19.2-120 - Admission to bail.
§ 19.2-120. Admission to bail.
Prior to conducting any hearing on the issue of bail, release or detention,the judicial officer shall, to the extent feasible, obtain the person'scriminal history.
A. A person who is held in custody pending trial or hearing for an offense,civil or criminal contempt, or otherwise shall be admitted to bail by ajudicial officer, unless there is probable cause to believe that:
1. He will not appear for trial or hearing or at such other time and place asmay be directed, or
2. His liberty will constitute an unreasonable danger to himself or thepublic.
B. The judicial officer shall presume, subject to rebuttal, that no conditionor combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of theperson or the safety of the public if the person is currently charged with:
1. An act of violence as defined in § 19.2-297.1;
2. An offense for which the maximum sentence is life imprisonment or death;
3. A violation of § 18.2-248, 18.2-248.01, 18.2-255, or 18.2-255.2 involvinga Schedule I or II controlled substance if (i) the maximum term ofimprisonment is 10 years or more and the person was previously convicted of alike offense or (ii) the person was previously convicted as a "drugkingpin" as defined in § 18.2-248;
4. A violation of § 18.2-308.1, 18.2-308.2, or 18.2-308.4 and which relatesto a firearm and provides for a mandatory minimum sentence;
5. Any felony, if the person has been convicted of two or more offensesdescribed in subdivision 1 or 2, whether under the laws of the Commonwealthor substantially similar laws of the United States;
6. Any felony committed while the person is on release pending trial for aprior felony under federal or state law or on release pending imposition orexecution of sentence or appeal of sentence or conviction;
7. An offense listed in subsection B of § 18.2-67.5:2 and the person hadpreviously been convicted of an offense listed in § 18.2-67.5:2 or asubstantially similar offense under the laws of any state or the UnitedStates and the judicial officer finds probable cause to believe that theperson who is currently charged with one of these offenses committed theoffense charged;
8. A violation of § 18.2-374.1 or 18.2-374.3 where the offender has reason tobelieve that the solicited person is under 15 years of age and the offenderis at least five years older than the solicited person;
9. A violation of § 18.2-46.2, 18.2-46.3, 18.2-46.5, or 18.2-46.7;
10. A violation of § 18.2-36.1, 18.2-51.4, 18.2-266, or 46.2-341.24 and theperson has, within the past five years of the instant offense, been convictedthree times on different dates of a violation of any combination of theseCode sections, or any ordinance of any county, city, or town or the laws ofany other state or of the United States substantially similar thereto, andhas been at liberty between each conviction;
11. A second or subsequent violation of § 16.1-253.2 or a substantiallysimilar offense under the laws of any state or the United States; or
12. A violation of subsection B of § 18.2-57.2.
C. The judicial officer shall presume, subject to rebuttal, that no conditionor combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of theperson or the safety of the public if the person is being arrested pursuantto § 19.2-81.6.
D. The court shall consider the following factors and such others as it deemsappropriate in determining, for the purpose of rebuttal of the presumptionagainst bail described in subsection B, whether there are conditions ofrelease that will reasonably assure the appearance of the person as requiredand the safety of the public:
1. The nature and circumstances of the offense charged;
2. The history and characteristics of the person, including his character,physical and mental condition, family ties, employment, financial resources,length of residence in the community, community ties, past conduct, historyrelating to drug or alcohol abuse, criminal history, membership in a criminalstreet gang as defined in § 18.2-46.1, and record concerning appearance atcourt proceedings; and
3. The nature and seriousness of the danger to any person or the communitythat would be posed by the person's release.
E. The judicial officer shall inform the person of his right to appeal fromthe order denying bail or fixing terms of bond or recognizance consistentwith § 19.2-124.
F. If the judicial officer sets a secured bond and the person engages theservices of a licensed bail bondsman, the magistrate executing recognizancefor the accused shall provide the bondsman, upon request, with a copy of theperson's Virginia criminal history record, if readily available, to be usedby the bondsman only to determine appropriate reporting requirements toimpose upon the accused upon his release. The bondsman shall pay a $15 feepayable to the state treasury to be credited to the Literary Fund, uponrequesting the defendant's Virginia criminal history record issued pursuantto § 19.2-389. The bondsman shall review the record on the premises andpromptly return the record to the magistrate after reviewing it.
(1975, c. 495; 1978, c. 755; 1979, c. 649; 1987, c. 390; 1991, c. 581; 1993,c. 636; 1996, c. 973; 1997, cc. 6, 476; 1999, cc. 829, 846; 2000, c. 797;2002, cc. 588, 623; 2004, cc. 308, 360, 406, 412, 461, 819, 954, 959; 2005,c. 132; 2006, c. 504; 2007, cc. 134, 386, 745, 923; 2008, c. 596; 2010, c.862.)