Smallwood v. Commonwealth, 867 S.E.2d 297

Smallwood was arrested for possession of heroin (Jan. 2015) and, as an indigent, entered a guilty plea on May 31, 2016 in exchange for a statutory first-offender deferred disposition under Code § 18.2-251.
The Plea Agreement and the court’s deferral order made payment of court costs a term/condition; Smallwood signed a payment plan (Form CC-1379) setting a payment deadline and warning of contempt procedures.
The circuit court repeatedly extended review deadlines after Smallwood represented he could pay if given time (reviews in May 2017 and Nov. 2017).
By Nov. 2018 Smallwood had made no payments and said he lacked money; the court adjudicated guilt for violating the deferral conditions and imposed a two‑year sentence, suspended.
The Court of Appeals affirmed; Smallwood appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court raising Fourteenth Amendment (Bearden) due‑process/fairness claims, and statutory/notice challenges to imposing costs and adjudicating guilt for nonpayment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Smallwood)	Defendant's Argument (Commonwealth)	Held
Whether revocation/conviction for failure to pay court costs violated due process under Bearden	Court had to inquire and find no legitimate reason for nonpayment before convicting; if indigent, court must consider alternatives	Plea agreement was breached; Bearden inapplicable or satisfied because court inquired and made implicit findings	Court assumed Bearden applies, found the court did inquire, determined Smallwood had ability and willfully failed to pay, so revocation lawful
Whether requiring payment of court costs is an ultra vires term under Code § 18.2‑251	§ 18.2‑251 does not list court costs as a term; imposing costs is beyond statutory authority	§ 18.2‑251 authorizes deferral "upon terms and conditions"—the statute’s listed terms are illustrative, not exclusive	Payment of costs is a permissible term/condition under the statute; trial court acted within discretion
Whether failure to pay could only trigger contempt (Form CC‑1379) and not adjudication of guilt	Form CC‑1379 mentions contempt but not conviction; at most contempt could be imposed, not conviction	§ 18.2‑251 expressly authorizes adjudication of guilt upon violation of a term or condition; plea agreement referenced costs	The statute itself supplies adjudication-on-violation authority; conviction was permissible and plea agreement put Smallwood on notice of the condition

Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 (1983) (due‑process requires inquiry into inability to pay and consideration of alternatives before imprisoning for nonpayment)
Bonanno v. Quinn, 299 Va. 722 (2021) (presume legislature chose words carefully when construing statutes)
Peyton v. Commonwealth, 268 Va. 503 (2004) (statutes permitting alternatives to incarceration should be liberally construed to aid rehabilitation)