Chap. 199.—An ACT to amend and reenact Section 5017 of the Code of Virginia
as amended, relating to the record to be kept of conduct of convicts and the
credit to be allowed convicts for good conduct. {H 204]

Approved March 12, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section fifty hundred seventeen of the Code of Virginia,
as amended, be amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 5017. The State Board of Corrections shall keep a
record of the conduct of each felon and misdemeanant confined in
the penitentiary or other part of the State prison system. Every
person convicted of a felony before October first, nineteen hundred
forty-two, except those mentioned in the second paragraph of
this section, shall, for every month that he is held in confinement
after the effective date of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hun-
dred forty-four, in any part of the State prison system, without
violating any prison rule or regulation, be allowed a credit of
thirty days upon the total term of confinement to which he has
been sentenced, in addition to the time he actually serves.

Every person convicted of a felony before October first, nineteen
hundred forty-two, who had once before been convicted of a
felony and regularly discharged from the State prison system, or
who, prior to the effective date of the Acts of Assembly of nine-
teen hundred forty-four, had been returned to the State prison
system for violating the terms of a conditional pardon or who had
been convicted of a crime while serving his sentence in the State
prison system, or who had escaped or attempted to escape from
the State prison system or from jail while awaiting trial or removal
to the State prison system, shall, for every month he is held in con-
finement after the effective date of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen
hundred forty-four, in any part of the State prison system, without
violating any prison rule or regulation, be allowed a credit of fifteen
days upon the total term of confinement to which he has been sen-
tenced, in addition to the time he actually serves. Every person con-
victed of a felony before October first, nineteen hundred forty-two,
who, after the effective date of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen
hundred forty-four, is returned to the State prison system for violat-
ing the terms of a conditional pardon, or who commits a crime while
serving his sentence in the State prison system, or who escapes or
attempts to escape from the State prison system, shall, for every
twenty days he is held in confinement after his return to the State
prison system or after the commission of such crime or after such
escape or attempted escape, without violating any prison rule or
regulation, be allowed a credit of only ten days upon the total
term of confinement to which he has been sentenced, in addition
to the time he actually serves.

Such credit as any person mentioned in the first or second
paragraph of this section may have earned and not forfeited prior
to the effective date of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred
forty-four shall, unless forfeited as hereinafter provided remain to
his credit.

Every person who on or after October first, nineteen hundred
forty-two has been or is convicted of a felony and every person
convicted of a misdemeanor and confined in any part of the State
prison system shall, for every twenty days he is or has been held
in confinement after sentence, either in jail awaiting removal to
the State prison system or in any part of the State prison system
to which he has been or is sent to serve the sentence imposed
upon him, without violating any jail or prison rule or regulation, be
allowed a credit of ten days upon his total term of confinement to
which he has been or is sentenced in addition to the time he actually
serves or has served. So much of the credit allowed to misdemean-
ants by this paragraph as applies to time served prior to the effec-
tive date of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred forty-four,
shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, any credit they may have
earned under the law as it existed prior to the effective date of the
Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred forty-four.

Any jail prisoner or convict under the control of the State Board
of Corrections who violates or who has violated any jail or prison
rule or regulation shall forfeit such portion of his accumulated
credit for good conduct as may be deemed proper by the State
Board of Corrections. The board may, however, whenever it finds
that the conduct of the prisoner justifies such action, restore such
portion of the prisoner’s forfeited credit as it deems proper. Every
time any such jail prisoner or convict is punished, the name of
the offender, the offense, a full and detailed description of the
punishment, the time when the offense was committed, and when
punishment was inflicted, shall be recorded in a register or registers
provided for that purpose.

No credit allowed under the provisions of this section shall have
the effect of reducing the period of time any prisoner must serve
before becoming eligible for parole.