CHAPTER 227

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 8-800 and 8-300.1 of the Code of Virginia,
concerning convicts, jail prisoners and others as witnesses in criminal
and civil proceedings.

(H 171]

Approved March 31, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 8-300 and 8-300.1 of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 8-300. Whenever the Commonwealth or a defendant in a criminal
prosecution in any court of record in this State shall require as a witness
in his behalf, a convict or jail prisoner in the penitentiary, or on the State
farm, or in a State convict road camp, the * judge of such court, on the
application of such defendant or his attorney, or the attorney for the
Commonwealth, shall issue * an order to the Director of the Department
of Welfare and Institutions to deliver such witness to the sheriff of the
county, or sergeant of the city, as the case may be, who shall go where
such witness may then be * and carry him to the court to testify as such
witness, and after he shall have so testified and been released as such
witness, carry him back to the place whence he came, for all of which
service such officers shall be paid out of the criminal expense funds in
the State treasury such compensation as the court in which the case is
pending, may certify to be reasonable.

§ 8-300.1. Whenever any party in a civil proceeding in any court
of record in this State shall require as a witness in his behalf, a convict or
jail prisoner in the penitentiary, or on the State farm, or in a State
convict road camp, the judge of such court, on the application of such
party or his attorney may, in his discretion and upon consideration of
the importance of the personal appearance of the witness and the nature
of the offense for which he is imprisoned, issue * an order to the Director
of the Department of Welfare and Institutions to deliver such witness
to the sheriff of the county, or sergeant of the city, as the case may be,
who shall go where such witness may then be. * Under such conditions
as shall be prescribed by the superintendent of the penitentiary, such
officer shall carry the convict to the court to testify as such witness, and
after he shall have so testified and been released as such witness, carry
him back to the place whence he came, for all of which service and ex-
penses such officers shall be paid such compensation as the court in which
the case is pending may certify to be reasonable.

If necessary the sheriff or sergeant may confine the convict for the
night in any convenient city or county jail, penitentiary or convict road
camp. ,

Under such rules and regulations as the superintendent of the pen-
itentiary may prescribe, any party to a civil proceeding in any court of
record in this State may take the deposition of a convict or jail prisoner
in the penitentiary, or on the State farm, or in a State convict road camp,
which deposition, when taken, may be admissible in evidence as other
depositions in civil proceedings.

The party seeking the testimony of such prisoner shall advance a
sum sufficient to defray the expenses and compensation of the officers,
which the court, in its discretion, may tax as other costs.