A. No person in custodial arrest for a traffic infraction, Class 3 or Class 4 misdemeanor, or a violation of a city, county, or town ordinance, which is punishable by no more than 30 days in jail shall be strip searched unless there is reasonable cause to believe on the part of a law-enforcement officer authorizing the search that the individual is concealing a weapon. All strip searches conducted under this section shall be performed by persons of the same sex as the person arrested and on premises where the search cannot be observed by persons not physically conducting the search.
B. A regional jail superintendent or the chief of police or the sheriff of the county or city shall develop a written policy regarding strip searches.
C. A search of any body cavity must be performed under sanitary conditions and a search of any body cavity, other than the mouth, shall be conducted either by or under the supervision of medically trained personnel.
D. Strip searches authorized pursuant to the exceptions stated in subsection A shall be conducted by a law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101.
E. The provisions of this section shall not apply when the person is taken into custody by or remanded to a law-enforcement officer pursuant to a circuit or district court order.
F. For purposes of this section, "strip search" means having an arrested person remove or arrange some or all of his clothing so as to permit a visual inspection of the genitals, buttocks, anus, female breasts, or undergarments of such person.
G. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a sheriff or a regional jail superintendent from requiring that inmates take hot water and soap showers and be subjected to visual inspection upon assignment to the general population area of the jail or upon determination by the sheriff or regional jail superintendent that the inmate must be held at the jail by reason of his inability to post bond after reasonable opportunity to do so.
H. Except for children committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice or confined or detained in a secure local facility for juveniles or a jail or other facility for the detention of adults and except as provided in subsection E, no child under the age of 18 shall be strip searched or subjected to a search of any body cavity by a law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, or a jail officer unless the child is in custodial arrest and there is reasonable cause to believe on the part of a law-enforcement officer or jail officer authorizing the search that the child is concealing a weapon.
1981, c. 608; 1995, c. 112; 2020, c. 1236.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1996–2025 · leading case:
McCloud v. Commonwealth, 544 S.E.2d 866 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).
McCloud v. Commonwealth, 544 S.E.2d 866 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).
· cites it 44× “" At the suppression hearing, appellant argued that the search was a warrantless "strip search," which violated Code § 19.2-59.1 and the Fourth Amendment.”
Commonwealth v. Gilmore, 498 S.E.2d 464 (Va. Ct. App. 1998).
· cites it 20× “NOTES [1] The Commonwealth also argues that the trial court erroneously granted defendant's motion to suppress on the ground that the search of her vagina violated Code § 19.2-59.1(C). The relevant portion of Code § 19.”
Winston v. Commonwealth, 654 S.E.2d 340 (Va. Ct. App. 2007).
· cites it 6× “Statutory Violation Appellant asserts his body cavity search violated Code § 19.2-59.1, which provides in relevant part: A.”
Craddock v. Commonwealth, 580 S.E.2d 454 (Va. Ct. App. 2003).
· cites it 4× “In his suppression motion, Craddock also asserted that the strip search violated the Virginia Constitution and Code § 19.2-59.1. Neither assertion has merit.”
Lisa Amaechi v. Matthew West, & Bernard R. Pfluger Town of Dumfries, 237 F.3d 356 (4th Cir. 2001).
· cites it 2× “See Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1 (A). The provision further requires that strip searches, where permissible, be conducted “by persons of the same sex as the person arrested and on the premises where the search cannot be observed by persons not physically conducting the search.”
Taylor v. Commonwealth, 507 S.E.2d 661 (Va. Ct. App. 1998).
· cites it 2× “” The officers made the defendant remove one item of clothing at a time. When the defendant removed his underwear, they observed a plastic bag protruding from his anus.”
Moss v. Commonwealth, 516 S.E.2d 246 (Va. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 2× “We find that the strip search of Moss was impermissible and that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence obtained from the search.”
Brown v. Short, 729 F. Supp. 2d 125 (D.D.C. 2010).
“§ 40-7-119(a) (West 2009); Va.Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(F) (West 2009); Wash.”
Commonwealth v. Harris, 51 Va. Cir. 45 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1999).
· cites it 22× “Therefore, Officer Wade’s manipulation of the defendant’s pants qualifies as a strip search. The second question is whether the defendant is protected by this statute.”
Commonwealth v. McKeithan, 39 Va. Cir. 198 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1996).
· cites it 8× “It is clear from the context of the case that the Bazy court would not define “strip search” as that term is defined by Va. Code § 19.2-59.1. The Bazy court defined the search in question as “something akin to a strip search.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(A) — 4 cases
McCloud v. Commonwealth, 544 S.E.2d 866 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).
“" At the suppression hearing, appellant argued that the search was a warrantless "strip search," which violated Code § 19.2-59.1 and the Fourth Amendment.”
Moss v. Commonwealth, 516 S.E.2d 246 (Va. Ct. App. 1999).
“We find that the strip search of Moss was impermissible and that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence obtained from the search.”
Commonwealth v. Harris, 51 Va. Cir. 45 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1999).
“Therefore, Officer Wade’s manipulation of the defendant’s pants qualifies as a strip search. The second question is whether the defendant is protected by this statute.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(B) — 1 case
Commonwealth v. Harris, 51 Va. Cir. 45 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1999).
“Therefore, Officer Wade’s manipulation of the defendant’s pants qualifies as a strip search. The second question is whether the defendant is protected by this statute.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(C) — 1 case
Commonwealth v. Gilmore, 498 S.E.2d 464 (Va. Ct. App. 1998).
“NOTES [1] The Commonwealth also argues that the trial court erroneously granted defendant's motion to suppress on the ground that the search of her vagina violated Code § 19.2-59.1(C). The relevant portion of Code § 19.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(F) — 4 cases
McCloud v. Commonwealth, 544 S.E.2d 866 (Va. Ct. App. 2001).
“" At the suppression hearing, appellant argued that the search was a warrantless "strip search," which violated Code § 19.2-59.1 and the Fourth Amendment.”
Lisa Amaechi v. Matthew West, & Bernard R. Pfluger Town of Dumfries, 237 F.3d 356 (4th Cir. 2001).
“See Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1 (A). The provision further requires that strip searches, where permissible, be conducted “by persons of the same sex as the person arrested and on the premises where the search cannot be observed by persons not physically conducting the search.”
Brown v. Short, 729 F. Supp. 2d 125 (D.D.C. 2010).
“§ 40-7-119(a) (West 2009); Va.Code Ann. § 19.2-59.1(F) (West 2009); Wash.”
Commonwealth v. Harris, 51 Va. Cir. 45 (Richmond County Cir. Ct. 1999).
“Therefore, Officer Wade’s manipulation of the defendant’s pants qualifies as a strip search. The second question is whether the defendant is protected by this statute.”
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