{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/19.2-254.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/19.2-254.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/19.2-254.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/19.2-254.html"}],"law_id":79103,"edition_id":1,"section_id":79103,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-254","catch_line":"Arraignment; pleas; when court may refuse to accept plea; rejection of plea agreement; recusal","history":"1975, c. 495; 1987, c. 357; 2014, cc. 52, 165.","full_text":"Arraignment shall be conducted in open court. It shall consist of reading to the accused the charge on which he will be tried and calling on him to plead thereto. In a felony case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the accused. In a misdemeanor case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the accused or his counsel, or when the accused fails to appear.\n\t\tAn accused may plead not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere. The court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty to any lesser offense included in the charge upon which the accused is arraigned; but, in misdemeanor and felony cases the court shall not refuse to accept a plea of nolo contendere.\n\t\tWith the approval of the court and the consent of the Commonwealth, a defendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty in a misdemeanor or felony case in circuit court, reserving the right, on appeal from the judgment, to a review of the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion. If the defendant prevails on appeal, he shall be allowed to withdraw his plea.\n\t\tUpon rejecting a plea agreement in any criminal matter, a judge shall immediately recuse himself from any further proceedings on the same matter unless the parties agree otherwise.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":283339,"text":"Arraignment shall be conducted in open court. It shall consist of reading to the accused the charge on which he will be tried and calling on him to plead thereto. In a felony case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the accused. In a misdemeanor case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the accused or his counsel, or when the accused fails to appear.\n\t\tAn accused may plead not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere. The court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty to any lesser offense included in the charge upon which the accused is arraigned; but, in misdemeanor and felony cases the court shall not refuse to accept a plea of nolo contendere.\n\t\tWith the approval of the court and the consent of the Commonwealth, a defendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty in a misdemeanor or felony case in circuit court, reserving the right, on appeal from the judgment, to a review of the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion. If the defendant prevails on appeal, he shall be allowed to withdraw his plea.\n\t\tUpon rejecting a plea agreement in any criminal matter, a judge shall immediately recuse himself from any further proceedings on the same matter unless the parties agree otherwise.","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1}},"ancestry":[{"id":12804,"edition_id":1,"name":"Arraignment; Pleas; Trial Without Jury","identifier":"3","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12803,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","permalink":{"id":169061,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12804,"identifier":"3","token":"19.2\/15\/3","url":"\/19.2\/15\/3\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12803,"edition_id":1,"name":"Trial and Its Incidents","identifier":"15","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12801,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","permalink":{"id":168975,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12803,"identifier":"15","token":"19.2\/15","url":"\/19.2\/15\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12801,"edition_id":1,"name":"Criminal Procedure","identifier":"19.2","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:53","permalink":{"id":168169,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12801,"identifier":"19.2","token":"19.2","url":"\/19.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":79103,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-254","catch_line":"Arraignment; pleas; when court may refuse to accept plea; rejection of plea agreement; recusal","url":"\/19.2-254\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254","metadata":false},{"id":75133,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-254.1","catch_line":"Procedure in traffic infraction cases","url":"\/19.2-254.1\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254.1","metadata":false},{"id":53970,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-254.2","catch_line":"Procedure in nontraffic offenses for which prepayment is authorized","url":"\/19.2-254.2\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254.2","metadata":false},{"id":81531,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-255","catch_line":"Defendant allowed to plead several matters of law or fact","url":"\/19.2-255\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-255","metadata":false},{"id":72119,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-256","catch_line":"Approvers","url":"\/19.2-256\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-256","metadata":false},{"id":66074,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-257","catch_line":"Trial without jury in felony cases","url":"\/19.2-257\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-257","metadata":false},{"id":67559,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-258","catch_line":"Trial of misdemeanors by court without jury; failure to appear deemed waiver of jury","url":"\/19.2-258\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-258","metadata":false},{"id":62674,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-258.1","catch_line":"Trial of traffic infractions; measure of proof; failure to appear","url":"\/19.2-258.1\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-258.1","metadata":false},{"id":81110,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-259","catch_line":"On trial for felony, accused to be present; when court may enter plea for him, and trial go on","url":"\/19.2-259\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-259","metadata":false}],"next_section":{"id":75133,"structure_id":12804,"section_number":"19.2-254.1","catch_line":"Procedure in traffic infraction cases","url":"\/19.2-254.1\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254.1","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/19.2-254\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1975. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 495 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1975 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 2 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1987, chapter 357; in 2014, chapters 52<\/a> and 165<\/a>.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":169063,"object_type":"law","relational_id":79103,"identifier":"19.2-254","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254","url":"\/19.2-254\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/19.2-254\/","token":"19.2\/15\/3\/19.2-254","dublin_core":{"Title":"Arraignment; pleas; when court may refuse to accept plea; rejection of plea agreement; recusal","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 19.2-254","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Arraignment<\/span> shall be conducted in open court<\/span>. It shall consist of reading to the accused<\/span> the charge on which he will be tried and calling on him to plead thereto. In a felony<\/span> case, arraignment<\/span> is not necessary when waived by the accused<\/span>. In a misdemeanor<\/span> case, arraignment<\/span> is not necessary when waived by the accused<\/span> or his counsel<\/span>, or when the accused<\/span> fails to appear.\n\t\tAn accused<\/span> may plead not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere<\/span>. The court<\/span> may refuse to accept a plea<\/span> of guilty to any lesser offense<\/span> included in the charge upon which the accused<\/span> is arraigned; but, in misdemeanor<\/span> and felony<\/span> cases the court<\/span> shall not refuse to accept a plea<\/span> of nolo contendere<\/span>.\n\t\tWith the approval of the court<\/span> and the consent of the Commonwealth, a defendant<\/span> may enter a conditional plea<\/span> of guilty in a misdemeanor<\/span> or felony<\/span> case in circuit<\/span> court<\/span>, reserving the right, on appeal<\/span> from the judgment<\/span>, to a review of the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion<\/span>. If the defendant<\/span> prevails on appeal<\/span>, he shall be allowed to withdraw his plea<\/span>.\n\t\tUpon rejecting a plea<\/span> agreement in any criminal matter, a judge<\/span> shall immediately recuse<\/span> himself from any further proceedings on the same matter unless the parties agree otherwise.<\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nARRAIGNMENT; PLEAS; WHEN COURT MAY REFUSE TO ACCEPT PLEA; REJECTION OF PLEA\nAGREEMENT; RECUSAL (\u00a7 19.2-254)\n\nArraignment shall be conducted in open court. It shall consist of reading to the\naccused the charge on which he will be tried and calling on him to plead\nthereto. In a felony case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the\naccused. In a misdemeanor case, arraignment is not necessary when waived by the\naccused or his counsel, or when the accused fails to appear.\n\t\tAn accused may plead not guilty, guilty or nolo contendere. The court may\nrefuse to accept a plea of guilty to any lesser offense included in the charge\nupon which the accused is arraigned; but, in misdemeanor and felony cases the\ncourt shall not refuse to accept a plea of nolo contendere.\n\t\tWith the approval of the court and the consent of the Commonwealth, a\ndefendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty in a misdemeanor or felony case\nin circuit court, reserving the right, on appeal from the judgment, to a review\nof the adverse determination of any specified pretrial motion. If the defendant\nprevails on appeal, he shall be allowed to withdraw his plea.\n\t\tUpon rejecting a plea agreement in any criminal matter, a judge shall\nimmediately recuse himself from any further proceedings on the same matter\nunless the parties agree otherwise.\n\nHISTORY: 1975, c. 495; 1987, c. 357; 2014, cc. 52, 165.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}