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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>54290</law_id><section_number>16.1-277.1</section_number><catch_line>Time limitation</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="16.1">Courts Not of Record</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="11">Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="8">Adjudication</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> When a child is held continuously in secure detention, he shall be released from confinement if there is no adjudicatory or transfer <span class="dictionary">hearing</span> conducted by <span class="dictionary">the court</span> for the matters upon which he was detained within twenty-one days from the date he was first detained. <a id="paragraph-199314" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-277.1/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> If a child is not held in secure detention or is released from same after having been confined, an adjudicatory or transfer <span class="dictionary">hearing</span> on the matters charged in the <span class="dictionary">petition</span> or <span class="dictionary">petitions</span> issued against him shall be conducted within 120 days from the date the <span class="dictionary">petition</span> or <span class="dictionary">petitions</span> are filed. <a id="paragraph-199315" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-277.1/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> When a child is held in secure detention after the completion of his adjudicatory <span class="dictionary">hearing</span> or is detained when the <span class="dictionary">juvenile court</span> has retained <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> as a result of a transfer <span class="dictionary">hearing</span>, he shall be released from such detention if the <span class="dictionary">disposition</span> <span class="dictionary">hearing</span> is not completed within thirty days from the date of the adjudicatory or transfer <span class="dictionary">hearing</span>. <a id="paragraph-199316" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-277.1/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="D"><p><span class="prefix-number">D.</span> The time limitations provided for in this section shall be tolled during any period in which (i) the whereabouts of the child are unknown, (ii) the child has escaped from <span class="dictionary">custody</span>, (iii) the child has failed to appear pursuant to a <span class="dictionary">court order</span>, or (iv) a report is being prepared pursuant to the written request by the attorney for the Commonwealth in accordance with subsection C of &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Trial in circuit court; preliminary hearing; direct indictment; remand" href="/16.1-269.1/">16.1-269.1</a>. The limitations also may be extended by <span class="dictionary">the court</span> for a reasonable period of time based upon good cause shown, provided that the basis for such extension is recorded in writing and filed among the papers of the proceedings. For the purposes of this section, good cause includes extension of limitations necessary to obtain the presence of a <span class="dictionary">witness</span> to testify regarding the results of scientific analyses or examinations and good cause shown by the <span class="dictionary">director</span> of <span class="dictionary">the court</span> services unit completing a report pursuant to subsection C of &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Trial in circuit court; preliminary hearing; direct indictment; remand" href="/16.1-269.1/">16.1-269.1</a> that additional time is needed for the completion of the report. <a id="paragraph-199317" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-277.1/#D"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1985, c. 260; 1988, c. 220; 1999, c. 58; 2009, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 1, 4; 2020, cc. 987, 988.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
