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

The Department shall develop and implement, in cooperation with and taking into account the individual needs and willingness to participate of the inmate, a comprehensive reentry plan for each person committed to the supervision of the Department, as soon as practicable, consider…

Each person received by the Department shall be examined by a licensed physician, licensed nurse practitioner, or licensed physician assistant upon his arrival, within 30 days prior to any work assignment in food services, medical services, or cosmetological services or a change …

The Department shall offer to test each inmate, who does not have a record of a positive test result, for infection with human immunodeficiency virus within 60 days of the scheduled discharge of the inmate from a state correctional facility. Prior to administering a test for huma…

The Director may, upon the application of the person in charge of any state correctional facility who has been requested in writing so to do by the physician at such facility, have removed from such facility any prisoner therein who has contracted any contagious or infectious dis…

The Director is authorized to prescribe reasonable rules regarding correspondence privileges and the receipt of books, newspapers and periodicals by prisoners within state correctional facilities.

The Director is authorized to prescribe reasonable rules regarding electronic visitation systems or electronic messaging systems, including Voice-over-Internet Protocol technology and web-based communication systems, for communication between prisoners and third parties and colle…

A. The Director is authorized to prescribe reasonable rules regarding visitation that shall include authorization of visitation by minor dependents of prisoners who are primary caretakers of minor children with Level 1 or Level 2 security classifications that include (i) opportun…

Subject to the provisions of Chapter 5.1 (§ 32.1-162.16 et seq.) of Title 32.1, the Director may permit such prisoners as may volunteer to undergo experimental treatment or tests in state or federal medical research programs.

A. The Director may extend the limits of confinement of any prisoner in any state correctional facility to permit him a furlough under the provisions of this section for the purpose of visiting his home or family. Such furlough shall be for a period to be prescribed by the Direct…

Any prisoner who is convicted of a felony included within the provisions of Chapter 4 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.) of Title 18.2 or arson, burglary or robbery committed while on administrative furlough, shall, after conviction therefor, be ineligible for further furlough during the remain…

Notwithstanding any provision of this Code or of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, it shall be unlawful for the Director, the Board, or any other correctional authority having the care, custody, or control of any prisoner in this Commonwealth to make or enforce …

A. As used in this section: "Offender" means an adult or juvenile who is confined in a state correctional facility. "Restrictive housing" means special-purpose bed assignments operated under maximum security regulations and procedures, and utilized under proper administrative pro…

A. As used in this section: "Facility administrator" means the superintendent, warden, or person otherwise in charge of the correctional facility. "Medical evaluation" means an evaluation that is done for the purpose of determining whether the incarcerated person needs medical tr…

A. It is unlawful for any correctional officer or other employee of a state correctional facility who is permitted to handle canines to use a patrol or security canine in any state correctional facility unless such correctional officer or other employee (i) reasonably believes th…

The judge of a circuit court in whose county or city a state correctional facility is located shall, on motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth for such county or city, when he is requested so to do by the superintendent or warden of a state correctional facility, appoint, fo…

Any person serving a sentence imposed upon a conviction for a felony offense, other than a Class 1 felony, (i) who has reached the age of sixty-five or older and who has served at least five years of the sentence imposed or (ii) who has reached the age of sixty or older and who h…

A. As used in this section, "terminally ill" means having a chronic or progressive medical condition caused by injury, disease, or illness where the medical prognosis is the person's death within 12 months. B. Any person serving a sentence imposed upon a conviction for a felony o…

A. The Director or his designee may petition the circuit court or any district court judge or any special justice, as defined in § 37.2-100, herein referred to as the court, of the county or city in which the prisoner is located for an order authorizing treatment of a prisoner se…

A. Whenever a person is committed to a state correctional facility, the following shall be entitled to obtain medical and mental health information and records concerning such person from a health care provider, even when such person does not provide consent or consent is not rea…

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Postpartum recovery" means the eight-week period, or longer as determined by the health care professional responsible for the health and safety of the prisoner, following childbirth. "Restraints" means any…

A. The following restraints shall not be used on any prisoner known to be pregnant upon notification or diagnosis of the pregnancy and for the duration of the pregnancy, unless there is an individualized determination that the prisoner will harm herself, the fetus, the newborn ch…

A. No restraints shall be used on any prisoner who is in postpartum recovery, unless an employee of the Department has a reasonable belief that the prisoner will harm herself, her newborn child, or any other person or poses a substantial flight risk. If there is a reasonable beli…

A. The warden or other official in charge of a state correctional facility that houses women prisoners shall compile a monthly summary of all written reports received pursuant to §§ 53.1-25.1, 53.1-40.12, and 53.1-40.13 and shall submit the summary to the Director each month. B. …

For correctional officers, and juvenile correctional officers who may have contact with pregnant inmates, the compulsory minimum entry-level training standards established pursuant to § 9.1-102 shall include training on the general care of pregnant women, the impact of restraints…

The Department shall provide, to the extent practicable, educational programming for prisoners known to be pregnant related to (i) prenatal care, (ii) pregnancy-specific hygiene, (iii) parenting skills, (iv) the impact of alcohol and drugs on the fetus, (v) postpartum recovery he…

A. Upon the petition of the Director or his designee, any district court judge or any special justice, as defined by § 37.2-100, of the county or city where the prisoner is located may issue an order authorizing involuntary admission of a prisoner who is sentenced and committed t…

Any hearing held by a court pursuant to § 53.1-40.1 or 53.1-40.2 may be held in any courtroom available within the county or city wherein the prisoner is located or any appropriate place which may be made available by the Director and approved by the judge. Nothing herein shall b…

A. Any prisoner involuntarily committed pursuant to § 53.1-40.2 shall have the right to appeal such order to the circuit court in the jurisdiction wherein the prisoner is located. The decision of the circuit court shall be final with no further right of appeal. B. Such appeal mus…

Whenever a prisoner is admitted to a hospital or facility for the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness, the Director may order the transfer of the prisoner to any other willing hospital or facility for the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness, an…

The director of a hospital or facility shall require a review of the progress of each prisoner admitted to such hospital or facility to be conducted at intervals of thirty days, sixty days, and ninety days after admission of such prisoner and every six months thereafter to determ…

A. The prisoner shall be discharged from a hospital or facility for the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness to a state or local correctional facility designated by the Director if there is no further need for involuntary hospitalization or at the expiration of 1…

A. Any special justice, as defined in § 37.2-100, and any district court substitute judge who presides over hearings pursuant to the provisions of §§ 53.1-40.1 and 53.1-40.2 shall receive a fee as provided in § 37.2-804 for each commitment hearing under § 53.1-40.2 and each proce…

A prisoner whose release from the custody of the Department of Corrections is imminent and who may have a mental illness and be in need of hospitalization or treatment may be the subject of an involuntary admission proceeding under §§ 37.2-814 through 37.2-819 within 15 days prio…

A. To the extent feasible, it shall be the duty of the Director to provide persons sentenced to the Department with opportunities to work and to participate in career and technical education programs. Such work opportunities may include business, industrial, agricultural, highway…

Every prisoner committed and transferred to the Department and thereafter confined for the sentence for which he was committed in a state or local correctional facility shall be allowed an amount to be established by the Director for each day of labor satisfactory to the superint…

The Director may establish a system of pay incentives for prisoners confined in any state correctional facility. Such system may provide for the payment of a bonus to any prisoner who is assigned to employment in any position of responsibility or who performs his job in an exempl…

In addition to any other account established to hold funds for inmates, the Department shall establish for each inmate a personal trust account. Unless an inmate has been sentenced to be executed, is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, or is sentenced to…

Portions of the funds held by the Director or by any state correctional facility, which belong to prisoners may, in the discretion of the Director, be invested in bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia or of the United States or in federally-insured investments. In determining how…

A. Articles produced or manufactured and services provided by prisoners sentenced to state correctional facilities may be disposed of by the Director by sale only to municipal and county agencies in Virginia and to federal, state and local public agencies within or without the Co…

A. The Director, with the prior approval of the Governor, may enter into an agreement with a public or private entity to operate a work program in a state correctional facility for prisoners confined therein. B. Articles produced or manufactured and services provided by prisoners…

Subject to such rules as he may prescribe, the Director may permit prisoners confined in state correctional facilities to sell to the public artistic products personally crafted by the prisoners. Such artistic products shall include, but are not limited to, paintings, pottery and…

Articles and services produced or manufactured by persons confined in state correctional facilities: 1. Shall be purchased by all departments, institutions, and agencies of the Commonwealth that are supported in whole or in part with funds from the state treasury for their use or…

A department, institution, or agency of the Commonwealth may be granted an exemption from the provisions of § 53.1-47 with the written consent of the Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Correctional Enterprises Program in any case where (i) the article so produced or manufact…

No department, institution or agency of the Commonwealth shall be allowed to evade the intent and meaning of §§ 53.1-47 and 53.1-48 by slight variations from specifications adopted by the Division of Purchases and Supply of the Department of General Services pursuant to § 2.2-111…

No voucher, certificate or warrant issued on the Comptroller by any such department, institution or agency shall be questioned by him or by the State Treasurer on the ground that §§ 53.1-47 through 53.1-49 and § 53.1-52 have not been complied with by such department, institution …

Intentional violations of §§ 53.1-47 through 53.1-49 and § 53.1-52 by any such department, institution or agency, continued after notice from the Governor to desist, shall constitute malfeasance in office, and shall subject the officer or officers responsible for such violations …