Authority: Title 15.2, Chapter 16, Articles 3 and 6.1; and §§ 53.1-83.1 and 53.1-85, Code of Virginia.

A. The annual salaries of the sheriffs of the counties and cities of the Commonwealth shall be as hereinafter prescribed, according to the population of the city or county served and whether the sheriff is charged with civil processing and courtroom security responsibilities only, or the added responsibilities of law enforcement or operation of a jail, or both. Execution of arrest warrants shall not, in and of itself, constitute law enforcement responsibilities for the purpose of determining the salary for which a sheriff is eligible.

Law Enforcement and Jail Responsibility

Law Enforcement or Jail

No Law Enforcement or Jail Responsibility

B. Out of the amounts provided for in this Item, no expenditures shall be made to provide security devices such as magnetometers in standard use in major metropolitan airports. Personnel expenditures for operation of such equipment incidental to the duties of courtroom and courthouse security deputies may be authorized, provided that no additional expenditures for personnel shall be approved for the principal purpose of operating these devices.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 53.1-120, or any other section of the Code of Virginia, unless a judge provides the sheriff with a written order stating that a substantial security risk exists in a particular case, no courtroom security deputies may be ordered for civil cases, not more than one deputy may be ordered for criminal cases in a district court, and not more than two deputies may be ordered for criminal cases in a circuit court. In complying with such orders for additional security, the sheriff may consider other deputies present in the courtroom as part of his security force.

D. Should the scheduled opening date of any facility be delayed for which funds are available in this Item, the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, may allot such funds as the Compensation Board may request to allow the employment of staff for training purposes not more than 45 days prior to the rescheduled opening date for the facility.

E. Consistent with the provisions of paragraph B of Item 66, the Board shall allocate the additional jail deputies provided in this appropriation using a ratio of one jail deputy for every 3.0 beds of operational capacity. Operational capacity shall be determined by the Department of Corrections. No additional deputy sheriffs shall be provided from this appropriation to a local jail in which the present staffing exceeds this ratio unless the jail is overcrowded. Overcrowding for these purposes shall be defined as when the average annual daily population exceeds the operational capacity. In those jails experiencing overcrowding, the Board may allocate one additional jail deputy for every five average annual daily prisoners above operational capacity. Should overcrowding be reduced or eliminated in any jail, the Compensation Board shall reallocate positions previously assigned due to overcrowding in accordance with the Board's staffing standards for alternatives to incarceration programs or court services within the sheriff's office or among other jails in the Commonwealth.

F. Two-thirds of the salaries set by the Compensation Board of medical, treatment and inmate classification positions approved by the Compensation Board for local correctional facilities shall be paid out of this appropriation.

G. 1. Subject to appropriations by the General Assembly for this purpose, the Compensation Board shall provide for a Master Deputy pay grade to those sheriffs' offices which had certified, on or before January 1, 1997, having a career development plan for deputy sheriffs that meets the minimum criteria set forth by the Compensation Board for such plans. The Compensation Board shall allow for additional grade 9 positions, at a level not to exceed one grade 9 Master Deputy per every five Compensation Board grade 7 and 8 deputy positions in each sheriff's office.

2. Each sheriff who desires to participate in the Master Deputy Program who had not certified a career development plan on or before January 1, 1997, may elect to participate by certifying to the Compensation Board that the career development plan in effect in his office meets the minimum criteria for such plans as set by the Compensation Board. Such election shall be made by July 1 for an effective date of participation the following July 1.

3. Subject to appropriations by the General Assembly for this purpose, funding shall be provided by the Compensation Board for participation in the Master Deputy Program to sheriffs' offices electing participation after January 1, 1997, according to the date of receipt by the Compensation Board of the election by the sheriff.

H. There is hereby reappropriated the unexpended balance in this Item on June 30, 2006, and June 30, 2007.

I. The Compensation Board shall estimate biannually the number of additional law enforcement deputies which will be needed in accordance with § 15.2-1609.1, Code of Virginia. Such estimate of the number of positions and related costs shall be included in the Board's biennial budget request submission to the Governor and General Assembly. The allocation of such positions, established by the Governor and General Assembly in Item 66 of this act, shall be determined by the Compensation Board on an annual basis. The annual allocation of these positions to local Sheriff's offices shall be based upon the most recent final population estimate for the locality that is available to the Compensation Board at the time when the agency's annual budget request is completed. The source of such population estimates shall be the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service of the University of Virginia or the United States Bureau of the Census. For the first year of the biennium, the Compensation Board shall allocate positions based upon the most recent provisional population estimates available at the time the agency's annual budget is completed.

J. Any amount in the program Financial Assistance for Sheriffs' Offices and Regional Jails may be transferred between Items 59 and 60, as needed, to cover any deficits incurred in the programs Financial Assistance for Confinement of Inmates in Local and Regional Facilities, and Financial Assistance for Sheriffs' Offices and Regional Jails.

K.1. Subject to appropriations by the General Assembly for this purpose, the Compensation Board shall provide for a Sheriffs' Career Development Program. 

2. Following receipt of a sheriff's certification that the minimum requirements of the Sheriffs' Career Development Program have been met, and provided that such certification is submitted by Sheriffs as part of their annual budget request to the Compensation Board, the Board shall increase the annual salary shown in Paragraph A of this Item by the percentage shown below for a twelve-month period effective the following July 1:

a.  9.3 percent increase for all sheriffs who certify their compliance with the established minimum criteria for the Sheriffs' Career Development Program and have achieved accreditation from the Virginia Law Enforcement Professional Standards Commission, or the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement agencies, or the American Correctional Association, or,

b. For sheriffs that have not achieved one of the above accreditations:

1.  3.1 percent for all sheriffs who certify their compliance with the established minimum criteria for the Sheriffs' Career Development Program; and

2.  3.1 percent additional increase for sheriffs who certify their compliance with the established minimum criteria for the Sheriffs' Career Development Program and operate a jail; and

3.  3.1 percent additional increase for all sheriffs who certify their compliance with the established minimum criteria for the Sheriffs' Career Development Program and provide primary law enforcement services in the county.

L.  Included in the appropriation for this Item is $11,500,000 the second year from the general fund for payments to counties, cities, regional jails, and regional jail authorities that provide to sheriffs' deputies and officers, jail officers, and jail superintendents those benefits described under § 51.1-138 B, Code of Virginia, or under any system that offers comparable benefits.  The Compensation Board shall allocate the funds in the following manner:

a.  A county, city, regional jail, or regional jail authority shall be eligible to receive payments if it provides such benefits as of May 1, 2008;

b.  A payment shall be made to each eligible jurisdiction, regional jail, or jail authority for each of the following positions approved by the Compensation Board and supported with state funds:  sheriff's deputy and officer, jail officer, and jail superintendent; and

c. These payments shall be based upon an annual payment per eligible position that is not less than $600 nor greater than $1,825.  The amount of the payment per eligible position shall be based upon the affected jurisdiction's most recent fiscal stress index score reported by the Commission on Local Government.  The most affluent jurisdiction, as measured by the fiscal stress index, shall receive $600 per position and the least affluent jurisdiction, as measured by the fiscal stress index, shall receive $1,825 per position, with all other jurisdictions receiving an amount per position that is based on their relative position within the range of fiscal stress index scores.  In determining the amount of the payment per position for a regional jail or a regional jail authority, the Compensation Board shall use the average of the fiscal stress index scores of the regional jail's or the regional jail authority's member jurisdictions.