Virginia Code 16.1-292: Violation of court order by any person.
A. Any person violating an order of the juvenile court entered pursuant to §§ 16.1-278.2 through 16.1-278.19 or § 16.1-284, including a parent subject to an order issued pursuant to subdivision A 3 of § 16.1-278.8, may be proceeded against (i) by an order requiring the person to show cause why the order of the court entered pursuant to §§ 16.1-278.2 through 16.1-278.19 has not been complied with, (ii) for contempt of court pursuant to § 16.1-69.24 or as otherwise provided in this section, or (iii) by both. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, nothing in this chapter shall deprive the court of its power to punish summarily for contempt for such acts as set forth in § 18.2-456, or to punish for contempt after notice and an opportunity for a hearing on the contempt except that confinement in the case of a juvenile shall be in a secure facility for juveniles rather than in jail and shall not exceed a period of seven days for each offense. However, if the person violating the order was a juvenile at the time of the original act and is 18 years of age or older when the court enters a disposition for violation of the order, the judge may order confinement in jail. If a juvenile is found to have violated a court order as a status offender, any order of disposition of such violation confining the juvenile in a secure facility for juveniles shall (a) identify the valid court order that has been violated; (b) specify the factual basis for determining that there is reasonable cause to believe that the juvenile has violated such order; (c) state the findings of fact that support a determination that there is no appropriate less restrictive alternative available to placing the juvenile in such a facility, with due consideration to the best interest of the juvenile; (d) specify the length of time of such confinement, not to exceed seven days; and (e) include a plan for the juvenile’s release from such facility. Such order of confinement shall not be renewed or extended.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 16.1-292
- Child in need of services: means (i) a child whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the well-being and physical safety of the child or (ii) a child under the age of 14 whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the well-being and physical safety of another person; however, no child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination shall for that reason alone be considered to be a child in need of services, nor shall any child who habitually remains away from or habitually deserts or abandons his family as a result of what the court or the local child protective services unit determines to be incidents of physical, emotional or sexual abuse in the home be considered a child in need of services for that reason alone. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Child in need of supervision: means :
1. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- detention home: means a local, regional or state public or private locked residential facility that has construction fixtures designed to prevent escape and to restrict the movement and activities of children held in lawful custody. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
- judge: means the judge or the substitute judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court of each county or city. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- law: means the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Law embraced in this chapter. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- State Board: means the State Board of Juvenile Justice. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Status offender: means a child who commits an act prohibited by law which would not be criminal if committed by an adult. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
B. Upon conviction of any party for contempt of court in failing or refusing to comply with an order of a juvenile court for spousal support or child support under § 16.1-278.15, the court may commit and sentence such party to confinement in a jail, workhouse, city farm, or work squad as provided in §§ 20-61 and 20-62, for a fixed or indeterminate period or until the further order of the court. In no event, however, shall such sentence be imposed for a period of more than 12 months. The sum or sums as provided for in § 20-63 shall be paid as therein set forth, to be used for the support and maintenance of the spouse or the child or children for whose benefit such order or decree provided.
C. Notwithstanding the contempt power of the court, the court shall be limited in the actions it may take with respect to a child violating the terms and conditions of an order to those which the court could have taken at the time of the court’s original disposition pursuant to §§ 16.1-278.2 through 16.1-278.10, except as hereinafter provided. However, this limitation shall not be construed to deprive the court of its power to (i) punish a child summarily for contempt for acts set forth in § 18.2-456 subject to the provisions of subsection A or (ii) punish a child for contempt for violation of a dispositional order in a delinquency proceeding after notice and an opportunity for a hearing regarding such contempt, including acts of disobedience of the court’s dispositional order which are committed outside the presence of the court.
D. In the event a child in need of services is found to have willfully and materially violated for a second or subsequent time the order of the court pursuant to § 16.1-278.4, the dispositional alternatives specified in subdivision A 9 of § 16.1-278.8 shall be available to the court.
E. In the event that a child in need of supervision is found to have willfully and materially violated an order of the court pursuant to § 16.1-278.5, the court may enter any of the following orders of disposition:
1. Suspend the child’s motor vehicle driver’s license;
2. Order any such child 14 years of age or older to be (i) placed in a foster home, group home, or other nonsecure residential facility or, (ii) if the court finds that such placement is not likely to meet the child’s needs, that all other treatment options in the community have been exhausted, and that secure placement is necessary in order to meet the child’s service needs, detained in a secure facility for a period of time not to exceed seven consecutive days for violation of any order of the court arising out of the same petition. The court shall state in its order for detention the basis for all findings required by this section. In addition, any order of disposition for such violation confining the child in a secure facility for juveniles shall (a) identify the valid court order that has been violated; (b) specify the factual basis for determining that there is reasonable cause to believe that the child has violated such order; (c) state the findings of fact that support a determination that there is no appropriate less restrictive alternative available to placing the child in such a facility, with due consideration to the best interest of the child; (d) specify the length of time of such confinement, not to exceed seven days; and (e) include a plan for the child’s release from such facility. Such order of confinement shall not be renewed or extended. When any child is detained in a secure facility pursuant to this section, the court shall direct the agency evaluating the child pursuant to § 16.1-278.5 to reconvene the interdisciplinary team participating in such evaluation as promptly as possible to review its evaluation, develop further treatment plans as may be appropriate and submit its report to the court for its determination as to further treatment efforts either during or following the period the child is in secure detention. A juvenile may only be detained pursuant to this section in a detention home or other secure facility in compliance with standards established by the State Board. Any order issued pursuant to this subsection is a final order and is appealable to the circuit court as provided by law.
F. Nothing in this section shall be construed to reclassify a child in need of services or in need of supervision as a delinquent.
1977, c. 559; 1983, c. 501; 1985, cc. 1, 260; 1987, c. 632; 1988, c. 771; 1989, c. 725; 1990, c. 110; 1991, c. 534; 1993, c. 632; 1994, c. 21; 2000, c. 978; 2016, c. 626; 2020, c. 593.