Crater Youth Care Commission

At the Riverside Regional Jail, 500 Folar Trail, North Prince George, VA 23860, phone 804-524-6600.

At the jail, 500 Folar Trail, North Prince George, VA 23860, 804-524-6611.

Use the Prince George County inmate search.

The Prince George combined district court, 804-733-2783, and the Circuit Court, 6601 Courts Drive, Prince George, VA 23875, 804-733-2640.

County police book the person at the Riverside Regional Jail on Folar Trail. The magistrate for Prince George and Hopewell works inside, so a decision usually comes within an hour or two (Va. Code § 19.2-80).

Many people sign and go home; others get an unsecured bond or must post money before release (Va. Code § 19.2-123).

At Folar Trail, with cash, real estate or a DCJS-licensed bail agent (Va. Code § 9.1-185) charging 10% to 15% that is not returned (Va. Code § 9.1-185.8). The jail office never closes (Va. Code § 19.2-48.1).

The combined district court at 6601 Courts Drive, when it next meets (Va. Code § 19.2-158). Appointed counsel is sorted out at the same hearing (Va. Code § 19.2-159). Circuit Court at the same address hears appeals (Va. Code § 19.2-124).

The Courts Drive district court tries misdemeanors, appealable within 10 days (Va. Code § 16.1-132), holds felony preliminaries (Va. Code § 19.2-218) and hears juvenile cases (804-733-2783) (Va. Code § 16.1-241).

Yes. A Courts Drive judge reviews a sworn income form and appoints a lawyer when jail is possible (Va. Code § 19.2-159).

Soldiers arrested off post by county police go through the same steps. The Army may add its own rules, which are separate from bail. An arrest on post itself may become a federal case (18 U.S.C. § 3142).

Courts Drive orders deputies to bring the person in, keeps the money and may allow a new charge (Va. Code § 19.2-128).

They are tried in Richmond, about 35 minutes north, by the Eastern District of Virginia (18 U.S.C. § 3142). A Prince George co-signer pays if the person skips (Va. Code § 19.2-143), unless the person is returned to Riverside first (Va. Code § 19.2-149).

Jail: 804-524-6600. Magistrate: 804-524-6611. District court: 804-733-2783.

Prince George County lies south of the James River between the cities of Hopewell and Petersburg, and its government and courts are grouped together on Courts Drive in the county seat of Prince George. Misdemeanors, traffic charges, juvenile matters and family-assault cases are heard by the Prince George General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, while felonies and appeals go to the Prince George Circuit Court, part of Virginia's 6th Judicial Circuit. The county's own elected Commonwealth's Attorney prosecutes these cases. Adults who are not released after an arrest are held at the Riverside Regional Jail, which happens to sit inside the county near North Prince George.

• Prince George Circuit Court (felonies, jury trials, appeals from the district courts), 6601 Courts Drive, P.O. Box 98, Prince George, VA 23875; Circuit Court Clerk (804) 733-2640
• Prince George General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, 6601 Courts Drive, P.O. Box 187, Prince George, VA 23875, (804) 733-2783 or (804) 733-2781
• Magistrate, Hopewell/Prince George office, located at the Riverside Regional Jail, 500 Folar Trail, North Prince George, VA 23860, (804) 524-6611
• Prince George County Commonwealth's Attorney, 6601 Courts Drive (mail P.O. Box 730), Prince George, VA 23875, (804) 733-2790; Victim/Witness Assistance (804) 733-2753
• Prince George County Sheriff's Office, 6601 Courts Drive, Prince George, VA 23875, (804) 733-2690
• Prince George County Police Department, 6600 Courthouse Road, Prince George, VA 23875, non-emergency (24 hours) (804) 733-2770
• 6th District Court Service Unit (juvenile intake for Prince George County and Hopewell), Hopewell Courts Facility, 100 East Broadway, Suite G05, Hopewell, VA 23860, (804) 541-2265
• Riverside Regional Jail, 500 Folar Trail, North Prince George, VA 23860, (804) 524-6600
• Court-appointed counsel: no public defender office covers Prince George County, so judges appoint private lawyers; ask the combined court clerk, (804) 733-2783

Which court hears your case. A misdemeanor or traffic charge from Prince George County is tried by a judge alone on the general district side of the Prince George General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts; a person convicted there has 10 days to appeal to the Prince George Circuit Court, where the case is heard again from the beginning and a jury may be requested. The juvenile and domestic relations side of the same combined court takes every charge against someone under 18, along with assaults and other offenses in which the alleged victim is a family or household member. A felony starts with a preliminary hearing in the combined court (on the JDR side when a family member is the complaining witness) and, once a grand jury returns an indictment, is tried in the Prince George Circuit Court.

Where pretrial inmates are held. Prince George County does not run a separate jail of its own. It is one of seven members of the Riverside Regional Jail Authority, together with Charles City, Chesterfield and Surry counties and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg, and the authority's jail on Folar Trail is a short drive from the county courthouse. The magistrate who serves Prince George and Hopewell works inside that facility, so arrested adults are usually processed and, if not released, booked there. To confirm that someone is in custody or to ask how a bond is posted, call the jail at (804) 524-6600.

Virginia has no municipal, town or mayor's courts, and Prince George County has no incorporated towns in any case. Charges from Disputanta, Burrowsville, the North Prince George area and every other community in the county are filed in the Prince George courts on Courts Drive. Offenses committed on Fort Lee, the Army post in the county's northwest corner, can end up in either the county courts or federal court, as the federal section below explains.

Courthouse complex on Courts Drive

• Prince George Circuit Court, 6601 Courts Drive, P.O. Box 98, Prince George, VA 23875. The clerk's office, (804) 733-2640, is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It handles felony indictments, jury trials and appeals from the combined district court. The judges of the 6th Circuit also hold court in Hopewell, Surry, Sussex, Brunswick and Greensville.
• Prince George General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, 6601 Courts Drive, P.O. Box 187, Prince George, VA 23875, (804) 733-2783 or (804) 733-2781. The clerk's office keeps hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. One clerk's office serves both the adult criminal and traffic docket and the juvenile and domestic relations docket.

Magistrate and juvenile intake

• Magistrate, Hopewell/Prince George office, c/o Riverside Regional Jail, 500 Folar Trail, North Prince George, VA 23860, (804) 524-6611. Magistrates issue warrants and make the first decision on bail at any hour.
• 6th District Court Service Unit, 100 East Broadway, Suite G05, Hopewell, VA 23860, (804) 541-2265

Prosecutor, defense and law enforcement

• Commonwealth's Attorney, 6601 Courts Drive, Prince George, VA 23875, (804) 733-2790
• Court-appointed lawyers: the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission has no public defender office for Prince George County, so the court appoints a private attorney from its list for people who qualify; the combined court clerk, (804) 733-2783, has the financial statement form.
• Prince George County Sheriff's Office (court security, warrants, civil process), 6601 Courts Drive, (804) 733-2690
• Prince George County Police Department (the county's main patrol agency), 6600 Courthouse Road, (804) 733-2773; main office line (804) 733-2773

With Interstate 95 and Interstate 295 crossing the county and Route 460 running east toward Disputanta, a large share of Prince George misdemeanor arrests involve drivers. Shoplifting complaints from retail stores and disputes at home are the other common sources of cases.

After the arrest

A county police officer or deputy takes the arrested person before the magistrate at Riverside, often by video. The magistrate issues the warrant and chooses among release on recognizance (a written promise to appear), an unsecured bond that is owed only if the person fails to come to court, or a secured bond that must be posted in cash or through a bondsman licensed by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The magistrate weighs flight risk and danger to the public, and conditions such as no contact with an alleged victim or check-ins with a pretrial services officer can be added. Someone who stays at the Riverside Regional Jail can ask a combined court judge to reconsider, and that decision can be appealed to the circuit court.

Arraignment and a lawyer

The first court date, usually the next day the combined court sits, is an advisement: the judge reads the charge, sets a trial date and asks about counsel. A defendant facing possible jail who cannot afford a lawyer can ask for one at that hearing (or tell the magistrate earlier) and will fill out a financial statement; because Prince George has no public defender office, the judge appoints a private attorney. Court-appointed fees may be added to court costs if the person is convicted.

Penalties for the charges listed

• Petit larceny (property worth less than $1,000): Class 1 misdemeanor, up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
• First DUI: Class 1 misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum $250 fine, a 7-day administrative license suspension at arrest, and a one-year revocation upon conviction (a restricted license with an ignition interlock is possible). A blood alcohol level of 0.15 to 0.20 adds 5 mandatory days in jail; above 0.20, 10 days. The court will order the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP).
• Assault and battery: Class 1. If the alleged victim lives in the household or is a family member, the case is heard on the JDR side of the combined court, and a first offender may be offered a deferred disposition; a third family-assault conviction can be charged as a felony.
• Trespass: Class 1 misdemeanor.

Lesser misdemeanors carry smaller penalties: Class 2 means up to 6 months and $1,000, Class 3 a fine of up to $500, and Class 4 a fine of up to $250. Possible results include dismissal, a deferred disposition under a first-offender program, a fine, a suspended sentence with probation, or jail time at Riverside. Most Prince George misdemeanor cases are finished in one to three months, unless the defendant appeals to circuit court within 10 days, which starts the case over.

Felony cases in Prince George County travel from the combined district court to the circuit court in the same complex. The Commonwealth's Attorney's office handles them from the first hearing through sentencing.

1. Magistrate and bail. The magistrate at the Riverside Regional Jail issues the felony warrant and sets release terms. Virginia no longer presumes that people charged with certain offenses must be held, but a serious charge or a long record still makes a secured bond or detention more likely. A bond hearing can be requested before a combined court judge.
2. Advisement and counsel. At the first appearance the judge confirms that the defendant has a lawyer or appoints one from the court's list.
3. Preliminary hearing. A combined court judge listens to the prosecution's evidence and decides whether there is probable cause; a yes sends the charge on to the grand jury, a process called certification. The Commonwealth's Attorney can also bypass this step by seeking a direct indictment.
4. Grand jury and circuit court. After indictment the defendant is arraigned in the Prince George Circuit Court and enters a plea.
5. Plea or trial. Most cases end in a plea agreement. At trial, a 12-member jury must reach a unanimous verdict; since July 2021 the judge imposes the sentence unless the defendant asks the jury to do it. Virginia's sentencing guidelines are advisory.

Ranges for the charges listed

• A theft of $1,000 or more is grand larceny, which can bring anywhere from 1 to 20 years in prison or a jail term of a year or less.
• Breaking into a home at night with intent to commit a crime is burglary, a Class 3 felony with a 5-to-20-year range that rises to Class 2 when the intruder is armed, and the related statutory burglary offenses top out at 20 years.
• Simple possession of a Schedule I or II drug such as cocaine, heroin or fentanyl is a Class 5 felony punishable by 1 to 10 years, which the judge or jury may reduce to as much as 12 months in jail. A first conviction for distribution or possession with intent to distribute carries 5 to 40 years, and larger amounts trigger mandatory minimum terms. Since 2021, people 21 or older may lawfully have up to an ounce of marijuana, yet any sale remains illegal.
• Prosecutors charge malicious wounding, a Class 3 felony (5 to 20 years), when they believe the injury was inflicted with malice; without malice the offense is unlawful wounding, a Class 6 felony that runs from 1 to 5 years or up to a year in jail.

Under the speedy trial statute, a defendant held in custody generally must be tried within 5 months of the probable cause finding, or 9 months if released, subject to exceptions such as continuances the defense requests. Virginia abolished parole for felonies committed on or after January 1, 1995, though earned sentence credits can shorten the time served. A sentence longer than 12 months is served in the Virginia Department of Corrections. Expect four months to a year for most felony cases. Down the road, some Prince George charges and convictions may qualify for sealing under the state's newer record-sealing statute.

Prince George County police detectives typically lead homicide and robbery investigations, with help from the Virginia State Police and the state forensic laboratory. These cases follow the same felony path described above, but they are tried more often, involve more expert testimony and take longer.

A magistrate or judge deciding release in a violent case looks hard at danger to the community and to the alleged victim. Many defendants charged with homicide or armed robbery are denied bail and stay at the Riverside Regional Jail until trial, which makes the 5-month speedy trial clock for jailed defendants important, although continuances often extend it.

Punishments

• Aggravated murder (formerly capital murder): Class 1, and Prince George Circuit Court punishes it with life imprisonment. Virginia abolished the death penalty in 2021.
• First-degree murder: Class 2, carrying 20 years to life in Prince George Circuit Court. Second-degree murder: 5 to 40 years.
• Rape: 5 years to life; registration on the sex offender registry follows conviction.
• Robbery: 5 years to life, with additional mandatory time if a firearm is used.
• Aggravated malicious wounding: a Prince George County conviction for this Class 2 felony means 20 years to life.

The Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act gives victims the right to be told about court dates and plea agreements and to submit an impact statement before sentencing. In Prince George County those services come through the Commonwealth's Attorney's Victim/Witness Assistance Program at (804) 733-2753. Because people charged with the most serious crimes often face years in prison, the court may appoint a lawyer with specific qualifications, and a violent felony commonly takes one to two years to reach a verdict.

Children and teenagers charged with crimes in Prince George County appear on the juvenile and domestic relations side of the combined district court at 6601 Courts Drive. The adult misdemeanor and felony rules above do not apply in the same way; the juvenile system aims first at supervision and treatment.

Intake

Juvenile complaints go to an intake officer at the 6th District Court Service Unit, a Department of Juvenile Justice office based in the Hopewell Courts Facility, 100 East Broadway, Suite G05, (804) 541-2265. The intake officer can divert a minor first offense away from court, file a petition so the case goes before a judge, or authorize detention when the youth poses a danger or might run. The Prince George Commonwealth's Attorney prosecutes juvenile cases that reach court.

Detention

A youth who is held is taken to the Crater Juvenile Detention Center, 6102 County Drive, Disputanta, VA 23842, (804) 732-3803, which is run by the Crater Youth Care Commission; Prince George County is a member of the commission and the center is located within the county. A judge must hold a detention hearing within 72 hours, or on the next day the court sits, and a lawyer is appointed if the family has not hired one.

Possible outcomes

• Dismissal, an informal diversion agreement, or a deferred finding that ends in dismissal if the youth complies.
• Probation supervised by the Court Service Unit, with conditions such as school attendance, counseling, community service or restitution.
• Community-based programs or, for serious or repeated offenses, commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice, which can mean the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center or a community placement.

When a Prince George County juvenile can be tried as an adult

A youth 14 or older accused of certain serious felonies can be transferred to the Prince George Circuit Court after a transfer hearing in juvenile court. For the gravest charges, such as murder or aggravated malicious wounding, the Commonwealth's Attorney can generally certify a 16- or 17-year-old for adult trial once probable cause is found at a preliminary hearing. In most situations the records of a Prince George juvenile case stay confidential and are closed to the public.

Prince George County falls in the Richmond Division of the Eastern District of Virginia federal court. A federal case from the county is handled at the Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse, roughly 30 miles north in downtown Richmond.

• U.S. District Court Clerk, Richmond Division, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, (804) 916-2220
• U.S. Attorney's Office, Richmond, 919 East Main Street, Suite 1900, Richmond, VA 23219, (804) 819-5400
• Office of the Federal Public Defender (Richmond office for the Eastern District), 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219; private Criminal Justice Act panel lawyers take conflict cases
• Federal petty-offense docket for Fort Lee, Richmond Division, (804) 916-2230

Fort Lee and other federal cases

Fort Lee, the Army's sustainment training center (known as Fort Gregg-Adams from 2023 until its name was restored in 2025), occupies a large tract in Prince George County. Traffic tickets and minor offenses written on the post are processed through the Central Violations Bureau and heard by a U.S. magistrate judge on the Richmond Division's petty-offense docket, while serious crimes on the installation can be charged as federal felonies. Away from the post, the cases most likely to become federal involve drug trafficking along the I-95 and I-295 corridors, guns possessed by people with felony convictions, bank robbery, fraud, and online child exploitation. The U.S. Attorney decides whether to charge a case federally after investigations by agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF or Army investigators.

How a federal case moves

An arrested defendant first sees a federal magistrate judge, who explains the charge and appoints counsel if needed. Nobody buys a commercial bail bond to get out of federal custody. When the government asks to keep the defendant locked up, the detention hearing is ordinarily held within three court days, and the Bail Reform Act lets the judge choose between release on conditions monitored by U.S. Pretrial Services and custody until trial. A case begun by complaint needs a grand jury indictment within 30 days, and the Speedy Trial Act sets a 70-day target for trial. Lawyers call the Eastern District the "rocket docket" because its judges keep cases moving, so a Prince George defendant should expect a compressed timetable.

Most defendants plead guilty. If the case goes to trial instead, a jury of 12 decides, and its verdict has to be unanimous. Before sentencing, a probation officer prepares a presentence report, and the judge applies the advisory federal Sentencing Guidelines along with any mandatory minimum. Federal parole no longer exists, so prisoners serve at least about 85 percent of their terms in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, followed by supervised release. Any appeal is taken to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose courthouse is also in Richmond.

Locating a federal prisoner

Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator to search by name or register number. Someone awaiting a federal trial can also be housed in a local or regional jail that holds prisoners for the U.S. Marshals, and in that case the person may be listed on that jail's own roster. Federal prosecution of anyone under 18 is rare, and young people arrested in the county almost always stay in the juvenile court described above.