Virginia Law

Article 5. Regional Jails and Jail Farms.

Any combination of two or more counties or cities may establish, maintain and operate a regional jail or jail farm. Any person convicted and sentenced to confinement in the jail or jail farm of such county or city or sentenced to a state correctional facility may be confined in a regional jail farm and required to do work as may be assigned him during the term of his sentence. Any regional jail may be used to hold or confine any person who could lawfully be held or confined in a jail operated and maintained separately.

Subject to the provisions of § 53.1-113 and in the absence of private transportation arranged by the prisoner, any prisoner, after having completed a term of incarceration and upon release from a regional jail operated within Planning District Four or Planning District Five, shall be transported by such regional jail to the locality where the prisoner was arrested or convicted.

Code 1950, § 53-206.1; 1956, c. 681; 1970, c. 648; 1974, c. 553; 1979, c. 700; 1982, c. 636; 1999, c. 990; 2010, c. 547.

A. Each regional jail or jail farm shall be supervised and managed by a board or authority to consist of at least the sheriff from each participating political subdivision, and one representative from each political subdivision participating therein who shall be appointed by the local governing body thereof. Any member of the local governing body of each participating political subdivision shall be eligible for appointment to the jail or jail farm board or regional jail authority. However, no one shall serve as a member of the board or authority who serves as an administrator or superintendent of a correctional facility supervised and managed by the board.

Alternate members may be appointed to the board. Such alternate members shall be selected in the same manner as regular members, except that a sheriff may appoint his own alternate. The term of each alternate shall be determined by the sheriff or the political subdivision, whichever appointed the alternate. If a regular member is not present at a meeting of the board, the alternate for that member shall have all the voting and other rights of a regular member and shall be counted for purposes of determining a quorum at any meeting.

B. The board shall have the power to:

1. Establish rules and regulations governing the operation of the jail or jail farm not inconsistent with standards of the State Board of Local and Regional Jails;

2. Purchase land for the jail or jail farm for joint ownership by the participating political subdivisions with the approval of the local governing bodies;

3. Provide for all necessary stock, equipment and structures for the jail or jail farm within the budget approved therefor by the participating political subdivisions; and

4. Appoint a superintendent of such jail or jail farm and necessary jail officers therefor who shall serve at the pleasure of the board.

The political subdivisions establishing a regional jail or jail farm shall pay their pro rata costs for land, stock, equipment and structures.

Code 1950, §§ 53-206.1, 53-206.3, 53-206.4, 53-206.5; 1974, c. 553; 1979, c. 700; 1982, c. 636; 1990, c. 185; 1991, cc. 529, 566, 567, 568; 1992, cc. 212, 628; 1994, cc. 102, 270, 354; 1997, c. 340; 1998, c. 541; 2020, c. 759.

No regional jail or jail farm board or authority created by any combination of two or more counties or cities, whether pursuant to this article or Article 3.1 (§ 53.1-95.2 et seq.) of this chapter, or an Act of Assembly, shall locate a jail or jail farm in a political subdivision which is not a participating political subdivision in the board or authority unless the governing body of the nonparticipating political subdivision grants express consent to such location.

1991, c. 593.

The regional jail or jail farm board shall elect a chairman and secretary.

The board shall submit annually to the participating political subdivisions a report showing its activities; a budget, which shall include all revenues, expenditures and employee compensation schedules; and other similar data.

Code 1950, § 53-206.4; 1956, c. 681; 1982, c. 636.

Members of the regional jail or jail farm board shall be entitled to necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings of the board. They shall each receive an allowance for each day they are in attendance on the board. Such expenses and allowances shall not exceed in any one year the sum of $1,200 per member and shall be paid by the respective governing bodies.

Code 1950, § 53-206.3; 1956, c. 681; 1970, c. 648; 1982, c. 636; 1986, c. 191.

The jail superintendent shall have and exercise the same control and authority over the prisoners committed or transferred to a regional jail or jail farm as the sheriffs of this Commonwealth have by law over the prisoners committed or transferred to local jails.

During the term of their appointment the superintendent and jail officers are hereby invested with the powers and authority of a conservator of the peace (i) within the limits of such jail or jail farm and within one mile thereof, whether such jail or jail farm is situated within or beyond the limits of such political subdivisions establishing and maintaining the same; (ii) for the purpose of conveying prisoners to and from such jail or jail farm; (iii) for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of alternative incarceration or treatment programs pursuant to §§ 53.1-129, 53.1-131, and 53.1-131.2; (iv) for the purpose of providing security and supervision of prisoners taken to a medical, dental, or psychiatric facility; and (v) for the purpose of providing a security escort and supervision of prisoners transported to a funeral or graveside service. Prisoners may be charged reasonable fees for services described in clause (v).

Code 1950, § 53-206.6; 1956, c. 681; 1970, c. 648; 1982, c. 636; 1991, c. 383; 1994, cc. 923, 953; 1999, cc. 829, 846; 2002, c. 336; 2004, c. 378.

It shall be lawful for any regional jail officer who has been designated by the superintendent, and who has completed the basic course in firearms for jailers and custodial officers pursuant to subdivision 7 of § 9.1-102, to carry and use sufficient weapons to prevent escapes, suppress rebellion, and defend or protect himself or others in the course of his assigned duties.

1999, c. 131.

Any regional jail or jail farm constituted pursuant to the provisions of this article may appoint as its fiscal agent the treasurer of a county or city which is a member of the board of the jail or jail farm, or in a member jurisdiction where there is no treasurer, the director of finance. No treasurer or director of finance shall be appointed fiscal agent without their concurrence. In the event such treasurer or director of finance is appointed, all disbursements on behalf of the jail or jail farm shall be by warrant signed by the chairman of the board of the jail or jail farm or his designee and countersigned by such treasurer or director of finance as fiscal agent. For his services as fiscal agent, a treasurer or director of finance thus appointed may be paid such salary supplement and reimbursed such expenses as may be agreed upon by the board of the jail or jail farm and the treasurer or director of finance. Such salary supplement and expenses shall be borne exclusively by the regional jail or jail farm and not by the Compensation Board.

1996, c. 623.

No regional jail superintendent shall also serve as an officer or partner of, or derive any personal benefit from, any private corrections enterprise or private corrections corporation doing business in the Commonwealth. However, nothing in this section shall prohibit any regional jail superintendent from providing consultation services for remuneration to any public entity regarding correctional matters, or from receiving pension, deferred compensation or other retirement benefits arising exclusively out of employment by a private corrections enterprise or private corrections corporation prior to appointment as superintendent.

1996, c. 623.

Before entering upon the duties of their office the superintendent and jail officers shall take and subscribe the oath prescribed by § 49-1. The board shall require the superintendent and jail officers to participate in the blanket surety bond plan for state and local employees established in § 2.2-1840.

Code 1950, § 53-206.7; 1956, c. 681; 1982, c. 636; 1991, c. 383; 1995, c. 5.

All prisoners convicted and sentenced or transferred to a jail or jail farm shall be required to work on the jail or jail farm or on any other property as the board may direct, unless for good cause shown the court sentencing and committing such prisoners shall order otherwise.

Code 1950, § 53-206.8; 1956, c. 681; 1970, c. 648; 1979, c. 700; 1982, c. 636.

Except as provided in § 53.1-114, the expenses of operating and maintaining a jail or jail farm and supporting the prisoners working thereon, including board, clothing and medical attention, shall be borne by the participating political subdivisions. Such participation shall be based on the percentage of the total cost for such operation that the number of prisoner days bears to the total number of prisoner days confined therein, plus their proportionate part of the fixed cost for such maintenance and operation.

Code 1950, § 53-206.9; 1956, c. 681; 1968, c. 525; 1982, c. 636.

Except as provided in § 53.1-114, each political subdivision participating in a jail or jail farm shall bear the cost of transporting its prisoners to and from the jail or jail farm.

Code 1950, § 53-206.10; 1956, c. 681; 1968, c. 525; 1982, c. 636.

Counties and cities or any combination thereof operating a regional jail or jail farm shall be paid the reasonable cost of maintaining the facility as provided for in § 53.1-85.

Code 1950, § 53-206.11; 1956, c. 681; 1968, c. 525; 1982, c. 636.

The Commonwealth shall pay two-thirds of the salaries of the superintendents and approved medical and treatment personnel of such jails. The other one-third shall be paid pro rata by the participating political subdivisions. Such salaries shall be paid in the manner provided in § 15.2-1609.2, and such section shall be applicable mutatis mutandis to superintendents of such jails.

Code 1950, § 53-206.12; 1970, c. 706; 1982, c. 636; 1983, c. 358.

The superintendent of every regional jail and every regional jail-farm shall report each day to the Compensation Board, giving the record of each prisoner received during the preceding day in an electronic format approved by the Compensation Board, stating whether the offense for each prisoner is for violation of state law or of a city or town ordinance. The computer-generated report shall be authenticated by both the superintendent and chairman of the regional jail-farm board. Either person who authenticates such report and willfully falsifies the information contained in such report is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

If any superintendent fails to send such report, the Compensation Board shall notify the superintendent of such failure. If the superintendent fails to make the report within ten days, then the Compensation Board shall cause the report to be prepared from the books of the superintendent and shall certify the cost thereof to the Comptroller. The Comptroller shall issue his warrant on the Treasurer for that amount, deducting the same from any funds that may be due the superintendent by the Commonwealth.

1983, c. 358; 2000, cc. 70, 291; 2006, cc. 857, 914.

The superintendent of a regional jail or regional jail farm may, with the approval of the governing regional jail or jail farm board or jail authority, provide for the establishment and operation of stores or commissaries in regional jail or regional jail farm facilities to deal in such articles as he deems proper. The net profits from the operation of such stores shall be used within each facility respectively for educational, recreational, or medical purposes for the benefit of the inmates to include behavioral health, substance abuse, reentry, and rehabilitative services for the benefit of inmates and may be expended to pay for the training, salaries, and benefits of employees or contractors whose primary job is to provide such programs and services to the inmates.

1992, c. 185; 2024, c. 402.