{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/53.1-202.2.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/53.1-202.2.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/53.1-202.2.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/53.1-202.2.html"}],"law_id":56687,"edition_id":1,"section_id":56687,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.2","catch_line":"Eligibility for earned sentence credits","history":"1994, 2nd Sp. Sess., cc. 1, 2; 2008, c. 517.","full_text":"A\n\nEvery 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.B\n\nA 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.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":207437,"text":"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.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":207438,"text":"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.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A"}},"ancestry":[{"id":14828,"edition_id":1,"name":"Earned Sentence Credits for Persons Committed Upon Felony Offenses Committed on or After January 1, 1995","identifier":"4","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":14729,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:50:11","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:50:11","permalink":{"id":239225,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":14828,"identifier":"4","token":"53.1\/6\/4","url":"\/53.1\/6\/4\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":14729,"edition_id":1,"name":"Commencement of Terms; Credits and Allowances","identifier":"6","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12717,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:49:34","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:49:34","permalink":{"id":239141,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":14729,"identifier":"6","token":"53.1\/6","url":"\/53.1\/6\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12717,"edition_id":1,"name":"Prisons and Other Methods of Correction","identifier":"53.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:49","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:49","permalink":{"id":237591,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12717,"identifier":"53.1","token":"53.1","url":"\/53.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":56687,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.2","catch_line":"Eligibility for earned sentence credits","url":"\/53.1-202.2\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.2","metadata":false},{"id":63586,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.3","catch_line":"Rate at which sentence credits may be earned; prerequisites","url":"\/53.1-202.3\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.3","metadata":false},{"id":60954,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.4","catch_line":"Director to establish certain rules, criteria, etc","url":"\/53.1-202.4\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.4","metadata":false},{"id":77054,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.5","catch_line":"Department to provide programs","url":"\/53.1-202.5\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.5","metadata":false}],"next_section":{"id":63586,"structure_id":14828,"section_number":"53.1-202.3","catch_line":"Rate at which sentence credits may be earned; prerequisites","url":"\/53.1-202.3\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.3","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/53.1-202.2\/","history_text":"

The record of this law\u2019s original creation isn\u2019t available online. It has been modified 1 time. 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. That modification is as follows: in 2008, chapter 517<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":85077,"section_number":"16.1-272","catch_line":"Power of circuit court over juvenile offender","order_by":null,"url":"\/16.1-272\/"},{"id":66213,"section_number":"53.1-116","catch_line":"What records and policy jailer shall keep; how time deducted or added for felons and misdemeanants; payment of fine and costs by person committed to jail until he pays","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-116\/"},{"id":66959,"section_number":"53.1-129","catch_line":"Order permitting prisoners to work on state, county, city, town, certain private property or nonprofit organization property; bond of person in charge of prisoners","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-129\/"},{"id":62482,"section_number":"53.1-187","catch_line":"Credit for time spent in confinement while awaiting trial","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-187\/"}],"refers_to":[{"id":85077,"section_number":"16.1-272","catch_line":"Power of circuit court over juvenile offender","order_by":null,"url":"\/16.1-272\/"},{"id":75164,"section_number":"16.1-285.1","catch_line":"Commitment of serious offenders","order_by":null,"url":"\/16.1-285.1\/"},{"id":63586,"section_number":"53.1-202.3","catch_line":"Rate at which sentence credits may be earned; prerequisites","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-202.3\/"},{"id":66834,"section_number":"53.1-25","catch_line":"Director to prescribe rules; rules to be available to prisoners","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-25\/"},{"id":61447,"section_number":"53.1-32.1","catch_line":"Classification system; program assignments; mandatory participation","order_by":null,"url":"\/53.1-32.1\/"}],"permalink":{"id":239227,"object_type":"law","relational_id":56687,"identifier":"53.1-202.2","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.2","url":"\/53.1-202.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/53.1-202.2\/","token":"53.1\/6\/4\/53.1-202.2","dublin_core":{"Title":"Eligibility for earned sentence credits","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 53.1-202.2","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> Every person who is convicted of a felony<\/span> offense<\/span> committed on or after January 1, 1995, and who is sentenced to serve a term of incarceration in a state or local correctional facility<\/span> shall be eligible to earn sentence credits<\/span> 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<\/span> of conviction<\/span> by the committing court<\/span>. As used in this chapter, “sentence credit” and “earned sentence credit<\/span>” mean deductions from a person’s term of confinement earned through adherence to rules prescribed pursuant to § 53.1-25<\/a>, through program participation as required by §§ 53.1-32.1<\/a> and 53.1-202.3<\/a>, and by meeting such other requirements as may be established by law<\/span> or regulation. One earned sentence credit<\/span> shall equal a deduction of one day from a person’s term of incarceration. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> A juvenile convicted as an adult and sentenced as a serious juvenile offender under clause (i) of subdivision A 1 of § 16.1-272<\/a> shall be eligible to earn sentence credits for the portion of the sentence served with the Department<\/span> of Juvenile Justice in the manner prescribed by this article. Consideration for earned sentence credits<\/span> 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<\/a>. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nELIGIBILITY FOR EARNED SENTENCE CREDITS (\u00a7 53.1-202.2)\n\nA. Every person who is convicted of a felony offense committed on or after\nJanuary 1, 1995, and who is sentenced to serve a term of incarceration in a\nstate or local correctional facility shall be eligible to earn sentence credits\nin the manner prescribed by this article. Such eligibility shall commence upon\nthe person’s incarceration in any correctional facility following entry of\na final order of conviction by the committing court. As used in this chapter,\n“sentence credit” and “earned sentence credit” mean\ndeductions from a person’s term of confinement earned through adherence to\nrules prescribed pursuant to § 53.1-25, through program participation as\nrequired by §§ 53.1-32.1 and 53.1-202.3, and by meeting such other\nrequirements as may be established by law or regulation. One earned sentence\ncredit shall equal a deduction of one day from a person’s term of\nincarceration.\n\nB. A juvenile convicted as an adult and sentenced as a serious juvenile offender\nunder clause (i) of subdivision A 1 of § 16.1-272 shall be eligible to earn\nsentence credits for the portion of the sentence served with the Department of\nJuvenile Justice in the manner prescribed by this article. Consideration for\nearned sentence credits shall require adherence to the facility’s rules\nand the juvenile’s progress toward treatment goals and objectives while\nsentenced as a serious juvenile offender under § 16.1-285.1.\n\nHISTORY: 1994, 2nd Sp. Sess., cc. 1, 2; 2008, c. 517.","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}}