpreted in conjunction with all relevant laws, regulations, and the cultural heritage of the child and shall apply to all children who have need of services including, …
5 V.I.C. § 2502 Definitions
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(1) As used in this chapter, unless it is otherwise provided or the context requires a different construction, application or meaning:(1) “Abandoned child” means a child whose parents, guardian, or custodian desert him for such a length of time and under such circumstances as to …
5 V.I.C. § 2503 Court costs and expenses
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(a) No person appearing before the Family Division of the Superior Court on a “delinquency” or “person in need of supervision” matter shall be required to pay court costs and expenses. (b) No officer of the territory or of any political subdivision thereof shall be entitled to re…
5 V.I.C. § 2504 Support of committed child
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Whenever a child is committed by the court to the custody of other than that of his parents, or is given medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment under order of the court, and no provision is otherwise made by law for the support of such child or payment for such treatment…
5 V.I.C. § 2505 Right to counsel
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(a) A child alleged to be delinquent, or in the situation where a child is alleged to be a person in need of supervision and involuntary detention may result, is entitled to be represented by counsel. If the child and his parent, or other person responsible for his care is financ…
5 V.I.C. § 2506 Physical and mental examinations
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(a) At any time following the filing of a complaint, on motion of any party, or on its own motion, the court may order a child to be examined to aid in determining his physical or mental condition, including the emotional stability of the child. (b) Whenever possible, examination…
5 V.I.C. § 2507 Transfer from other courts
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(a) If, during the pendency of a criminal charge and prior to the time when jeopardy would attach in the case of an adult, the court with criminal jurisdiction determines that:(1) the case was initially brought before the court with criminal jurisdiction and the defendant was und…
5 V.I.C. § 2508 Transfer from the Family Division
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(a) If a child or adult is charged with an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult, and the child or adult was fourteen years of age or older at the time of the alleged offense, the Family Division of the Superior Court may transfer the person for proper criminal…
5 V.I.C. § 2509 Procedure for transfer
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(a) Following the filing of the motion by the Attorney General, summonses shall be issued and served as provided by law. A copy of the motion and a copy of the delinquency complaint, if not already served, shall be attached to each summons. (b) When there are grounds to believe t…
5 V.I.C. § 2510 Complaints; preliminary inquiry; authorization to file
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(a) Complaints shall be verified and may be signed by any person who has knowledge of the facts alleged. All complaints shall be prepared and countersigned by the Attorney General before they are filed with the court. Decisions of the Attorney General on whether to file a complai…
5 V.I.C. § 2511 Taking into custody
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(a) A child may be taken into custody:(a) Pursuant to the order of the court under this subchapter; or(b) For a delinquent act pursuant to the laws of arrest; or(c) By a law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe that the child has run away from one of the follo…
5 V.I.C. § 2512 Admissibility of child's preliminary statements
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(a) No admissions or statements of a child made while in custody to law enforcement officers or made to the Attorney General or employees of the Youth Services Administration during the processing of the case shall be admissible in evidence against the child unless the government…
5 V.I.C. § 2513 Release or delivery to court; transportation
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(a) A law enforcement officer taking a child into custody shall notify the parents, guardian or custodian of the child or other person responsible for his care as soon as possible, and with all reasonable speed:(1) release the child to his parents, guardian, custodian or other pe…
5 V.I.C. § 2514 Criteria for detention
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(a) A child alleged to be delinquent shall not be placed in detention care prior to a fact finding hearing unless it appears from available information that detention is required and:(1) the child is a fugitive; or(2) the child requests protection in writing in circumstances that…
5 V.I.C. § 2515 Place of detention or shelter
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(a) A child alleged to be delinquent may be detained, pending court hearing, in the following places:(1) Detention home operated or licensed by the Youth Services Administration as specified in Title 3, section 1167.(2) Any other suitable place designated by the court provided th…
5 V.I.C. § 2516 Detention hearing; release
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(a) If the child is not released as provided in Title 5, section 2513, a detention hearing must be held before the court no later than forty-eight hours, excluding Sundays, after the child is placed in detention. (b) Prompt notice of the detention hearing, stating the time, place…
5 V.I.C. § 2517 Adjudicatory hearing for delinquency and person in need of supervision matters
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(a) All hearings under this subchapter shall be dealt with by the Family Division and shall be heard without a jury. All hearings and proceedings shall be recorded either by stenographic notes, or by electronic, mechanical or other appropriate means. (b) The parties shall be advi…
5 V.I.C. § 2518 Predisposition study and report
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(a) After a complaint has been filed pursuant to this subchapter, the court may direct that a predisposition study be made by the appropriate agency, authorized by law, the results of which study shall be contained in a report submitted in writing to the court. The study shall in…
5 V.I.C. § 2519 Continuance under supervision without adjudication; consent decree
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(a) At any time after the filing of a delinquency or person in need of supervision complaint and before the entry of an adjudication order, the court may, on motion of the Attorney General or of counsel for the child, suspend the proceedings and place the child under supervision …
5 V.I.C. § 2520 Order of adjudication, non-criminal
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(a) An order of disposition or other adjudication in proceedings under this subchapter shall not be deemed a conviction of crime or impose any civil disabilities ordinarily resulting from a conviction or operate to disqualify the child in any civil services application or appoint…
5 V.I.C. § 2521 Disposition of delinquent child or person in need of supervision
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(a) In disposition hearings all relevant evidence, including oral and written reports, may be received by the court and may be relied upon to the extent of its probative value. The parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to examine and controvert oral or written report…
5 V.I.C. § 2522 Evaluation prior to commitment
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The court, before committing a child as delinquent to a residential institution, shall first temporarily commit such child to the Youth Services Administration for a period not to exceed forty-five days for evaluation, and the Youth Services Administration shall make a recommenda…
5 V.I.C. § 2523 Center evaluations
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(a) Evaluations shall include but not be limited to:(a) a complete physical, psychological, and, if needed, a psychiatric examination;(b) an investigation and consideration of family and community environment and other facts in the background of the person concerned that might re…
5 V.I.C. § 2524 Probation
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(a) The period of probation may be for a determinate period of time or an indeterminate period of time until the child has attained the age of 19 years. The Family Division of the court may terminate probation and discharge the child at any time if warranted by the conduct of the…
5 V.I.C. § 2525 Probation revocation; disposition
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(a) A child on probation incident to an adjudication as a delinquent or person in need of supervision who violates a term of his probation may be proceeded against in a probation revocation hearing. (b) A proceeding to revoke probation shall be commenced by the filing of a compla…
5 V.I.C. § 2526 Criteria and procedure for sentencing a transferred child
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(a) A child who has been transferred from the Family Division to another court of competent jurisdiction may be sentenced or committed to the custody of the Youth Services Administration until the child reaches his eighteenth birthday and then be transferred to the Bureau of Corr…
5 V.I.C. § 2527 Juvenile law enforcement records
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(a) Law enforcement records and files concerning a child shall be kept separate from the records and files of arrest of adults. Unless a charge of delinquency is transferred for criminal prosecution, such records and files shall not be open to public inspection nor their contents…
5 V.I.C. § 2528 Youth Services Administration records
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(a) Youth Services Administration records and files shall only be open to inspection by consent of the Family Division to persons having a legitimate interest therein. All information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty by an employee of the You…
5 V.I.C. § 2529 Social and legal records; forms; inspection
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(a) The court shall make and keep records of all cases brought before it under this subchapter and shall devise and cause to be printed such forms as may be required for social, medical, psychological and legal records, including reports of preliminary inquiries, predispositional…
5 V.I.C. § 2530 Juvenile fingerprints; photographs
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(a) Fingerprints and photographs shall be taken of a child taken into custody for any act which would be a felony if committed by an adult. If such act would be a misdemeanor if committed by an adult, photographs and fingerprints may be taken; provided further that if the child i…
5 V.I.C. § 2531 Sealing of records; expungement
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(a) On motion by a person who has been the subject of a complaint filed under this chapter or on the court's own motion, the court may vacate its order and findings and order the sealing of the legal and social records of the court, Youth Services Administration, and of any other…
5 V.I.C. § 2531a Juvenile names published
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The Family Division of the Superior Court and the Virgin Islands Police Department shall release the names of minors fourteen years and older, and their parents, as part of the public record, whenever the minor is adjudicated delinquent for committing an act which would be a felo…
5 V.I.C. § 2532 Purpose of subchapter
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The public policy of this territory is to protect children whose health and welfare may be adversely affected through abuse and neglect; to strengthen the family and to make the home safe for children by enhancing the parental capacity for good care; to provide a temporary or per…
5 V.I.C. § 2533 Persons mandated to report suspected abuse, sexual abuse and neglect
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(a) When any physician, hospital personnel engaged in the admission, examination, care or treatment of persons, nurse, dentist or any other medical or behavioral health professional, school teacher or other school personnel, social service worker, day-care worker or other child-c…
5 V.I.C. § 2534 Reporting procedures
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(a) Reports of child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect made pursuant to this subchapter shall be made immediately by telephone or otherwise to the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.P.D.) or to the Department of Social Welfare. The U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (V.I.…
5 V.I.C. § 2535 Color photographs and X-rays
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Any person required to report cases of child abuse, sexual abuse and neglect, may take or cause to be taken color photographs of the areas of trauma visible on a child and, if medically indicated, cause to be performed radiological examinations of the child. Any photographs or X-…
5 V.I.C. § 2536 Child protective services
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(a) The Department of Social Welfare shall receive or arrange for the receipt of all reports of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect; provide or arrange for emergency temporary care and protection of victims of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect; and within 24 h…
5 V.I.C. § 2537 Immunity from liability
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Any person, official or institution participating in good faith in any act permitted or required by this subchapter shall be immune from any civil or criminal liability that otherwise might result by reason of such actions.
5 V.I.C. § 2538 Abrogation of privileged communications
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The privileged quality of communications between husband and wife and between any professional person and his patient or his client, except that between attorney and client, is hereby abrogated in situations involving alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. Such privileged …
5 V.I.C. § 2539 Failure to report
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(a) Any person, official or institution required by this subchapter to report a case of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, or to perform any other act, who knowingly fails to do so, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned …
5 V.I.C. § 2540 Confidentiality of records
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(a) In order to protect the rights of the child and his parent or guardian, all records concerning reports of child abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, made to the government of the Virgin Islands and all records generated as a result of such reports, shall be confidential, except as…
5 V.I.C. § 2541 Education and training
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Within available funding and as appropriate, the Department of Social Welfare shall conduct a public education program in order to encourage maximum reporting of alleged child abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. To the extent possible, such education programs shall include informati…
5 V.I.C. § 2542 Appointment of counsel for the child; role of counsel
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In every case of child abuse or neglect the court shall appoint counsel for the child to act in the role of guardian ad litem. Such counsel shall be willing and competent by training or experience in representing the interests of a child in such proceedings. Guardian ad litem sha…
5 V.I.C. § 2543 Appointment of independent experts
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Any party to the proceedings may petition the court for appointment of experts, at public expense for independent evaluation of the child or the respondents or to evaluate the recommendations of the investigating agency.
5 V.I.C. § 2544 Emergency temporary custody of an abused or neglected child
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(a) A child shall not be removed from his home prior to an adjudicatory hearing on the issue of abuse and neglect unless the child is in imminent danger of death or serious injury. (b) Any physician, law enforcement officer or social worker of the Department of Social Welfare sha…
5 V.I.C. § 2545 Issuance of warrant and reports to court
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(a) The court may issue a warrant directing the person responsible for the welfare of the child to be brought before the court, when a petition or complaint is filed with the court under this chapter and it appears that:(1) the summons cannot be served; or(2) the summoned person …
5 V.I.C. § 2546 Application to return child temporarily removed
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(a) At any time prior to an adjudicatory hearing and upon the application by the respondent for an order returning the child temporarily removed, the court shall hold a hearing:(a) if there has not been a hearing on the removal of the child at which the respondent was present or …
5 V.I.C. § 2547 Continuance in contemplation of dismissal
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(a) Prior to or at trial, upon the motion of any party and with the consent of all parties, and upon such conditions as may be agreeable to all parties, the court may, at its discretion, order that the proceeding be “continued in contemplation of dismissal”. (b) A continuance in …
5 V.I.C. § 2548 Adjudicatory hearing for abuse and neglect matters
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(a) Except as provided pursuant to section 2544 of this title, abuse and neglect proceedings shall be instituted with the filing of a written petition or complaint giving with particularity all factual and other allegations relied upon asserting that a child is abused or neglecte…
5 V.I.C. § 2549 Disposition of abused or neglected child
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(a) In disposition hearings all relevant evidence, including oral and written reports, may be received by the court and may be relied upon to the extent of its probative value. The parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to examine reports prepared by the Department of…