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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>60333</law_id><section_number>18.2-479</section_number><catch_line>Escape without force or violence or setting fire to jail; penalties</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>19.2-392.02</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="18.2">Crimes and Offenses Generally</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="10">Crimes Against the Administration of Justice</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="7">Escape of, Communications with and Deliveries to Prisoners</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Except as provided in subsection B, any person lawfully confined in jail or lawfully in the <span class="dictionary">custody</span> of any <span class="dictionary">court</span>, officer of the <span class="dictionary">court</span>, or <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer, as defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Assault and battery; penalty" href="/18.2-57/">18.2-57</a>, for violation of his <span class="dictionary">probation</span> or <span class="dictionary">parole</span> or on a charge or <span class="dictionary">conviction</span> of a <span class="dictionary">misdemeanor</span> who escapes, other than by force or violence or by setting fire to the jail, is guilty of a Class 1 <span class="dictionary">misdemeanor</span>. <a id="paragraph-220665" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-479/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Any person lawfully confined in jail or lawfully in the <span class="dictionary">custody</span> of any <span class="dictionary">court</span>, officer of the <span class="dictionary">court</span>, or <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement officer, as defined in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Assault and battery; penalty" href="/18.2-57/">18.2-57</a>, on a charge or <span class="dictionary">conviction</span> of a <span class="dictionary">felony</span> who escapes, other than by force or violence or by setting fire to the jail, is guilty of a Class 6 <span class="dictionary">felony</span>. <a id="paragraph-220666" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/18.2-479/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 18.1-290; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1985, c. 555; 2005, c. 573; 2025, cc. 38, 41.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
