Virginia Code 53.1-202.2: Eligibility for earned sentence credits
A. Every person who is convicted of a felony offense committed on or after January 1, 1995, and who is sentenced to serve a term of incarceration in a state or local correctional facility shall be eligible to earn sentence credits in the manner prescribed by this article. Such eligibility shall commence upon the person’s incarceration in any correctional facility following entry of a final order of conviction by the committing court. As used in this chapter, “sentence credit” and “earned sentence credit” mean deductions from a person’s term of confinement earned through adherence to rules prescribed pursuant to § 53.1-25, through program participation as required by §§ 53.1-32.1 and 53.1-202.3, and by meeting such other requirements as may be established by law or regulation. One earned sentence credit shall equal a deduction of one day from a person’s term of incarceration.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 53.1-202.2
- Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- 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
- 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
B. A juvenile convicted as an adult and sentenced as a serious juvenile offender under clause (i) of subdivision A 1 of § 16.1-272 shall be eligible to earn sentence credits for the portion of the sentence served with the Department of Juvenile Justice in the manner prescribed by this article. Consideration for earned sentence credits shall require adherence to the facility’s rules and the juvenile’s progress toward treatment goals and objectives while sentenced as a serious juvenile offender under § 16.1-285.1.