Virginia Court Records

Virginia court records are available for viewing by the public and this is the domain of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s Office of the Executive Secretary (OES). The OES is the administration’s central office for court records in the state that are at the state’s Supreme Court.

Online Court Records

You can find the court records from the state on the Internet and there are not too many restrictions when you want to access them as a subscriber who is registered. This is according to the state code - 2.2-3808.2 Section D. Virginia welcomes you to access the website at http://www.courts.state.va.us/caseinfo/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/home.html .

Every effort has been made by the state to deliver accurate and current information about the records of Virginia. Any data concerning case files and court records which you have received from the Internet is not an official copy. Official court records are requested and processed by a court house. For this you need to approach the clerk at the courthouse. Keep in mind that there are several types of courts.

State Courts in Virginia

First, there are state courts such as the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, Virginia Circuit Courts (120 courts divided among 31 judicial circuits), Virginia General District Courts (courts in 32 districts) and the Virginia Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts (courts in 32 districts).

Next, there are Federal courts in the state such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (it is headquartered in Richmond and has jurisdiction over the United States District Courts of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia), as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Since there are so many courts in the State of Virginia, you will need to know which clerk’s office to send your application when you are placing your request for Virginia court records.

Types of Records You Can Find in Virginia

All court proceedings (including criminal proceedings) are recorded in detail by the Virginia courtrooms. This is in addition to the personal data records that are maintained in the court databases, which can also be retrieved, as and when necessary.

So, which Virginia courthouse records qualify as vital records? In this state, all records of marriages, divorces, births and deaths are deemed to be ‘major’ events. As such, detailed information on all these events is present within the Virginia courts. In addition, you will also find all data related to adoptions in Virginia collected and preserved by the courthouses.

The state laws prevalent in Virginia determine the extent of individual information that can be provided for public access. These regulations apply when requesting any particular vital record concerning any person.

You can also access the criminal records and public arrest records from the Virginia courthouse. These records are often vital when you want to check whether a person has a criminal background or not. In many cases, employers will ask for these records when deciding whether to hire someone.

In the State of Virginia, the types of records you can ask for include the following:

•    The sex and age of the person 
•    Phone numbers and addresses 
•    Marriage Records 
•    Divorce Records
•    Default Records
•    Court, arrest, criminal and police records 
•    Navy. military and army records 
•    Property and business records

Information You Will Find in Virginia Court Records

You can access information on all criminal, traffic and civil cases. Information available also includes the name of the defendant, the state and city, case number, the birth date, the name of the plaintiff in civil cases, date of trial, the charge and case disposition.

It is now quite popular to carry out not just criminal background checks, but complete background checks. It is important for your own safety that you search the background records of a person whom you wish to employ in your business or to take care of your household. By carrying out the background search of the person completely, you will learn more than just about any criminal record from the past.

Searching the marriage records can help you find out more about the two people who were married and the date and place of the marriage. You can also learn about the person who conducted the ceremony and the witnesses. This information becomes crucial when you are trying to map your family tree.

By accessing Virginia court records, you can find out whether a person has indeed been divorced or not. The divorce records will contain this information and additional facts about related issues such as alimony, child custody and visitation rights, property settlement and others like this.

Who Can Access Virginia Court Records?

The authorities are legally obliged to share the information when you place a request for it. The Right to Information Act safeguards your interest. To access the court records, you need to of course be a citizen of the country. While making that request, you will also need to inform the court of the reason you need to have the record and your relation with the person about whom you want the information.