2006 Code of Virginia § 53.1-203 - Felonies by prisoners; penalties

53.1-203. Felonies by prisoners; penalties.

It shall be unlawful for a prisoner in a state, local or communitycorrectional facility or in the custody of an employee thereof to:

1. Escape from a correctional facility or from any person in charge of suchprisoner;

2. Willfully break, cut or damage any building, furniture, fixture orfastening of such facility or any part thereof for the purpose of escaping,aiding any other prisoner to escape therefrom or rendering such facility lesssecure as a place of confinement;

3. Make, procure, secrete or have in his possession any instrument, tool orother thing for the purpose of escaping from or aiding another to escape froma correctional facility or employee thereof;

4. Make, procure, secrete or have in his possession a knife, instrument, toolor other thing not authorized by the superintendent or sheriff which iscapable of causing death or bodily injury;

5. Procure, sell, secrete or have in his possession any chemical compoundwhich he has not lawfully received;

6. Procure, sell, secrete or have in his possession a controlled substanceclassified in Schedule III of the Drug Control Act ( 54.1-3400 et seq.) ormarijuana;

7. Introduce into a correctional facility or have in his possession firearmsor ammunition for firearms;

8. Willfully burn or destroy by use of any explosive device or substance, inwhole or in part, or cause to be so burned or destroyed, any personalproperty, within any correctional facility;

9. Willfully tamper with, damage, destroy, or disable any fire protection orfire suppression system, equipment, or sprinklers within any correctionalfacility; or

10. Conspire with another prisoner or other prisoners to commit any of theforegoing acts.

For violation of any of the provisions of this section, except subdivision 6,the prisoner shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony. For a violation ofsubdivision 6, he shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony. If the violation is ofsubdivision 1 of this section and the escapee is a felon, he shall besentenced to a mandatory minimum term of confinement of one year, which shallbe served consecutively with any other sentence. The prisoner shall, uponconviction of escape, immediately commence to serve such escape sentence, andhe shall not be eligible for parole during such period. Any prisonersentenced to life imprisonment who escapes shall not be eligible for parole.No part of the time served for escape shall be credited for the purpose ofparole toward the sentence or sentences, the service of which is interruptedfor service of the escape sentence, nor shall it be credited for such purposetoward any other sentence.

(Code 1950, 53-291; 1966, c. 300; 1970, c. 648; 1973, c. 403; 1975, c. 588;1977, c. 497; 1978, cc. 177, 361; 1982, c. 636; 1985, c. 555; 1988, c. 371;2004, c. 461; 2006, c. 104.)

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