Virginia Code 53.1-131.2: Assignment to a home/electronic incarceration program; payment to defray costs; escape; penalty.
A. Any court having jurisdiction for the trial of a person charged with a criminal offense, a traffic offense or an offense under Chapter 5 of Title 20, or failure to pay child support pursuant to a court order may, if the defendant is convicted and sentenced to confinement in a state or local correctional facility, and if it appears to the court that such an offender is a suitable candidate for home/electronic incarceration, assign the offender to a home/electronic incarceration program as a condition of probation, if such program exists, under the supervision of the sheriff, the administrator of a local or regional jail, or a Department of Corrections probation and parole district office established pursuant to § 53.1-141. However, any offender who is convicted of any of the following violations of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 shall not be eligible for participation in the home/electronic incarceration program: (i) first and second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter under Article 1 (§ 18.2-30 et seq.); (ii) mob-related felonies under Article 2 (§ 18.2-38 et seq.); (iii) any kidnapping or abduction felony under Article 3 (§ 18.2-47 et seq.); (iv) any malicious felonious assault or malicious bodily wounding under Article 4 (§ 18.2-51 et seq.); (v) robbery under § 18.2-58.1; or (vi) any criminal sexual assault punishable as a felony under Article 7 (§ 18.2-61 et seq.). The court may further authorize the offender’s participation in work release employment or educational or other rehabilitative programs as defined in § 53.1-131 or, as appropriate, in a court-ordered intensive case monitoring program for child support. The court shall be notified in writing by the director or administrator of the program to which the offender is assigned of the offender’s place of home/electronic incarceration, place of employment, and the location of any educational or rehabilitative program in which the offender participates.
Attorney's Note
Under the Virginia Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 misdemeanor | up to 12 months | up to $2,500 |
Terms Used In Virginia Code 53.1-131.2
- 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.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Deputy sheriff: means a duly sworn officer appointed by a sheriff pursuant to § Virginia Code 53.1-1
- Director: means the Director of the Department of Corrections. See Virginia Code 53.1-1
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Local correctional facility: means any jail, jail farm or other place used for the detention or incarceration of adult offenders, excluding a lock-up, which is owned, maintained, or operated by any political subdivision or combination of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 53.1-1
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- 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
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
- 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 Local and Regional Jails. See Virginia Code 53.1-1
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
B. In any city or county in which a home/electronic incarceration program established pursuant to this section is available, the court, subject to approval by the sheriff or the jail superintendent of a local or regional jail, may assign the accused to such a program pending trial if it appears to the court that the accused is a suitable candidate for home/electronic incarceration.
C. Any person who has been sentenced to jail or convicted and sentenced to confinement in prison but is actually serving his sentence in jail, after notice to the attorney for the Commonwealth of the convicting jurisdiction, may be assigned by the sheriff to a home/electronic incarceration program under the supervision of the sheriff, the administrator of a local or regional jail, or a Department of Corrections probation and parole office established pursuant to § 53.1-141. However, if the offender violates any provision of the terms of the home/electronic incarceration agreement, the offender may have the assignment revoked and, if revoked, shall be held in the jail facility to which he was originally sentenced. Such person shall be eligible if his term of confinement does not include a sentence for a conviction of a felony violent crime, a felony sexual offense, burglary or manufacturing, selling, giving, distributing or possessing with the intent to manufacture, sell, give or distribute a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance. The court shall retain authority to remove the offender from such home/electronic incarceration program. The court which sentenced the offender shall be notified in writing by the sheriff or the administrator of a local or regional jail of the offender’s place of home/electronic incarceration and place of employment or other rehabilitative program.
D. The Board may prescribe regulations to govern home/electronic incarceration programs, and the Director may prescribe rules to govern home/electronic incarceration programs operated under the supervision of a Department of Corrections probation and parole district office established pursuant to § 53.1-141.
E. Any offender or accused assigned to such a program by the court or sheriff who, without proper authority or just cause, leaves his place of home/electronic incarceration, the area to which he has been assigned to work or attend educational or other rehabilitative programs, including a court-ordered intensive case monitoring program for child support, or the vehicle or route of travel involved in his going to or returning from such place, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. An offender or accused who is found guilty of a violation of this section shall be ineligible for further participation in a home/electronic incarceration program during his current term of confinement.
F. The director or administrator of a home/electronic incarceration program who also operates a residential program may remove an offender from a home/electronic incarceration program and place him in such residential program if the offender commits a noncriminal program violation. The court shall be notified of the violation and of the placement of the offender in the residential program.
G. The director or administrator of a home/electronic incarceration program may charge the offender or accused a fee for participating in the program which shall be used for the cost of home/electronic incarceration equipment. The offender or accused shall be required to pay the program for any damage to the equipment which is in his possession or for failure to return the equipment to the program.
H. Any wages earned by an offender or accused assigned to a home/electronic incarceration program and participating in work release shall be paid to the director or administrator after standard payroll deductions required by law. Distribution of the money collected shall be made in the following order of priority to:
1. Meet the obligation of any judicial or administrative order to provide support and such funds shall be disbursed according to the terms of such order;
2. Pay any fines, restitution or costs as ordered by the court;
3. Pay travel and other such expenses made necessary by his work release employment or participation in an education or rehabilitative program, including the sums specified in § 53.1-150; and
4. Defray the offender’s keep.
The balance shall be credited to the offender’s account or sent to his family in an amount the offender so chooses.
The State Board of Local and Regional Jails shall promulgate regulations governing the receipt of wages paid to persons participating in such programs, except programs operated under the supervision of a Department of Corrections probation and parole district office established pursuant to § 53.1-141, the withholding of payments, and the disbursement of appropriate funds. The Director shall prescribe rules governing the receipt of wages paid to persons participating in such programs operated under the supervision of a Department of Corrections probation and parole district office established pursuant to § 53.1-141, the withholding of payments, and the disbursement of appropriate funds.
I. For the purposes of this section, “sheriff” means the sheriff of the jurisdiction where the person charged with the criminal offense was convicted and sentenced, provided that the sheriff may designate a deputy sheriff or regional jail administrator to assign offenders to home/electronic incarceration programs pursuant to this section.
1989, c. 476; 1990, c. 209; 1991, cc. 278, 428; 1992, c. 604; 1994, cc. 612, 659, 688, 720, 841, 945; 2000, c. 423; 2002, c. 800; 2010, c. 682; 2020, cc. 10, 759.