If you've been charged with larceny / theft in Virginia Beach — this page shows what typically happens. Most cases (1,212 of 1,528) were heard in General District Court, where 46.3% were dismissed or dropped and the median case took 3.9 months. 316 cases moved to Circuit Court — typically jury trials, felonies, or appeals from District Court.

46.3%
Dismissal Rate
vs 53.7% statewide
58.5%
Conviction Rate
vs 45.1% statewide
3.5 months
Median Duration
I Outcomes

How 1,212 General District Court cases in Virginia Beach were resolved in 2025. This is where most Larceny / Theft cases start.

Exhibit · Case-outcome distribution

34.3%
12.0%
51.8%
Dismissed by judge 34.3% (n=271) Dropped by prosecutor (nolle prosequi) 12.0% (n=95) Guilty Plea 51.8% Found Guilty 0.0% Acquitted 1.9%

Largest outcomeGuilty plea — 51.8% of 791 resolved cases.

Source: 1,212 General District Court records, Virginia Beach, 2025 — VirginiaCourtFile.com

Exhibit · How Virginia Beach compares

Dismissal rates for Larceny / Theft in this and peer jurisdictions, 2025. Peers are the highest-volume neighboring jurisdictions in the same region.

Virginia BeachThis page 46.3% 1,528 cases
Norfolk 68.0% 1,234 cases Chesapeake 52.5% 1,196 cases Newport News 73.0% 1,095 cases Hampton 49.1% 859 cases
Statewide average 53.7% all Virginia

Click any peer for its full record. Bar lengths are scaled to the highest rate shown.

Filed in Virginia Beach General District Court? See the full General District Court record — charge mix, judges, and officer activity.

If your case goes to Circuit Court  ·  316 Larceny / Theft cases in 2025

A small share of Larceny / Theft cases in Virginia Beach are heard in Circuit Court — typically jury trials, felonies, or appeals from General District Court. Outcomes look different at this level.

80.4%
Dismissed 0.8% (n=2) Nolle prosequi 10.9% (n=29) Guilty Plea 80.4% Found Guilty 3.8% Acquitted 4.2%

Outcomes for 535 convicted cases in Virginia Beach General District Court (2025-2026).

Exhibit · Sentencing when convicted

46.0%
Received Active Jail
Median 25 days when imposed
vs 40.7% statewide
$250
Median Fine
18.5% received a fine
vs $150 statewide
76.8%
Received Probation
Median 1.0 years when imposed
vs 33.9% statewide

These figures describe outcomes for cases that ended in conviction in Virginia Beach General District Court. They do not predict any individual case outcome. See methodology for definitions and suppression rules.

When the original charge is amended to a lesser offense, usually through negotiation between the attorney and prosecutor.

Exhibit · Charge-reduction patterns

2.2% of Larceny / Theft cases
in Virginia Beach are reduced
24 cases had their charge amended to a lesser offense.
Most common reductions
Larceny / Theft Petit Larceny
13 cases · 54.2% of reductions
Larceny / Theft Credit Card Fraud<$1000 6M
4 cases · 16.7% of reductions
Larceny / Theft Embezzlement <$1000
3 cases · 12.5% of reductions

Time from filing to final disposition — half of cases resolve faster than the median.

Exhibit · Case duration

Fastest 25% 2.2 months
Median 3.5 months
Slowest 25% 6.0 months
II Getting Help

Larceny / Theft cases in Virginia Beach General District Court (2025), broken down by type of representation.

Defendants with a private attorney avoided conviction of the original charge in 67.8% of cases. With a public defender, that rate was 46.2%. The most common reduction is from larceny / theft to petit larceny.

Representation Cases Case dropped Pleaded to lesser Convicted as charged
Private attorney 177 116 · 65.5% 4 · 2.3% 57 · 32.2%
Public defender 494 211 · 42.7% 17 · 3.4% 266 · 53.8%

How to read this. "Case dropped" = dismissed, nolle prosequi (prosecutor dropped), or acquitted. "Pleaded to lesser" = the original larceny / theft charge was amended and the defendant pleaded guilty to a different, lesser offense. "Convicted as charged" = guilty plea or guilty verdict on the original charge. Cases certified to a higher court, revoked, or with procedural-only outcomes are excluded. Self-represented defendants are not shown — case complexity and charge severity make a fair comparison unreliable. Counsel type may correlate with case mix and resources to afford representation; the data shows what happened, not the isolated effect of representation.

Attorneys whose primary jurisdiction is Virginia Beach and who appeared as defense counsel of record on Larceny / Theft cases in 2025. Listed by case count.

Counts are each attorney's full 2025 caseload statewide. Click any name for their jurisdiction + outcome breakdown.

All Virginia defense attorneys

7,065 circuit court filings prosecuted by the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney in 2025. Office-level data — direct-indictment rate, disposition mix, trial activity. View office records →

III Background

Officers whose Larceny / Theft arrests in Virginia Beach are dismissed most frequently. Minimum 10 cases.

Ranking shows officers in this jurisdiction with the highest Larceny / Theft dismissal rates (minimum 10 cases). Click any name for their full record.

All arresting officers in Virginia Beach

Statistics from public court records for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. Past outcomes do not predict future results. Consult a licensed attorney for guidance on your case.

What's the difference between General District Court and Circuit Court?

In Virginia, most Larceny / Theft cases start in General District Court — that's where the 1,212 cases shown above were heard. Cases can move to Circuit Court for jury trials, felony indictments, or appeals from District Court. 316 Larceny / Theft cases were heard in Virginia Beach Circuit Court in 2025, where 11.7% were dismissed and 84.2% resulted in conviction.

Can a Larceny / Theft charge be reduced to something lesser?

2.2% of Larceny / Theft cases in Virginia Beach were amended to a lesser charge in 2025. The most common reduction was to Petit Larceny (13 cases), followed by Credit Card Fraud<$1000 6M (4 cases). Whether a reduction is available depends on the specifics of the case and is typically negotiated between the defense attorney and the prosecutor.

Does having an attorney change outcomes?

In Virginia Beach General District Court (2025), defendants with private counsel avoided conviction of the original larceny / theft charge in 67.8% of cases (n=177). With a public defender, that rate was 46.2% (n=494). The data shows what happened, not the isolated effect of representation — case mix and severity vary by counsel type.

How does Virginia Beach compare to other Virginia courts?

Virginia Beach has a 46.3% dismissal rate for Larceny / Theft cases. Outcomes vary significantly across Virginia courts. View the Larceny / Theft overview to compare dismissal rates, conviction rates, and case timelines across every jurisdiction.

Where does this data come from and how often is it updated?

All figures on this page come from Virginia's public Case Information System (CIS) and District Court system, calendar year 2025 onward. The dataset is refreshed quarterly. See methodology for definitions, denominators, and known coverage gaps.

Cite this page

VirginiaCourtFile.com (2026). Larceny / Theft Outcomes — Virginia Beach, Virginia. Based on 1,528 public court records, 2025; last updated May 2, 2026. https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/charges/larceny-theft/virginia-beach

Related Larceny / Theft guide · Larceny / Theft across Virginia · Larceny / Theft vs Grand Larceny · Larceny / Theft vs Burglary / B&E · Larceny / Theft vs Fraud / Forgery · 18.2-96 — Petit Larceny · § 18.2-103 · § 18.2-192 · § 18.2-111 · § 18.2-192(1)(A) · Expungement eligibility