§ 16.1-118 When papers in civil cases returned to courts of record may be destroyed
The clerk of any court of record to whose office papers in civil cases in the district court have been returned for indexing and preserving under § 16.1-69.55 may destroy the files, papers and records connected with any such civil case, if:
1. Such case was dismissed without any adjudication of the merits of the controversy, and the final order entered was one of dismissal and one year has elapsed from the date of such dismissal; or
2. Judgment was entered in such case but twenty years have elapsed since entry of such judgment and a motion to extend the period for enforcement of judgment has not been brought prior to the expiration of twenty years from the date such judgment was entered; or
3. No service of the warrant or motion or other process or summons was had on any defendant and one year has elapsed from the date of such process or summons; and
4. The destruction of such papers is authorized and directed by an order of the judge of the court in which they are preserved, which order may refer to such papers by any one or more of the above classifications, or to any group or kind of cases embraced therein, without express reference to any particular case.
History
This law was first created in 1956. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 555 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1956 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 4 times. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1962, chapter 444; in 1972, chapter 491; in 1977, chapter 169; in 1982, chapter 153.
1956, c. 555; 1962, c. 444; 1972, c. 491; 1977, c. 169; 1982, c. 153.