Virginia Code 8.01-195.11: Compensation for wrongful incarceration.
A. 1. Any person who is convicted of a felony by a county or city circuit court of the Commonwealth and is wrongfully incarcerated for such felony may be awarded compensation for each year of incarceration, or portion thereof. The amount of compensation per year shall be $55,000, adjusted on July 1 of each fiscal year by the year-over-year percentage increase in the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, or any predecessor or successor index. Calculations made pursuant to this section shall be made by the State Treasurer and rounded up to the nearest dollar.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-195.11
- 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
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- incarcerated: means confinement in a local or regional correctional facility, juvenile correctional center, state correctional facility, residential detention center, or facility operated pursuant to the Corrections Private Management Act (§ Virginia Code 8.01-195.10
- Person: shall include individuals, a trust, an estate, a partnership, an association, an order, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;
6. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
- 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
- Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
- wrongfully incarcerated: means incarceration for a felony conviction for which the conviction has been vacated pursuant to Virginia Code 8.01-195.10
2. For compensation awarded pursuant to this section on or after January 1, 2024, a wrongfully incarcerated person who is awarded compensation pursuant to subdivision 1 shall also receive not less than $30,000, adjusted on July 1 of each fiscal year by the year-over-year percentage increase in the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, or any predecessor or successor index, for each year or fraction thereof (i) of imprisonment after being sentenced to death or (ii) that such person was required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to Chapter 9 of Title 9.1.
B. Any compensation computed pursuant to subsection A and approved by the General Assembly shall be paid by the Comptroller by his warrant on the State Treasurer in favor of the person found to have been wrongfully incarcerated. The person wrongfully incarcerated shall be paid a lump sum.
C. In addition to the compensation awarded pursuant to subsection A, the General Assembly shall pay to the person wrongfully incarcerated the amount of any unreimbursed fine, fee, court cost, or restitution imposed and paid and reasonable attorney fees and costs incurred to receive an award pursuant to this section. The wrongfully incarcerated person may also be awarded other nonmonetary relief sought, including counseling, housing assistance, employment assistance, health care and dental care, and personal financial literacy assistance, as appropriate.
D. Any person who is convicted of a felony by a county or city circuit court of the Commonwealth and is wrongfully incarcerated for such felony shall receive a transition assistance grant of $15,000 to be paid from the Criminal Fund, which amount shall be deducted from any award received pursuant to subsection B, within 30 days of receipt of the written request for the disbursement of the transition assistance grant to the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Payment of the transition assistance grant from the Criminal Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. In addition, such person shall be entitled to receive reimbursement up to $10,000 for tuition for career and technical training within the Virginia Community College System contingent upon successful completion of the training. Reimbursement for tuition shall be provided by the comprehensive community college at which the career or technical training was completed.
E. If an individual eligible for compensation and benefits under this section is deceased, the individual’s estate has standing to be compensated under this section.
2004, cc. 818, 840; 2010, c. 557; 2012, c. 675; 2014, c. 225; 2018, c. 302; 2020, cc. 326, 648; 2022, cc. 572, 573; 2024, c. 396.