                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

REQUEST FOR DISTRICT COURT RECORDS (§ 16.1-69.54:1)

A. For the purposes of this section, &#8220;confidential court records,&#8221;
&#8220;court records,&#8221; and &#8220;nonconfidential court records&#8221;
shall have the same meaning as set forth in &#xA7; 17.1-292.

B. Requests for copies of nonconfidential court records maintained in individual
case files shall be made to the clerk of a district court.

C. Requests for reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data fields that are
viewable through the online case information systems maintained by the Executive
Secretary of the Supreme Court shall be made to the Office of the Executive
Secretary. Such reports of aggregated case data shall not include the name, date
of birth, or social security number of any party and shall not include images of
the individual records in the respective case files. However, nothing in this
section shall be construed to permit any reports or aggregated case data to be
sold or posted on any other website or in any way redistributed to any third
party. The Executive Secretary, in his discretion, may deny such request to
ensure compliance with these provisions. However, such data may be included in
products or services provided to a third party, provided that such data is not
made available to the general public.

D. Any clerk or the Executive Secretary, as applicable, may require that the
request be in writing and that the requester provide his name and legal address.
A request for nonconfidential court records or reports of aggregated
nonconfidential case data shall identify the requested records with reasonable
specificity. Any clerk or the Executive Secretary, as applicable, may determine
the costs to provide the requested records to the requester, advise the
requester of such costs, and, before continuing to process the request, require
the requester to agree to payment of a deposit not to exceed the amount of the
advance determination, which shall be credited to the final cost of supplying
the requested records. No clerk, nor the Executive Secretary, shall be required
to create a new record if the record does not already exist or provide a report
of aggregated, nonconfidential case data in a format not regularly used by the
clerk or the Executive Secretary; however, a clerk or the Executive Secretary,
as applicable, may abstract or summarize information under such terms and
conditions as agreed to by the requester and the clerk or Executive Secretary,
as provided herein.

E. Except where the nature or size of the request would interfere with the
business of the court or with its use by the general public, or as otherwise
provided by law, the requested court records or reports of aggregated,
nonconfidential case data shall be provided to the requester within a reasonable
period of time, given the nature of the request and the availability of staff to
respond to the request, but in no event longer than 30 days from the date of a
complete request made by a requester that is fully compliant with the
requirements of this section and other applicable law. Any objection or
assertion of confidentiality shall be provided to the requester within a
reasonable period of time, but in no event longer than 30 days from the date of
a complete request made by a requester.

F. Any clerk, or the Executive Secretary, may require payment in advance of all
reasonable costs, not to exceed the actual cost incurred in accessing,
duplicating, reviewing, supplying, or searching for the requested court records
or reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data, including removing any
confidential information contained in the court records from the nonconfidential
court records being provided, excluding any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus
fees or expenses to recoup the general overhead costs associated with creating
or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the clerk or the
Office of the Executive Secretary. Before processing a request for court records
or reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data, any clerk or the Executive
Secretary may require the requester to pay any amounts owed to the clerk or the
Office of the Executive Secretary for previous requests for court records or
reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data that remain unpaid 30 days or
more after billing.

G. Any clerk and the Executive Secretary shall be immune from any suit arising
from the production of court records or reports of aggregated nonconfidential
case data in accordance with this section absent gross negligence or willful
misconduct.

HISTORY: 2018, cc. 127, 584.