CODE OF VIRGINIA

TIME LIMITATION (§ 16.1-277.1)

A. When a child is held continuously in secure detention, he shall be released
from confinement if there is no adjudicatory or transfer hearing conducted by
the court for the matters upon which he was detained within twenty-one days from
the date he was first detained.

B. If a child is not held in secure detention or is released from same after
having been confined, an adjudicatory or transfer hearing on the matters charged
in the petition or petitions issued against him shall be conducted within 120
days from the date the petition or petitions are filed.

C. When a child is held in secure detention after the completion of his
adjudicatory hearing or is detained when the juvenile court has retained
jurisdiction as a result of a transfer hearing, he shall be released from such
detention if the disposition hearing is not completed within thirty days from
the date of the adjudicatory or transfer hearing.

D. 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 custody, or (iii) the child has failed to appear pursuant to a
court order. The limitations also may be extended by the court 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, but is not limited to,
extension of limitations necessary to obtain the presence of a witness to
testify regarding the results of scientific analyses or examinations.

HISTORY: 1985, c. 260; 1988, c. 220; 1999, c. 58; 2009, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 1, 4.