Title 53.1, Title 53.1. Prisons and Other Methods of Correction

Persons sentenced to the Department shall, so far as practicable, be employed in the construction and maintenance of the primary state highway system and secondary system of state highways, and to this end may be used in rock quarries, gravel pits and other plants in the preparat…

The Department of Transportation shall pay to the Director monthly for the hours prisoners are employed on the state highway primary system and secondary system and work incidental thereto, an amount agreed upon by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Transportatio…

The Director, with the consent of the Commissioner of Highways, may appoint and authorize employees of the Department of Transportation to act as guards of prisoners when such prisoners are at work on the roads under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Transportation Board. Such…

The Director is authorized to enter into agreements with the proper authorities of any state agency, county, city, town, local commission or nonprofit civic organization in the Commonwealth to build and maintain roads and streets and to perform such other public works as he may a…

A. The Director is authorized to establish work release programs whereby (i) a prisoner who is proficient in any trade or occupation and whom the Director is satisfied is trustworthy, may be approved for employment by private individuals, corporations or state agencies at places …

Upon receipt of a valid court order or judgment against a person confined in a state correctional facility, the Director or his designee shall satisfy, to the extent possible, the amount required to be paid by the order or judgment from the inmate's trust account. The Director sh…

A. In order to determine whether a prisoner to be released for employment as provided in § 53.1-60 has dependents receiving public assistance benefits, the Director may require such person to reveal the identity and residence of any dependents as a condition to release. The Direc…

Any person who is released from confinement for work release employment pursuant to the provisions of § 53.1-60, who is convicted of a felony included within Chapter 4 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Title 18.2, or arson, burglary or robbery committed while so released, shall, after such …

A. The Department shall establish, staff and maintain, at any state correctional facility designated by the Director, programs and housing for the rehabilitation, training and confinement of persons committed to the Department under the provisions of Article 2 (§ 19.2-311 et seq.…

The Department shall establish, staff and maintain, at any state correctional facilities designated by the Director, programs and housing for the rehabilitation, training, and confinement of juveniles sentenced by the circuit courts as adults and committed to the Department pursu…

The Department shall establish and maintain within each facility programs for counseling and education, including career and technical education; buildings sufficient to ensure the secure confinement of persons admitted to the facility; and programs in at least one such facility …

The Department shall give careful consideration to the report developed at the diagnostic facilities established under § 53.1-64 in determining whether persons committed to it under the provisions of § 19.2-311 et seq., are to be confined at a youthful offender facility or elsewh…

Any person confined by the Department in a facility established by this chapter may be transferred from such facility to other facilities in the state corrections system for the remainder of the period of commitment under § 16.1-272 or Article 2 (§ 19.2-311 et seq.) of Chapter 18…

In no case shall a person previously confined in a youthful offender facility, whether for a different or the same offense, be confined again in such a facility, except for the purposes of study, testing and diagnosis. The provisions of §§ 53.1-191, 53.1-196, and 53.1-198 through…

The purposes of this article are to (i) provide effective protection of society and (ii) provide efficient and economical correctional services by establishing and maintaining appropriate sanction alternatives and by assisting state-responsible offenders who are incarcerated in r…

The Director shall establish a statewide community-based system of programs, services and residential and nonresidential facilities for (i) those state-responsible offenders convicted of felonies and sentenced to alternative forms of punishment and (ii) those state-responsible of…

A. Facilities established under this article may, in the discretion of the Director, be purchased, constructed or leased. The Director is further authorized to employ necessary personnel for these facilities. The Director may purchase such services as are deemed necessary in furt…

The Director shall prescribe standards for the development, implementation, operation, and evaluation of programs, services and facilities authorized by this article. The Director shall also prescribe guidelines for the transfer of offenders from a state or local correctional fac…

The Statewide Community-Based Corrections System shall include, but not be limited to, the following programs, services and facilities: regular and intensive probation supervision, regular and intensive parole supervision for those state-responsible offenders sentenced for an off…

The Department is authorized to establish and maintain a system of residential community corrections alternative facilities for probationers and parolees whose identified risks and needs cannot be addressed by conventional probation or parole supervision and who are committed to …

A. The Board shall establish minimum standards for the construction, equipment, administration, and operation of local correctional facilities, whether heretofore or hereafter established. However, no minimum standard shall be established that includes square footage requirements…

The Board is authorized to limit, by its order, the confinement of prisoners in any local correctional facility or lock-up, which is not constructed, equipped, maintained and operated so as to comply with minimum standards prescribed by the Board, either by prohibiting confinemen…

A. The Board shall have the power to review the death of any inmate who was incarcerated in a local, regional, or community correctional facility at the time of his death in order to determine (i) the circumstances surrounding the inmate's death, including identifying any act or …

If the Board determines that a local correctional facility is not in compliance with the minimum standards for construction, equipment, administration, or operation of local correctional facilities, the Board shall provide written notice of such determination to the local correct…

Any circuit court in any county or city which maintains and operates any local correctional facility or lock-up, or in any county in which is situated any town which maintains and operates any local correctional facility or lock-up, affected by any such order of the Board, shall …

A. The sheriff or administrator in charge of a local or regional correctional facility where a prisoner is incarcerated and employees of such facility acting on the direction of such sheriff or administrator shall have the authority to transport the prisoner to another jurisdicti…

When it shall appear to the circuit court of any county or city that there is no jail therein or that the jail of such county or city is insecure, out of repair or otherwise inadequate, it shall be the duty of such court to award a rule in the name of the Commonwealth against the…

A. Any regional jail authority constituted pursuant to Article 3.1 (§ 53.1-95.2 et seq.) or 5 (§ 53.1-105 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 53.1 may contract with a private entity for the financing, site selection, acquisition, construction, maintenance, or leasing of a regional jai…

Security employees of a regional jail facility contractor approved by the General Assembly to operate a regional jail facility pursuant to § 53.1-71.4 shall be allowed to use force and shall exercise their powers and authority only while on the grounds of a regional jail facility…

All provisions of law establishing penalties for offenses committed against custodians of inmates or jail guards or officers shall apply mutatis mutandis to offenses committed by or with regard to inmates assigned to facilities or programs for which a regional jail facility contr…

The regional jail authority issuing the contract shall retain the authority and responsibility for the rules and procedures as they apply to the treatment of prisoners, and no contract for correctional services shall authorize, allow, or imply a delegation of authority or respons…

The Board shall make, adopt, and promulgate regulations governing the following aspects of private management and operation of regional jail facilities approved by the General Assembly pursuant to § 53.1-71.4: 1. Minimum standards for the construction, equipment, administration, …

A. Reimbursement to participating localities for the cost of construction shall be made pursuant to Article 3 (§ 53.1-80 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 53.1. B. The manner of state payment to the localities for the care and custody costs at the facility of persons accused or conv…

The jail of each county and city shall be the jail of every court established therein by law.

Every town shall have the use of the jail of the county in which such town is located, to aid the constituted authorities of any such town in maintaining peace and good order, and generally for the enforcement of its ordinances, unless for good cause the judge of the circuit cour…

When a county or city is without an adequate jail, or its jail is to be removed, rebuilt or repaired, the circuit court thereof shall adopt as its jail the jail of another county or city until it can obtain an adequate jail. All persons committed or ordered committed to the jail …

The keeper of any jail so adopted for a county or city so designated shall, as to the person so conveyed to such jail, be deemed the jailer of such county or city, until the court thereof shall declare its own jail to be adequate. Thereafter, such persons shall be delivered to th…

In any case should it become necessary or expedient for the safekeeping of any prisoner, or for good cause, a circuit court may commit such prisoner to a jail other than that located in its county or city. The keeper of the jail in making his account for the board of such prisone…

When the jail of any other county or city has been adopted or designated under the provisions of §§ 53.1-74 and 53.1-76, any judge or magistrate authorized to issue temporary detention orders pursuant to §§ 37.2-809 through 37.2-813 of the adopting county or city shall have concu…

The jail of any county or city in which the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals or a panel thereof is sitting, may be used as a jail for such court.

The sheriff of any county or city or jail superintendent of any regional jail may receive into his jail any person committed thereto under the authority of the United States, and keep him safely according to the warrant or precept of commitment, until he shall be discharged under…

The sheriff or superintendent of any jail may enter into an agreement with the sheriff or superintendent of any other jail in the Commonwealth to transfer and transport prisoners between the respective facilities, and to confine such prisoners, unless such transfer is otherwise p…

A. On and after July 1, 1993, the Commonwealth shall reimburse any city or county up to one-fourth of the capital costs of a jail construction, enlargement or renovation project upon a basis approved by the Board in accordance with the provisions of this section. On and after Jul…

A. Three or more cities or counties, or any combination thereof, are authorized, pursuant to approval of the Board, to construct, enlarge or renovate a regional jail facility or to enlarge or renovate an existing jail for the purpose of establishing a regional jail facility. In a…

A. Three or more counties or cities, or any combination thereof, are authorized to contract for services for the detention and confinement of categories of offenders in single or regional jail facilities operated by the contracting jurisdictions. In addition, (i) any three or mor…

The Board shall promulgate regulations requiring localities seeking approval of a jail project to (i) submit a community-based corrections plan and (ii) demonstrate that the project can be completed and operated in a cost-efficient manner. Such regulations shall require, at a min…