                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

FEE ALLOWED FOR PROVIDING SECURE REMOTE ACCESS TO LAND RECORDS (§ 17.1-276)

A. A clerk of the circuit court who provides secure remote access to land
records pursuant to &#xA7; 17.1-294 may charge a fee as provided in this
section. The fee shall be paid to the clerk&#8217;s office and deposited by the
clerk into the clerk&#8217;s nonreverting local fund to be used to cover
operational expenses as defined in &#xA7; 17.1-295. The clerk may charge a flat
clerk&#8217;s fee to be assessed for each subscriber, as defined in &#xA7;
17.1-295, in an amount not to exceed $50 per month and a separate fee per image
downloaded in an amount not to exceed the fee provided in subdivision A 8 of
&#xA7; 17.1-275. The clerk&#8217;s fees shall be used to cover operational
expenses as defined in &#xA7; 17.1-295.
			The Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Debt Collection, the
Department of Transportation, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Department
of Historic Resources, the Department of General Services, the Department of
Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, the Virginia Alcoholic
Beverage Control Authority, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation,
and the State Corporation Commission shall be exempt from paying any fee for
remote access to land records. If any clerk contracts with an outside vendor to
provide remote access to land records to subscribers, such contract shall
contain a provision exempting the Office of the Attorney General, the Division
of Debt Collection, the Department of Transportation, the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation, the Department of Historic Resources, the Department of General
Services, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of
Forestry, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Department of
Rail and Public Transportation, and the State Corporation Commission from paying
any access or subscription fee.

B. The circuit court clerk shall enter into an agreement with each person whom
the clerk authorizes to have remote access, in accordance with the security
standards established by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. Any such
agreement between a state agency or employee thereof acting in the
employee&#8217;s official capacity and the clerk or an outside vendor contracted
by the clerk to provide remote access to land records to subscribers, or such an
agreement between a state agency or employee thereof acting in the
employee&#8217;s official capacity and both the clerk and the outside vendor,
shall not contain any provision requiring the state agency or employee thereof
acting in the employee&#8217;s official capacity to indemnify the clerk or the
vendor. Any such agreement between a state agency and the clerk or an outside
vendor shall provide that the state agency is required to monitor its
employees&#8217; activity under such agreement to ensure compliance with its
terms.

C. The clerk may establish a program under which the clerk assesses a reasonable
convenience fee that shall not exceed $2 per transaction for remote access to
land records and a separate fee per image downloaded in an amount not to exceed
the fee provided in subdivision A 8 of &#xA7; 17.1-275.

D. Nothing herein shall be construed to require the use by the general public of
the secure remote access to land records made available by the clerk, and such
records may continue to be accessed in person in the clerk&#8217;s office.

HISTORY: 1985, c. 489, § 14.1-118.1; 1993, c. 445; 1995, c. 592; 1997, c. 413;
1998, cc. 650, 872; 2004, c. 230; 2006, c. 474; 2008, cc. 823, 833; 2009, cc.
76, 723, 797; 2010, c. 430; 2011, cc. 434, 493; 2012, cc. 234, 469, 780; 2013,
c. 77; 2015, cc. 65, 174; 2019, c. 611; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 124.