                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WHO MAY ENTER INTERIOR OF STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES; SEARCHES OF THOSE
ENTERING (§ 53.1-30)

A. The Governor and members of the General Assembly may go into the interior of
any state correctional facility. Attorneys shall be permitted in the interior of
a state correctional facility to confer with prisoners who are their clients and
with prisoners who are witnesses in cases in which they are involved. The
Director shall prescribe the time and conditions on which attorneys and other
persons may enter any state correctional facility.

B. The Department shall promulgate a policy to assist a person who was a victim
of a crime committed by an offender incarcerated in any state correctional
facility to visit with such offender. Such policy may include provisions
necessary to preserve the safety and security of those at such visit and the
good order of the facility, including consideration of the offender&#8217;s
security level, crime committed, and institutional behavior of the offender. The
Department shall make whatever arrangements are necessary to effectuate such a
visit. This subsection shall not apply to juvenile victims.

C. Any person seeking to enter the interior of any state correctional facility
shall be subject to a search of his person and effects, as provided in &#xA7;
53.1-1.2. Such search shall be performed in a manner reasonable under the
circumstances and may be a condition precedent to entering a correctional
facility. However, no child under the age of 18 shall be strip searched or
subjected to a search of any body cavity under any circumstances.

D. The Department may not permanently ban any person, or insinuate that any
person will be permanently banned, from seeking entrance to a state correctional
facility on the basis of such person&#8217;s refusal to consent to a strip
search or a search of any body cavity when such person is seeking to enter the
interior of any state correctional facility. If a person refuses to consent to a
strip search or a search of any body cavity when such person is seeking to enter
the interior of any state correctional facility, the Department may deny such
person entry to the facility, unless otherwise provided by law, but may not deny
such person any future entry on the basis of a prior refusal to consent.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 53-60.1; 1970, c. 648; 1978, c. 306; 1982, c. 636; 2010,
c. 844; 2020, cc. 759, 1170, 1181.