§ 8.01-195.10.Purpose; action by the General Assembly required; definitions.

Subsection A sets the framework for the whole article: it exists to provide directions and guidelines for compensating people wrongfully incarcerated in Virginia, operating within the limits of Article IV, Section 14 of the Virginia Constitution, which bars the General Assembly from granting relief in matters the courts or other tribunals could otherwise resolve. No compensation can be awarded unless the recipient signs the release and waiver required by Section 8.01-195.12(B), and any payment depends entirely on the General Assembly appropriating the money. The subsection is explicit that this article creates no entitlement to compensation and does not require the General Assembly to fund it — a wrongfully incarcerated person has a path to seek compensation, not a guaranteed payout.

Subsection B supplies the definitions the rest of the article uses. “Incarceration” or “incarcerated” means confinement in a local or regional correctional facility, a juvenile correctional center, a state correctional facility, or a residential detention center, or confinement in a facility operated under the Corrections Private Services Act. “Wrongful incarceration” or “wrongfully incarcerated” means incarceration for a felony conviction that has since been vacated under either of the two Title 19.2 chapters governing writs of actual innocence, or incarceration of a person later granted an absolute pardon for a crime he did not commit.