§ 20-146.11 Cooperation between courts; preservation of records
A. A court of this Commonwealth may request the appropriate court of another state to:
2. Order a person to produce or give evidence pursuant to procedures of that state;
3. Order that an evaluation be made with respect to the custody of a child involved in a pending proceeding;
4. Forward to the court of this Commonwealth a certified copy of the transcript of the record of the hearing, the evidence otherwise presented, and any evaluation prepared in compliance with the request; and
5. Order a party to a child custody proceeding or any person having physical custody of the child to appear in the proceeding with or without the child.
B. Upon request of a court of another state, a court of this Commonwealth may hold a hearing or enter an order described in subsection A.
C. Travel and other necessary and reasonable expenses incurred under subsections A and B may be assessed against the parties according to the law of this Commonwealth.
D. A court of this Commonwealth shall preserve the pleadings, orders, decrees, records of hearings, evaluations, and other pertinent records with respect to a child custody proceeding until the child attains eighteen years of age. Upon appropriate request by a court or law-enforcement official of another state, the court shall forward a certified copy of those records.
History
This law was first created in 1979. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 229 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 1979 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 1 time. 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. That modification is as follows: in 2001, chapter 305.
1979, c. 229, §§ 20-142, 20-143, 20-144, 20-145; 2001, c. 305.