Va. Code » Title 53.1. Prisons and Other Methods of Correction » Chapter 2. State Correctional Facilities » Article 3. Employment and Training of Prisoners
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-44 (2026)

Investment of funds belonging to prisoners; use of income

✓ current as of May 2026
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Portions of the funds held by the Director or by any state correctional facility, which belong to prisoners may, in the discretion of the Director, be invested in bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia or of the United States or in federally-insured investments. In determining how to invest the funds, the Director shall balance any long-term investments with those which permit ready accessibility to the funds. Any income or increment of increase received from the bonds or investments may be used by the Director for the benefit of the prisoners under his care.

Code 1950, § 53-223; 1970, c. 648; 1982, c. 636.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1999–2023 · leading case: Washlefske v. Winston, 60 F. Supp. 2d 534 (E.D. Va. 1999).
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Washlefske v. Winston, 60 F. Supp. 2d 534 (E.D. Va. 1999). · cites it 12× “” Va.Code Ann. § 53.1-44. The relevant argument in this case is what degree of control the Director has over the property of an inmate that is not held in prison.”
Chalmers v. Winston, 95 F. Supp. 2d 536 (E.D. Va. 2000). · cites it 9× “See Va.Code § 53.1-44. Significantly, the interest or income generated from such investment does not accrue to each individual prisoner’s spend or hold accounts.”
Firewalker-Fields v. Clarke (W.D. Va. 2023). · cites it 2× “Accordingly, the Fourth Circuit concluded that an inmate in the custody of the VDOC was “not deprived of any property, for the purposes of a Takings Clause analysis, when the Department of Corrections followed the dictates of that statute in using the interest generated from…”
Washlefske v. Winston (4th Cir. 2000). · cites it 3× “See Va. Code Ann. § 53.1-44 . Income earned in this pooled account "may be used by the Director for the benefit of the prisoners under his care.”
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