Sussex County Jail

At the Sussex County Jail, 20212 Thornton Square, Sussex, VA 23884, phone 434-246-5000.

At 119 Bank Street, Waverly, VA 23890, 804-834-2330. It is open 24 hours.

Use the Sussex County inmate search.

The Sussex combined district court, 434-246-1096, and the Circuit Court, 15088 Courthouse Road, Route 735, Sussex, VA 23884, 434-246-1012.

Deputies and Waverly, Wakefield or Stony Creek police take the person to the county jail on Thornton Square near the courthouse. The magistrate works in Waverly at 119 Bank Street, around the clock. Terms usually come soon after booking (Va. Code § 19.2-80).

Sussex magistrates choose among a promise, an unsecured bond and a posted bond (Va. Code § 19.2-123). They can deny bail outright only on strong signs the person would run or hurt someone (Va. Code § 19.2-120).

At the Thornton Square jail with cash, a deed to county land or a bail bondsman licensed by DCJS (Va. Code § 9.1-185). The bondsman's charge is not refunded (Va. Code § 9.1-185.8). The Waverly magistrate can be reached overnight (Va. Code § 19.2-48.1).

The combined district court on Courthouse Road (Route 735) looks at bail on its next court day (Va. Code § 19.2-158) and handles counsel (Va. Code § 19.2-159). Sussex Circuit Court next door at 15088 Courthouse Road hears appeals (Va. Code § 19.2-124).

Route 735 misdemeanor trials have a 10-day appeal window (Va. Code § 16.1-132). Felonies get a preliminary hearing (Va. Code § 19.2-218). The same court hears juvenile cases (434-246-1096) (Va. Code § 16.1-241).

Yes. Sussex judges give lawyers to people at risk of jail whose sworn papers show they cannot pay (Va. Code § 19.2-159).

I-95 cuts through the county, and drug and DUI stops there are common, so testing terms show up often. Sussex magistrates add curfews and keep-away terms too (Va. Code § 19.2-123). Domestic arrests lead to an emergency protective order (Va. Code § 16.1-253.4).

Sussex judges answer a missed date with a capias and a forfeited bond, and a no-show charge may be added (Va. Code § 19.2-128). Drivers from out of state must still come back.

North to Richmond, about an hour away, in the Eastern District of Virginia (18 U.S.C. § 3142). A Sussex co-signer is liable after a missed date (Va. Code § 19.2-143) unless they bring the person back to Thornton Square (Va. Code § 19.2-149).

Jail: 434-246-5000. Magistrate: 434-246-5000. District court: 434-246-1096.

Sussex County is a rural Southside county crossed by Interstate 95 and U.S. 460, with its courthouse in the village of Sussex. Its criminal courts are the Sussex General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts and the Sussex Circuit Court, both on Courthouse Road and both in the 6th Judicial Circuit. Cases are brought by the elected Sussex County Commonwealth's Attorney. Unlike most of its neighbors, Sussex still keeps a local jail run by the Sheriff, the Sussex County Jail on Thornton Square.

• Sussex Circuit Court, 15088 Courthouse Road (Route 735), P.O. Box 1337, Sussex, VA 23884; Circuit Court Clerk (434) 246-1012
• Sussex General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, 15098 Courthouse Road (Route 735), P.O. Box 1315, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-1096
• Magistrate, Sussex office (video only), at the Sussex County Jail, 20212 Thornton Square, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-5000
• Sussex County Commonwealth's Attorney, 20209 Thornton Square (P.O. Box 1347), Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-2630
• Sussex County Sheriff's Office, 20212 Thornton Square, P.O. Box 1326, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-5000
• 6th District Court Service Unit (juvenile intake), 100 East Broadway, Suite G05, Hopewell, VA 23860, (804) 541-2265
• Sussex County Jail, 20212 Thornton Square, Sussex, VA 23884; custody calls go to the Sheriff's Office, (434) 246-5000
• Appointed counsel: Sussex County has no public defender office; the court assigns private attorneys. Combined court clerk: (434) 246-1096

Which court hears your case. The general district side of the Sussex General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts decides misdemeanors and traffic cases, always without a jury; a defendant unhappy with the outcome may appeal within 10 days to the Sussex Circuit Court and start over there, with the option of a jury. Charges of assault or another crime against a family or household member, along with every case involving a juvenile, are heard on the combined court's juvenile and domestic relations side. A felony charge gets its preliminary hearing in the combined court (the JDR side if the alleged victim is a relative or household member) before moving up to the Sussex Circuit Court after a grand jury returns an indictment.

Where pretrial inmates are held. Adults who are not released by the magistrate are booked into the Sheriff-operated jail at 20212 Thornton Square in Sussex, a short distance from the courthouse, which also houses the video magistrate station. The jail holds people arrested by the Sheriff's Office, the State Police and the town police in Waverly, Wakefield and Jarratt. Because the Sheriff's Office runs the jail, its main number, (434) 246-5000, is the place to ask whether someone is in custody and how to post bail.

Towns in Virginia never run their own courts, so there is no municipal or mayor's court to look for. Charges from the towns of Waverly, Wakefield and Stony Creek, and from the Sussex County part of Jarratt, all go to the Sussex County courts on Courthouse Road.

Where the courts sit

• Sussex General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, 15098 Courthouse Road (Route 735), P.O. Box 1315, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-1096. Clerk's office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. This court handles traffic, misdemeanors, felony preliminary hearings, and all juvenile and family matters, using a single phone line for both sides.
• Sussex Circuit Court, 15088 Courthouse Road (Route 735), P.O. Box 1337, Sussex, VA 23884. The clerk's office, (434) 246-1012, is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and keeps the felony files, grand jury records and appeal papers.

After-hours and juvenile offices

• Magistrate, Sussex office, c/o Sussex County Jail, 20212 Thornton Square, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-5000. Magistrates appear here by video around the clock to issue warrants and decide release.
• 6th District Court Service Unit, Hopewell Courts Facility, 100 East Broadway, Suite G05, Hopewell, VA 23860, (804) 541-2265, the juvenile intake office for Sussex County.

Prosecution, police and defense

• Sussex County Commonwealth's Attorney, 20209 Thornton Square, (434) 246-2630. The county also has a Victim Witness Program that works with the prosecutor's office.
• Sussex County Sheriff's Office, 20212 Thornton Square, P.O. Box 1326, Sussex, VA 23884, (434) 246-5000, which patrols the county and runs the jail.
• Town police: Waverly and Wakefield each have a town police department, and Jarratt, which straddles the Greensville County line, has a small force of its own. Their arrests in Sussex County are booked at the county jail and filed in the courts above; for help reaching an officer, start with the Sheriff's Office number.
• Court-appointed lawyers: no Virginia Indigent Defense Commission office covers Sussex, so judges appoint private attorneys. Ask for one at the first hearing, or get the financial eligibility form from the combined court clerk at (434) 246-1096.

Sussex is also home to two large state prisons, Sussex I and Sussex II, near Waverly. A new crime alleged inside either prison is generally prosecuted by the Sussex County Commonwealth's Attorney in these same courts.

Interstate 95 brings a steady stream of traffic and DUI cases into the Sussex combined court, alongside the shoplifting, trespass and fight charges found in any county.

Release decisions

Officers take an arrested adult to the Sussex County Jail, where a magistrate appears on the video screen. Three outcomes are possible: release on the person's own recognizance, release on an unsecured bond that costs nothing unless a court date is missed, or a secured bond paid in cash or posted by a bondsman licensed by the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The magistrate may add conditions, such as staying away from the alleged victim. If the person cannot be released, a judge of the combined court can reconsider the terms at a bond hearing, and the Sussex Circuit Court can review that ruling.

In court

Someone held in jail is normally brought before the judge for arraignment the next day court is in session. The judge confirms the charge, asks about a lawyer, and appoints private counsel for a defendant who qualifies financially and faces a possible jail sentence. Fees for appointed counsel can be added to court costs if the case ends in a conviction. Most Sussex misdemeanor cases are resolved within one to three months.

What the charges carry

• Petit larceny (under $1,000), trespass and assault and battery are Class 1 misdemeanors: up to a year in jail, up to a $2,500 fine, or both. For comparison, a Class 2 misdemeanor is capped at 6 months and $1,000, while Class 3 and Class 4 offenses bring only fines of up to $500 or $250.
• Assault on a family or household member is heard on the JDR side. First offenders are sometimes allowed a deferred disposition that ends in dismissal, and a third conviction for family assault can be prosecuted as a felony.
• A first DUI is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a mandatory fine of at least $250. A blood alcohol content from 0.15 to 0.20 adds a mandatory 5 days in jail, and anything higher adds 10 days. Expect a 7-day administrative license suspension at arrest, a one-year revocation upon conviction (often with a restricted license tied to an ignition interlock), and the VASAP alcohol program.

Possible outcomes and appeal

A case can be dismissed, taken under advisement as a deferred disposition, or end in a fine, probation with a suspended sentence, or time in the Sussex County Jail. A defendant convicted in the combined court has 10 days to note an appeal to the Sussex Circuit Court for a completely new trial. Virginia's record-sealing law may later allow some charges or convictions to be sealed.

A Sussex County felony begins in the combined court and ends, if it is not dismissed, in the Sussex Circuit Court.

Early stage

The magistrate sets terms of release after considering whether the accused might flee or pose a danger; the 2021 legislation erased the rule that once presumed certain defendants should be denied bail. People who remain in custody stay at the Sussex County Jail, and they can ask the combined court for a bond hearing. At the first appearance the judge reads the charge and decides whether to appoint a lawyer.

Getting to Circuit Court

The preliminary hearing in the combined court tests whether the Commonwealth has probable cause. When the judge finds it, the charge is certified to the grand jury; the Commonwealth's Attorney may instead take a case directly to the grand jury for an indictment. Once indicted, the defendant is arraigned in the Sussex Circuit Court.

Resolution

Negotiated pleas resolve the large majority of Sussex felony cases. A defendant who goes to trial can choose a judge or a jury of 12, and a jury verdict must be unanimous. The judge imposes the sentence, using the voluntary sentencing guidelines, unless the defendant has asked for the jury to sentence. Under Code §19.2-243, a jailed defendant generally must be tried within 5 months after probable cause is found, and a released defendant within 9 months, although delays the defense requests or agrees to do not count.

Typical penalty ranges

• Burglary of a home at night is a Class 3 felony, 5 to 20 years, rising to Class 2 if the defendant carried a deadly weapon; the remaining statutory burglary offenses top out at 20 years.
• Grand larceny, theft of $1,000 or more, can bring anywhere from 1 to 20 years in prison, though the court may instead impose jail of up to 12 months.
• Possession of a Schedule I or II drug, such as cocaine, heroin or fentanyl, is a Class 5 felony; distribution or possession with intent to distribute carries 5 to 40 years for a first offense, with mandatory minimum terms for large amounts. Marijuana possession of up to an ounce is legal for adults 21 or older, but sales remain illegal.
• Malicious wounding carries 5 to 20 years as a Class 3 felony. Without malice, the charge is unlawful wounding, a Class 6 felony with a range of 1 to 5 years in prison or a year or less in jail.

Virginia abolished parole for felonies committed on or after January 1, 1995; inmates can earn sentence credits that reduce their time. A sentence longer than 12 months is served in a Department of Corrections prison. Expect four to twelve months from arrest to the end of a typical Sussex felony.

Violent felony charges in Sussex County follow the felony route above, but release is far less likely: a judge who finds that a defendant is dangerous can deny bond entirely, which means waiting for trial in the Sussex County Jail. Investigations often involve the Virginia State Police, and cases arising inside the Sussex state prisons also involve Department of Corrections investigators.

• Aggravated murder, which replaced capital murder when Virginia ended the death penalty in 2021, is a Class 1 felony carrying life imprisonment.
• Murder in the first degree (Class 2) brings 20 years to life, and second-degree murder brings 5 to 40 years.
• Robbery has a range of 5 years to life, and so does rape.
• Aggravated malicious wounding, which involves permanent and significant injury, is a Class 2 felony.

These prosecutions commonly take one to two years because of forensic testing, expert witnesses and pretrial motions. An appointed defense lawyer must be certified by the Indigent Defense Commission for the seriousness of the charge. Victims have rights under the Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act to be informed about the case, to attend proceedings and to address the court at sentencing, and the county's Victim Witness Program helps them use those rights. Convictions can be appealed to the Court of Appeals of Virginia and, after that, to the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Children and teenagers charged in Sussex County are dealt with by the juvenile and domestic relations side of the Sussex General and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Combined Courts, 15098 Courthouse Road.

The intake decision

A police complaint against a minor goes first to the 6th District Court Service Unit, the Department of Juvenile Justice office for Sussex and six neighboring localities, reachable at (804) 541-2265. The intake officer has three main choices: handle a minor matter through diversion without a court case, file a petition with the court, or approve secure detention for a youth who poses a serious risk. Petitions are prosecuted by the Sussex County Commonwealth's Attorney.

Detention and the first hearing

Sussex County is a member of the Crater Youth Care Commission, so a detained youth is taken to the Crater Juvenile Detention Center at 6102 County Drive, Disputanta, VA 23842, (804) 732-3803. The law requires a detention hearing within 72 hours, and it is normally held on the court's next working day. A lawyer is appointed for the child unless the family hires one.

How juvenile cases end

• Many cases close with diversion, probation, community service, restitution or counseling.
• A judge may commit a youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice for serious offenses; commitment can mean Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center or a community placement program.
• Transfer to adult court is possible when a child 14 or older is charged with certain serious felonies and the judge orders transfer after a hearing. For the most serious offenses, such as murder or aggravated malicious wounding, a 16- or 17-year-old can generally be certified to the Sussex Circuit Court by the Commonwealth's Attorney after a preliminary hearing.

In most cases juvenile records and court files are confidential. The combined court clerk, (434) 246-1096, can answer scheduling questions.

Federal prosecutions from Sussex County are handled by the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division, whose courthouse is at 701 East Broad Street in Richmond.

• Clerk's Office, U.S. District Court, Richmond Division, Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, (804) 916-2220
• U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond office, 919 East Main Street, Suite 1900, Richmond, VA 23219, (804) 819-5400
• Office of the Federal Public Defender, Richmond, 701 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219; Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys handle cases the office cannot take

Typical federal charges

Interstate 95 and U.S. 460 make Sussex a corridor county, so many federal cases grow out of highway stops that turn up large amounts of drugs, guns or cash. Other common federal charges are illegal gun possession by convicted felons, bank robbery, fraud and identity theft, and child exploitation offenses. Sussex I and Sussex II are state prisons, so crimes there usually stay in state court; federal jurisdiction would come from the type of offense, not the location.

Steps in a federal case

• Initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in Richmond, where the charges are explained and counsel is appointed for anyone who cannot afford it.
• Detention hearing, usually within three court days if the government asks for one. The Bail Reform Act lets the judge release the defendant on conditions monitored by Pretrial Services or order detention until trial.
• Indictment by a grand jury within 30 days of arrest on a complaint, and trial within 70 days under the Speedy Trial Act. The Eastern District's "rocket docket" reputation means these deadlines are taken seriously.
• Plea or trial: most cases end in a plea, and a trial jury of 12 must reach a unanimous verdict.
• Sentencing: a probation officer prepares a presentence report, and the judge then applies the advisory Guidelines and whatever mandatory minimum the statute requires. Federal parole no longer exists, so about 85 percent of a prison term is served in the Bureau of Prisons before supervised release begins. Appeals are heard by the Fourth Circuit.

Finding someone in federal custody

The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator lets families search for a sentenced or designated federal prisoner using a name or a register number. A federal defendant still awaiting trial might be housed at a local or regional jail under contract with the U.S. Marshals and listed on that facility's roster. Juveniles are almost never charged in federal court.