                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISPOSITION OF MONEY, SECURITIES OR DOCUMENTS SEIZED UPON ARREST, ETC., AND
PERTINENT AS EVIDENCE (§ 19.2-270.2)

A. When in the course of investigation or arrest, the investigating or arresting
officer shall seize or come into the possession of moneys, cash, or negotiable
or nonnegotiable instruments or securities, hereinafter called &#8220;moneys or
securities,&#8221; taken or retained unlawfully from a financial institution or
other person, and such moneys or securities, or a portion thereof, shall be
pertinent evidence in a pending prosecution or appeal therefrom, the officer or
agency having possession thereof, may retain, pending such prosecution or appeal
thereof, sufficient of such moneys or securities as shall be necessary to prove
the crime of grand larceny or other crimes requiring a specific amount in value.
The court upon motion of the attorney for the Commonwealth and for good cause
shown may order the release of all moneys or securities, subject to the
provisions of this section. The remaining excess moneys or securities, if any,
may be released to the owner thereof, upon proper receipt therefor, which
release shall be with the consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth. The
officer or agency authorizing such release shall make an appropriate record of
such moneys or securities released, including designation or copying of serial
numbers, and such record or receipt shall be admissible into evidence in any
proceeding, hearing or trial of the case to the same extent as if such moneys or
securities had been introduced. Such record or receipt shall contain the name of
the financial institution or person from whom such moneys or securities were
taken, the place from which taken, the name of the accused, and the name of the
arresting officer or officers coming into initial possession of such moneys or
securities. Pictures shall be taken of any instruments or securities and such
pictures shall be attached to the receipt or record above and shall contain
further, in the case of such copying, the date of the photograph and the name of
the photographer.

B. When in the course of investigation or arrest, the investigating or arresting
officer seizes or comes into the possession of moneys or securities under the
provisions of this section, and such moneys or securities, or a portion thereof,
are introduced as an exhibit in a prosecution or appeal therefrom, the court
may, with the consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, authorize the clerk
of the circuit court, upon all appeal rights being exhausted, to deposit such
moneys or cash in an interest-bearing account.

HISTORY: 1980, c. 423; 1991, c. 680; 1995, c. 447.