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

A.1. 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.

2. Whenever a sheriff is such for a county and city together, or for two or more cities, the aggregate population of such political subdivisions shall be the population for the purpose of arriving at the salary of such sheriff under the provisions of this item and such sheriff shall receive as additional compensation the sum of one thousand dollars.

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 73, 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 to other jails in the Commonwealth that are experiencing overcrowding.

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 meet 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. 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 73 of this act, shall be determined by the Compensation Board on an annual basis. The annual allocation of these positions to local sheriffs' 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.

I. Any amount in the program Financial Assistance for Sheriffs' Offices and Regional Jails may be transferred between Items 66 and 67, 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.

J.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 on or before February 1 of each year, the Compensation Bboard shall increase the annual salary shown in paragraph A of this Item by the percentage shown below herein 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 where such criteria includes that a sheriff has achieved certification in a program agreed upon by the Compensation Board and the Virginia Sheriffs' Institute by Virginia Commonwealth University the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service of the University of Virginia, or, where such criteria include that a sheriff's office seeking accreditation has been assessed and will be considered for accreditation by the accrediting body no later than March 1, and have achieved accreditation by March 1 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. 

4. The provisions of subparagraphs 2.b.1. through 2.b.3. of this paragraph shall apply only to sheriffs certifying their compliance with the established minimum criteria for the Sheriffs' Career Development Program prior to July 1, 2014, and shall expire on June 30, 2016.

54. Other constitutional officers' associations may request the General Assembly to include certification in a program agreed upon by the Compensation Board and the officers' associations by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service to the requirements for participation in their respective career development programs.

K. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7, Chapter 15, Title 56, Code of Virginia, $8,000,000 the first year and $8,000,000 the second year from the Wireless E-911 Fund is included in this appropriation for local law enforcement dispatchers to offset dispatch center operations and related costs.

L. Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 53.1-131 through 53.1 -131.3, Code of Virginia, local and regional jails may charge inmates participating in inmate work programs a reasonable daily amount, not to exceed the actual daily cost, to operate the program.

M. Included in this appropriation is $1,004,500 the first year and $1,004,500 the second year from the general fund for the Compensation Board to contract for services to be provided by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation to implement and maintain the interface between all local and regional jails in the Commonwealth and the Statewide Automated Victim Notification (SAVIN) system, to provide for SAVIN program coordination, and to maintain the interface between SAVIN and the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. All law enforcement agencies receiving general funds pursuant to this item shall provide the data requirements necessary to participate in the SAVIN system.

N. Included in the appropriation is $2,714,534 the first year and $3,089,039 the second year from the general fund to support costs associated with staffing the Rappahannock/ Shenandoah/Warren Regional Jail.

O. Included in the appropriation is $1,875,437 the first year and $4,678,458 the second year from the general fund to support costs associated with staffing the new Southwest Virginia Regional Jail.

P. Included in this appropriation for this Item is $1,536,315 the first year and $1,679,216 the second year from the general fund to provide 48 additional temporary jail deputy positions for local and regional jails with overcrowding rates that exceed 100 percent of operational capacity.

Q. Included in the appropriation is $206,723 the second year from the general fund to support costs associated with staffing Phase I of the Central Virginia Regional Jail expansion.

R. It is the policy of the Commonwealth that the minimum salary level established for the fiscal year 2016 by the Compensation Board for deputy sheriffs shall be at least equal to the maximum gross income level for a family of four established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) established as of the previous October 1.

Pursuant to this policy, effective July 1, 2015 the Compensation Board shall establish a minimum salary level for entry-level deputy sheriff positions of no less than $31,009, and the Compensation Board shall provide for a one-time salary adjustment to ensure a minimum salary level for entry-level deputy sheriffs employed for a minimum of one-year or more in a Compensation Board funded position of no less than $32,009.  Effective July 1, 2015, the Compensation Board shall establish salary increases associated with the reclassification of a deputy sheriff from grade 7 to grade 8 upon the first of the month on or following the one year anniversary of the date of hire into a Compensation Board funded position based upon the minimum salary levels prescribed herein. Counties and cities shall use their own resources to supplement any future increases needed beyond the $31,009 minimum salary level to address future changes to the maximum gross income level for a family of four established for SNAP eligibility so that these minimum salary goals are maintained.

Included in this Item is an appropriation of $1,573,462 in the second year from the general fund to increase the salary level of existing deputy sheriff positions to effect such changes. The Compensation Board shall report to the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, the actual amounts needed to reach this minimum of salary support on a position by position and locality by locality basis.