                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

POSTING AND AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET; PROHIBITIONS
(§ 17.1-293)

A. Notwithstanding Chapter 37 (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et seq.) of Title 2.2 or
subsection B, it is unlawful for any court clerk to disclose the social security
number or other identification numbers appearing on driver&#8217;s licenses or
other documents issued under Chapter 3 (&#xA7; 46.2-300 et seq.) of Title 46.2
or the comparable law of another jurisdiction or information on credit cards,
debit cards, bank accounts, or other electronic billing and payment systems that
was supplied to a court clerk for the purpose of paying fees, fines, taxes, or
other charges collected by such court clerk. The prohibition shall not apply
where disclosure of such information is required (i) to conduct or complete the
transaction for which such information was submitted or (ii) by other law or
court order.

B. Beginning January 1, 2004, no court clerk shall post on the Internet any
document that contains the following information: (i) an actual signature, (ii)
a social security number, (iii) a date of birth identified with a particular
person, (iv) the maiden name of a person&#8217;s parent so as to be identified
with a particular person, (v) any financial account number or numbers, or (vi)
the name and age of any minor child.

C. Each such clerk shall post notice that includes a list of the documents
routinely posted on its website. However, the clerk shall not post information
on his website that includes private activity for private financial gain.

D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit access to any original
document as provided by law.

E. This section shall not apply to the following:

   1. Providing access to any document among the land records via secure remote
   access pursuant to &#xA7; 17.1-294;

   2. Postings related to legitimate law-enforcement purposes;

   3. Postings of historical, genealogical, interpretive, or educational
   documents and information about historic persons and events;

   4. Postings of instruments and records filed or recorded that are more than
   100 years old;

   5. Providing secure remote access to any person, his counsel, or staff which
   counsel directly supervises to documents filed in matters to which such person
   is a party;

   6. Providing official certificates and certified records in digital form of
   any document maintained by the clerk pursuant to &#xA7; 17.1-258.3:2; and

   7. Providing secure remote access to nonconfidential court records, subject to
   any fees charged by the clerk, to members in good standing with the Virginia
   State Bar and their authorized agents, pro hac vice attorneys authorized by
   the court for purposes of the practice of law, and such governmental agencies
   as authorized by the clerk.

F. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Supreme Court or any other court
clerk from providing online access to a case management system that may include
abstracts of case filings and proceedings in the courts of the Commonwealth,
including online access to subscribers of nonconfidential criminal case
information to confirm the complete date of birth of a defendant.

G. The court clerk shall be immune from suit arising from any acts or omissions
relating to providing remote access on the Internet pursuant to this section
unless the clerk was grossly negligent or engaged in willful misconduct.
			This subsection shall not be construed to limit, withdraw, or overturn any
defense or immunity already existing in statutory or common law, or to affect
any cause of action accruing prior to July 1, 2005.

H. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit any data accessed by
secure remote access to be sold or posted on any other website or in any way
redistributed to any third party, and the clerk, in his discretion, may deny
secure remote access to ensure compliance with these provisions. However, the
data accessed by secure remote access may be included in products or services
provided to a third party of the subscriber provided that (i) such data is not
made available to the general public and (ii) the subscriber maintains
administrative, technical, and security safeguards to protect the
confidentiality, integrity, and limited availability of the data.

HISTORY: 2007, cc. 548, 626; 2010, c. 430; 2011, cc. 557, 625, 689, 715; 2012,
c. 234; 2013, c. 77; 2014, c. 460; 2017, cc. 78, 92; 2020, cc. 1227, 1246.