                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

RECORDS, ETC., OPEN TO INSPECTION; COPIES; EXCEPTION (§ 17.1-208)

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. Except as otherwise provided by law, any records that are maintained by the
clerks of the circuit courts shall be open to inspection in the office of the
clerk by any person and the clerk shall, when requested, furnish copies thereof
subject to any reasonable fee charged by the clerk pursuant to &#xA7; 17.1-275.
No person shall be permitted to use the clerk&#8217;s office for the purpose of
making copies of records in such manner, or to such extent, as will, in the
determination of the clerk, interfere with the business of the office or with
its reasonable use by the general public. The certificate of the clerk to copies
furnished by the clerk shall, if the paper copied be recorded in a bound volume,
contain the name and number of the volume and the page or folio at which the
recordation of the paper begins, or the instrument number as applicable, and the
clerk may charge a fee therefor pursuant to &#xA7; 17.1-275. The certificate of
the circuit court clerk to such copies may be provided electronically subject to
the provisions of &#xA7; 17.1-258.3:2. Such electronic certificate may reference
an instrument number, bound volume, or other case number, but is not required to
do so.

C. Requests for copies of nonconfidential court records maintained in individual
case files shall be made to the clerk of the circuit court.

D. 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 of aggregated case data to be
sold or posted on any other website or in any way redistributed to any third
party. The clerk or 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.

E. 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 for providing 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. Neither a 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.

F. Except 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.

G. 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.

H. 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.

I. Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to court records
transferred to the Library of Virginia for permanent archiving pursuant to the
duties imposed by the Virginia Public Records Act (&#xA7; 42.1-76 et seq.). In
accordance with &#xA7; 42.1-79, the Library of Virginia shall be the custodian
of such permanently archived records and shall be responsible for responding to
requests for such records.

HISTORY: Code 1919, § 3388, § 17-43; 1920, p. 242; 1930, p. 353; 1936, p. 17;
1942, p. 242; 1944, p. 40; 1946, p. 56; 1947, p. 96; 1952, c. 286; 1998, c. 872;
2002, c. 299; 2007, cc. 548, 626; 2013, c. 77; 2015, c. 641; 2018, cc. 127, 584.