                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE ORDERS AUTHORIZED IN CERTAIN CASES; PENALTY (§ 16.1-253.4)

A. Any judge of a circuit court, general district court, juvenile and domestic
relations district court, or magistrate may issue a written or oral ex parte
emergency protective order pursuant to this section in order to protect the
health or safety of any person.

B. When a law-enforcement officer or an allegedly abused person asserts under
oath to a judge or magistrate, and on that assertion or other evidence the judge
or magistrate (i) finds that a warrant for a violation of § 18.2-57.2 has been
issued or issues a warrant for violation of § 18.2-57.2 and finds that there is
probable danger of further acts of family abuse against a family or household
member by the respondent or (ii) finds that reasonable grounds exist to believe
that the respondent has committed family abuse and there is probable danger of a
further such offense against a family or household member by the respondent, the
judge or magistrate shall issue an ex parte emergency protective order, except
if the respondent is a minor, an emergency protective order shall not be
required, imposing one or more of the following conditions on the respondent:

   1. Prohibiting acts of family abuse or criminal offenses that result in injury
   to person or property;

   2. Prohibiting such contacts by the respondent with the allegedly abused
   person or family or household members of the allegedly abused person,
   including prohibiting the respondent from being in the physical presence of
   the allegedly abused person or family or household members of the allegedly
   abused person, as the judge or magistrate deems necessary to protect the
   safety of such persons;

   3. Granting the family or household member possession of the premises occupied
   by the parties to the exclusion of the respondent; however, no such grant of
   possession shall affect title to any real or personal property; and

   4. Granting the petitioner the possession of any companion animal as defined
   in &#xA7; 3.2-6500 if such petitioner meets the definition of owner in &#xA7;
   3.2-6500.
   				In addition, if the respondent is a juvenile, the court may, upon its own
   motion or upon the motion of the attorney or guardian ad litem representing
   the respondent, enter an order requiring the local board of social services to
   provide services to the child and family.
   				When the judge or magistrate considers the issuance of an emergency
   protective order pursuant to clause (i), he shall presume that there is
   probable danger of further acts of family abuse against a family or household
   member by the respondent unless the presumption is rebutted by the allegedly
   abused person.

C. An emergency protective order issued pursuant to this section shall expire at
11:59 p.m. on the third day following issuance. If the expiration occurs on a
day that the court is not in session, the emergency protective order shall be
extended until 11:59 p.m. on the next day that the juvenile and domestic
relations district court is in session. When issuing an emergency protective
order under this section, the judge or magistrate shall provide the protected
person or the law-enforcement officer seeking the emergency protective order
with the form for use in filing petitions pursuant to &#xA7; 16.1-253.1 and
written information regarding protective orders that shall include the telephone
numbers of domestic violence agencies and legal referral sources on a form
prepared by the Supreme Court. If these forms are provided to a law-enforcement
officer, the officer may provide these forms to the protected person when giving
the emergency protective order to the protected person. The respondent may at
any time file a motion with the court requesting a hearing to dissolve or modify
the order issued hereunder. The hearing on the motion shall be given precedence
on the docket of the court.

D. A law-enforcement officer may request an emergency protective order pursuant
to this section and, if the person in need of protection is physically or
mentally incapable of filing a petition pursuant to &#xA7; 16.1-253.1 or
16.1-279.1, may request the extension of an emergency protective order for an
additional period of time not to exceed three days after expiration of the
original order. The request for an emergency protective order or extension of an
order may be made orally, in person or by electronic means, and the judge of a
circuit court, general district court, or juvenile and domestic relations
district court or a magistrate may issue an oral emergency protective order. An
oral emergency protective order issued pursuant to this section shall be reduced
to writing, by the law-enforcement officer requesting the order or the
magistrate on a preprinted form approved and provided by the Supreme Court of
Virginia. The completed form shall include a statement of the grounds for the
order asserted by the officer or the allegedly abused person.

E. The court or magistrate shall forthwith, but in all cases no later than the
end of the business day on which the order was issued, enter and transfer
electronically to the Virginia Criminal Information Network the
respondent&#8217;s identifying information and the name, date of birth, sex, and
race of each protected person provided to the court or magistrate. A copy of an
emergency protective order issued pursuant to this section containing any such
identifying information shall be forwarded forthwith to the primary
law-enforcement agency responsible for service and entry of protective orders.
Upon receipt of the order by the primary law-enforcement agency, the agency
shall forthwith verify and enter any modification as necessary to the
identifying information and other appropriate information required by the
Department of State Police into the Virginia Criminal Information Network
established and maintained by the Department pursuant to Chapter 2 (&#xA7; 52-12
et seq.) of Title 52 and the order shall be served forthwith upon the respondent
and due return made to the court. However, if the order is issued by the circuit
court, the clerk of the circuit court shall forthwith forward an attested copy
of the order containing the respondent&#8217;s identifying information and the
name, date of birth, sex, and race of each protected person provided to the
court to the primary law-enforcement agency providing service and entry of
protective orders and upon receipt of the order, the primary law-enforcement
agency shall enter the name of the person subject to the order and other
appropriate information required by the Department of State Police into the
Virginia Criminal Network established and maintained by the Department pursuant
to Chapter 2 (&#xA7; 52-12 et seq.) of Title 52 and the order shall be served
forthwith on the respondent. Upon service, the agency making service shall enter
the date and time of service and other appropriate information required by the
Department of State Police into the Virginia Criminal Information Network and
make due return to the court. One copy of the order shall be given to the
allegedly abused person when it is issued, and one copy shall be filed with the
written report required by subsection D of &#xA7; 19.2-81.3. The judge or
magistrate who issues an oral order pursuant to an electronic request by a
law-enforcement officer shall verify the written order to determine whether the
officer who reduced it to writing accurately transcribed the contents of the
oral order. The original copy shall be filed with the clerk of the juvenile and
domestic relations district court within five business days of the issuance of
the order. If the order is later dissolved or modified, a copy of the
dissolution or modification order shall also be attested, forwarded forthwith to
the primary law-enforcement agency responsible for service and entry of
protective orders, and upon receipt of the order by the primary law-enforcement
agency, the agency shall forthwith verify and enter any modification as
necessary to the identifying information and other appropriate information
required by the Department of State Police into the Virginia Criminal
Information Network as described above and the order shall be served forthwith
and due return made to the court. Upon request, the clerk shall provide the
allegedly abused person with information regarding the date and time of service.

F. The availability of an emergency protective order shall not be affected by
the fact that the family or household member left the premises to avoid the
danger of family abuse by the respondent.

G. The issuance of an emergency protective order shall not be considered
evidence of any wrongdoing by the respondent.

H. As used in this section, &#8220;law-enforcement officer&#8221; means (i) any
full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff&#8217;s office
which is part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political
subdivision thereof and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of
crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of the
Commonwealth; (ii) any member of an auxiliary police force established pursuant
to &#xA7; 15.2-1731; and (iii) any special conservator of the peace who meets
the certification requirements for a law-enforcement officer as set forth in
&#xA7; 15.2-1706. Part-time employees are compensated officers who are not
full-time employees as defined by the employing police department or
sheriff&#8217;s office.

I. Neither a law-enforcement agency, the attorney for the Commonwealth, a court
nor the clerk&#8217;s office, nor any employee of them, may disclose, except
among themselves, the residential address, telephone number, or place of
employment of the person protected by the order or that of the family of such
person, except to the extent that disclosure is (i) required by law or the Rules
of the Supreme Court, (ii) necessary for law-enforcement purposes, or (iii)
permitted by the court for good cause.

J. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Copy&#8221; includes a facsimile copy.
			&#8220;Physical presence&#8221; includes (i) intentionally maintaining direct
visual contact with the petitioner or (ii) unreasonably being within 100 feet
from the petitioner&#8217;s residence or place of employment.

K. No fee shall be charged for filing or serving any petition or order pursuant
to this section.

L. Except as provided in &#xA7; 16.1-253.2, a violation of a protective order
issued under this section shall constitute contempt of court.

M. Upon issuance of an emergency protective order, the clerk of court shall make
available to the petitioner information that is published by the Department of
Criminal Justice Services for victims of domestic violence or for petitioners in
protective order cases.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 715; 1992, c. 742; 1994, c. 907; 1996, c. 866; 1997, c. 603;
1998, cc. 677, 684; 1999, c. 807; 2001, c. 474; 2002, cc. 508, 706, 810, 818;
2007, cc. 396, 661; 2008, cc. 73, 246; 2009, c. 732; 2011, cc. 445, 480; 2012,
cc. 637, 827; 2014, cc. 346, 779, 797; 2016, c. 455; 2018, c. 652; 2025, c. 26.