§ 18.2-477.1 Escapes from juvenile facility; penalty
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to escape or remain away without proper authority from a group home or other residential care facility for children in need of services, delinquent or alleged delinquent youths in which he had been placed by the juvenile and domestic relations court or as a result of his commitment as a juvenile to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Any person violating this subsection shall be taken into custody and brought before the juvenile and domestic relations court. The court may find the person in violation of § 16.1-292 or, if the court finds the person amenable to further treatment in a juvenile facility, the court may return him to the custody of the Department.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person to escape or remain away without proper authority from a secure facility operated by or under contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice or from a secure juvenile detention facility in which he had been placed by the juvenile and domestic relations court or as a result of his commitment as a juvenile to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Any person who escapes from a facility specified in this subsection by force or by violence shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony or, if violation of this subsection occurs other than by force or violence, a Class 1 misdemeanor.
History
This law was first created in 1985. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 435 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1985 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 4 times. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1989, chapter 733; in 1993, chapter 840; in 1994, chapter 490; in 1997, chapter 749.
1985, c. 435; 1989, c. 733; 1993, c. 840; 1994, c. 490; 1997, c. 749.