Virginia Code
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-12.1 (2026)
Mandatory minimum punishment; definition
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"Mandatory minimum" wherever it appears in this Code means, for purposes of imposing punishment upon a person convicted of a crime, that the court shall impose the entire term of confinement, the full amount of the fine and the complete requirement of community service prescribed by law. The court shall not suspend in full or in part any punishment described as mandatory minimum punishment.
2004, c. 461.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2005–2026 · leading case: Terra Nyree Hines v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 721 S.E.2d 792 (Va. Ct. App. 2012).
Terra Nyree Hines v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 721 S.E.2d 792 (Va. Ct. App. 2012). “1 defines the phrase “mandatory minimum” as the “impos[ition of] the entire term of confinement, the full amount of the fine and the complete requirement of community service prescribed by law,” such that the trial “court shall not suspend in full or in part any punishment…”
Bullock v. Commonwealth, 631 S.E.2d 334 (Va. Ct. App. 2006). “1 requires the imposition of a “mandatory minimum” sentence that, pursuant to Code § 18.2-12.1, may not normally be suspended.”
Graves v. Commonwealth, 805 S.E.2d 226 (Va. 2017). “*230 The bill established a definition of "mandatory minimum punishment," now codified at Code § 18.2-12.1, and replaced the disparate descriptions of mandatory minimum sentences with the language recommended by the Crime Commission.”
Jones v. Commonwealth, 795 S.E.2d 705 (Va. 2017). “7 The phrase "[m]andatory minimum" in the Virginia Code "means, for purposes of imposing punishment upon a person convicted of a crime, that the court shall impose the entire term of confinement, the full amount of the fine and the complete requirement of community service…”
Brown v. Com., 688 S.E.2d 185 (Va. 2010). “Code § 18.2-12.1 defines "mandatory minimum" as follows: "Mandatory minimum" wherever it appears in this Code means, for purposes of imposing punishment upon a person convicted of a crime, that the court shall impose the entire term of confinement, the full amount of the fine…”
Wright v. Com., 655 S.E.2d 7 (Va. 2008). “We do not decide today whether a circuit court would have to reject a plea agreement containing an agreed disposition that directly conflicted with particular mandated statutory requirements such as the ones before us, those relating to the taking of a defendant's blood, saliva…”
Commonwealth of Virginia v. Charles Lordell Jefferson, Jr., 732 S.E.2d 728 (Va. Ct. App. 2012). “Code § 18.2-12.1, defining “mandatory minimum,” provides, in pertinent part: “Mandatory minimum” wherever it appears in this Code means, for purposes of imposing punishment upon a person convicted of a crime, that the court shall impose the entire term of confinement .”
Brown v. Commonwealth, 733 S.E.2d 638 (Va. 2012). “Analysis Brown argues that the circuit court erred in ruling that it lacked the authority to run the firearm sentences concurrently with each other, and that the Court of Appeals should not have denied his petition.”
United States v. Clark, 361 F. Supp. 2d 502 (E.D. Va. 2005). “§ 18.2-12.1. Additionally, the Government points to a Virginia Court of Appeals case holding that a mandatory minimum prison term cannot be replaced by electronic monitoring, which the Government contends prohibits utilizing the Schedule of Substitute Punishments.”
Graves v. Commonwealth, No. 160688 (Va. Oct. 12, 2017). “The bill established a definition of “mandatory minimum punishment,” now codified at Code § 18.2-12.1, and replaced the disparate descriptions of mandatory minimum sentences with the language recommended by the Crime Commission.”
Christopher Andrew Craig v. Commonwealth of Virginia, No. 0450254 (Va. Ct. App. June 9, 2026). “” Code § 18.2-12.1 (emphasis added). Courts “shall not suspend in full or in part any punishment described as mandatory minimum punishment.”
Maryann McNeil v. Commonwealth of Virginia, No. 2602081 (Va. Ct. App. Sept. 29, 2009). “However, Code § 18.2-12.1, defining “mandatory minimum sentence,” provides, in part, “The court shall not suspend in full or in part any punishment described as mandatory minimum punishment.”
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