Va. Code » Title 19.2. Criminal Procedure » Chapter 18. Sentence; Judgment; Execution of Sentence » Article 1. General Provisions
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-310 (2026)

Transfer of prisoners to custody of Director of Department of Corrections

✓ current as of May 2026
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Every person sentenced by a court to the Department of Corrections upon conviction of a felony shall be conveyed to an appropriate receiving unit operated by the Department in the manner hereinafter provided. The clerk of the court in which the person is sentenced shall forthwith transmit to the Central Criminal Records Exchange the report of dispositions required by § 19.2-390. The clerk of the court within 30 days from the date of the judgment shall forthwith transmit to the Director of the Department a certified copy or copies of the order of trial and a certified copy of the complete final order, and if he fails to do so shall forfeit $50. The clerk of the court may transmit or make available a copy or copies of such orders electronically. Such copy or copies shall contain, as nearly as ascertainable, the birth date of the person sentenced. The sheriff shall certify to the Director of the Department any jail credits to which the person to be confined is entitled at such time as that person is transferred to the custody of the Director of the Department.

Following receipt of the order of trial and a certified copy of the complete final order, the Director or his designee shall dispatch a correctional officer to the county or city with a warrant directed to the sheriff authorizing him to deliver the prisoner to the correctional officer whose duty it shall be to take charge of the person and convey him to an appropriate receiving unit designated by the Director or his designee. The Director or his designee shall allocate space available in the receiving unit or units by giving first priority to the transportation, as the transportation facilities of the Department may permit, of those persons held in jails who in the opinion of the Director or his designee except as required by § 53.1-20 require immediate transportation to a receiving unit. In making such a determination of priority, the Director shall give due regard to the capacity of local as well as state correctional facilities and, to the extent feasible, shall seek to balance between local and state correctional facilities the excess of prisoners requiring detention.

Code 1950, § 19.1-296; 1960, c. 366; 1966, c. 522; 1970, c. 67; 1972, c. 358; 1974, cc. 44, 45; 1975, c. 495; 1981, c. 529; 1982, cc. 476, 636; 1986, c. 606; 1990, cc. 676, 768; 2010, c. 352; 2011, c. 470.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1981–2026 · leading case: In Re Commonwealth of Virginia Dep't of Corr., 281 S.E.2d 857 (Va. 1981).
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In Re Commonwealth of Virginia Dep't of Corr., 281 S.E.2d 857 (Va. 1981). · cites it 4× “Under Code § 19.2-310 the Department is required to remove a convicted felon to an appropriate receiving unit of the penitentiary system after receiving certain trial records from the clerk of the trial court within 30 days from the date of judgment.”
Moss (W.D. Va. 2026). · cites it 3× “2-307 were ignored and the Virginia Department of Corrections’ receipt of Moss into custody did not comply with the requirements of Virginia Code § 19.2-310. On December 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of Virginia found that Moss’s claims were procedurally barred, because the issues…”
Akers v. Commonwealth (Va. 2020). · cites it 2× “Code § 19.2-310, states, in relevant part: Every person sentenced by a court to the Department of Corrections upon conviction of a felony shall be conveyed to an appropriate receiving unit operated by the Department in the manner hereinafter provided.”
Frank Devon Harris v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “For every person sentenced, Code § 19.2-310 mandates that the court clerk transmit a sentencing order to the Department.”
Frank Devon Harris v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “For every person sentenced, Code § 19.2-310 mandates that the court clerk transmit a sentencing order to the Department.”
Miller v. Landon, 545 F. Supp. 81 (W.D. Va. 1982). · cites it 3× “Va.Code § 19.2-310 provides that the transfer of prisoners to the receiving units of the state penal system shall be regulated so as not to exceed the maximum capacity of the units.”
Hill v. Hutto, 559 F. Supp. 390 (E.D. Va. 1983). · cites it 3× “Under Va.Code § 19.2-310, the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections, or his designee, will transfer a convicted felon housed in a local jail to a state facility following receipt of the report of disposition from the Clerk of the Court where the felon was convicted.”
Barco v. Commonwealth, 88 Va. Cir. 121 (Norfolk Cir. Ct. 2014). “1-20 and § 19.2-310, persons convicted of felonies and sentenced to the Department of Corrections shall be placed in the custody of the Department.”
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