<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>367827</law_id><section_number>53.1-71</section_number><catch_line>Courts to order jails erected and repaired</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2026/" slug="2026" current="TRUE" last_updated="2026-08-02">2026</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="117" identifier="53.1">Prisons and Other Methods of Correction</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="3" identifier="3">Local Correctional Facilities</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1">Establishment and Regulation of Facilities</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>When it shall appear to the <span class="dictionary">circuit</span> <span class="dictionary">court</span> of any county or city that there is no jail therein or that the jail of such county or city is insecure, out of repair or otherwise inadequate, it shall be the duty of such <span class="dictionary">court</span> to award a rule in the name of the Commonwealth against the governing body of the county or city to show cause why a <span class="dictionary">writ of mandamus</span> should not <span class="dictionary">issue</span> commanding the governing body to erect a jail for the county or city, or to cause the existing jail of such county or city to be made secure, put in good repair, or rendered otherwise adequate, as the case may be.</p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 53-129; 1982, c. 636.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
