Whenever any person is committed to a correctional facility for the commission of a felony, the director, sheriff or other officer in charge of such facility shall inquire as to whether the person (i) was born in a country other than the United States and (ii) is a citizen of a country other than the United States. The director, sheriff or other officer in charge of such facility shall make an immigration alien query to the Law Enforcement Support Center of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for any person committed to the facility for the commission of a felony who (i) was born in a country other than the United States and (ii) is a citizen of a country other than the United States, or for whom the answer to clause (i) or (ii) is unknown.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 53.1-218

  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Director: means the Director of the Department of Corrections. 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
  • United States: includes 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 1-255

In the case of a jail, the sheriff, or other officer in charge of such facility shall communicate the results of any immigration alien query that confirm that the person is illegally present in the United States to the Local Inmate Data System of the State Compensation Board. The State Compensation Board shall communicate, on a monthly basis, the results of any immigration alien query that results in a confirmation that the person is illegally present in the United States to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police in a format approved by the Exchange.

In the case of a correctional facility of the Department of Corrections, the director or other officer in charge of such facility shall communicate the results of any immigration alien query that results in a confirmation that the person is illegally present in the United States to the Central Criminal Records Exchange of the Department of State Police in a format approved by the Exchange.

The information received by the Central Criminal Records Exchange concerning the person’s immigration status shall be recorded in the person’s criminal history record.

However, notification shall not be made to the Central Criminal Records Exchange if it is apparent that a report on alien status has previously been made to the Exchange pursuant to § 19.2-83.2 or 19.2-294.2.

Code 1950, §§ 53-313, 53-314; 1970, c. 648; 1982, c. 636; 1985, c. 247; 1994, c. 579; 2008, cc. 180, 415; 2014, c. 641; 2020, cc. 995, 996.

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