                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

(EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026) DISPOSITION OF RECORDS WHEN AN OFFENSE IS SEALED;
PERMITTED USES OF SEALED RECORDS (§ 19.2-392.13)

A. Upon electronic notification that a court order for sealing has been entered
pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-392.7, 19.2-392.10, 19.2-392.11, 19.2-392.12, or
19.2-392.12:1, or upon the sealing of an offense without a court order pursuant
to &#xA7; 19.2-392.6:1 or 19.2-392.17, the Department of State Police shall not
disseminate any criminal history record information contained in the Central
Criminal Records Exchange, including any records relating to an arrest, charge,
or conviction, that was ordered to be sealed, except for purposes set forth in
this section and pursuant to rules and regulations adopted pursuant to &#xA7;
9.1-128 and procedures adopted pursuant to &#xA7; 9.1-134. Upon receipt of such
electronic notification, the Department of State Police shall electronically
notify those agencies and individuals known to maintain or to have obtained such
a record that such record has been ordered to be sealed and may only be
disseminated for purposes set forth in this section and pursuant to rules and
regulations adopted pursuant to &#xA7; 9.1-128 and procedures adopted pursuant
to &#xA7; 9.1-134. Any records maintained electronically that are transformed or
transferred by whatever means to an offline system or to a confidential and
secure area inaccessible from normal use within the system in which the record
is maintained shall be considered sealed, provided that such records are
accessible only to the manager of the records or their designee.

B. Upon entry of a court order for sealing pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-392.7,
19.2-392.8, 19.2-392.11, 19.2-392.12, or 19.2-392.12:1, or upon the sealing of
an offense without a court order pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-392.6:1 or 19.2-392.17,
the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court and any circuit court clerk who
maintains a case management system that interfaces with the Department of State
Police under subsection B1 of &#xA7; 17.1-502 shall ensure that the court record
of such arrest, charge, or conviction is not available for public online viewing
as directed by subsections B and C of &#xA7; 17.1-293.1. Additionally, upon
entry of such an order for sealing, the clerk of the court shall not disseminate
any court record of such arrest, charge, or conviction, except as provided in
subsections D and E.

C. Records relating to an arrest, charge, or conviction that was ordered to be
sealed pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-392.7, 19.2-392.8, 19.2-392.11, 19.2-392.12,
19.2-392.12:1, or upon the sealing of an offense without a court order pursuant
to &#xA7; 19.2-392.6:1 or 19.2-392.17, shall not be open for public inspection
or otherwise disclosed, provided that such records may be disseminated and used
for the following purposes: (i) to make the determination as provided in &#xA7;
18.2-308.2:2 or through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System of
eligibility to possess or purchase a firearm; (ii) for fingerprint comparison
utilizing the fingerprints maintained in the Automated Fingerprint Information
System; (iii) to the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, the Virginia State
Crime Commission, and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for
research purposes; (iv) to any full-time or part-time employee of the State
Police or a police department or sheriff&#8217;s office that is a part of or
administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof for the
purpose of screening any person for full-time employment or part-time employment
with, or to be a volunteer with, the State Police or a police department or
sheriff&#8217;s office that is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or
any political subdivision thereof; (v) to the State Health Commissioner or his
designee for the purpose of screening any person who applies to be a volunteer
with or an employee of an emergency medical services agency as provided in
&#xA7; 32.1-111.5; (vi) to any full-time or part-time employee of the Department
of Forensic Science for the purpose of screening any person for full-time or
part-time employment with the Department of Forensic Science; (vii) to the chief
law-enforcement officer of a locality, or his designee who shall be an
individual employed as a public safety official of the locality, that has
adopted an ordinance in accordance with &#xA7;&#xA7; 15.2-1503.1 and 19.2-389
for the purpose of screening any person who applies to be a volunteer with or an
employee of an emergency medical services agency as provided in &#xA7;
32.1-111.5; (viii) to any full-time or part-time employee of the Department of
Motor Vehicles, any employer as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-341.4, or any medical
examiner as defined in 49 C.F.R. &#xA7; 390.5 for the purpose of complying with
the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; (ix) to any
employer or prospective employer or its designee where federal law requires the
employer to inquire about prior criminal charges or convictions; (x) to any
employer or prospective employer or its designee where the position that a
person is applying for, or where access to the premises in or upon which any
part of the duties of such position is performed or is to be performed, is
subject to any requirement imposed in the interest of the national security of
the United States under any security program in effect pursuant to or
administered under any contract with, or statute or regulation of, the United
States or any Executive Order of the President; (xi) to any person authorized to
engage in the collection of court costs, fines, or restitution under subsection
C of &#xA7; 19.2-349 for purposes of collecting such court costs, fines, or
restitution; (xii) to administer and utilize the DNA Analysis and Data Bank set
forth in Article 1.1 (&#xA7; 19.2-310.2 et seq.) of Chapter 18; (xiii) to
publish decisions of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or any circuit court;
(xiv) to any full-time or part-time employee of a court, the Office of the
Executive Secretary, the Division of Legislative Services, or the Chairs of the
House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice for the purpose of screening
any person for full-time or part-time employment as a clerk, magistrate, or
judge with a court or the Office of the Executive Secretary; (xv) to any
employer or prospective employer or its designee where this Code or a local
ordinance requires the employer to inquire about prior criminal charges or
convictions; (xvi) to any employer or prospective employer or its designee that
is allowed access to such sealed records in accordance with the rules and
regulations adopted pursuant to &#xA7; 9.1-128 and procedures adopted pursuant
to &#xA7; 9.1-134; (xvii) to any business screening service for purposes of
complying with &#xA7; 19.2-392.16; (xviii) to any attorney for the Commonwealth
and any person accused of a violation of law, or counsel for the accused, in
order to comply with any constitutional and statutory duties to provide
exculpatory, mitigating, and impeachment evidence to an accused; (xix) to any
party in a criminal or civil proceeding for use as authorized by law in such
proceeding; (xx) to any party for use in a protective order hearing as
authorized by law; (xxi) to the Department of Social Services or any local
department of social services for purposes of performing any statutory duties as
required under Title 63.2; (xxii) to any party in a proceeding relating to the
care and custody of a child for use as authorized by law in such proceeding;
(xxiii) to the attorney for the Commonwealth and the court for purposes of
determining eligibility for sealing pursuant to the provisions of &#xA7;
19.2-392.12, whether the court or parties failed to strictly comply with sealing
procedures, or whether an order for sealing was entered contrary to law; (xxiv)
to determine a person&#8217;s eligibility to be empaneled as a juror; (xxv) to
the Auditor of Public Accounts for audit purposes; (xxvi) to the Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and any entity defined under &#xA7;
37.2-100 for purposes of providing any services or functions as defined in such
section; (xxvii) to the attorney for the Commonwealth, the defendant or his
counsel, any magistrate, any local community-based probation services agency or
pretrial services agency, the Department of State Police, any police department,
any sheriff&#8217;s office, any campus police department, the Department of
Corrections, any court, and the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission for the
purposes set forth in subsection H of &#xA7; 19.2-392.5; and (xxviii) to the
person arrested, charged, or convicted of the offense that was sealed.

C1. In addition to the purposes set forth in subsection C, a sealed record may
be disseminated without a court order within or between any department,
division, board, bureau, commission, branch, authority or other agency created
by the Commonwealth, or to which the Commission is a party or any political
subdivision thereof, or with any federal agency, for the purpose of
administering any duties or functions required by state or federal law. Nothing
in this subsection shall authorize a business screening service to allow
dissemination of a sealed record due to its continued existence in any such
record.

D. Upon request from any person to access a paper or a digital image of a court
record, the clerk of the court shall determine whether such record is open to
public access and inspection. If the clerk of the court determines that the
court record has been sealed, such record shall not be provided to the requestor
without an order from the court that entered the order to seal the court record
or from the court in which the final disposition was entered if the offense was
sealed without the entry of a court order. Any order from a court that allows
access to a paper or a digital image of a court record that has been sealed
shall only be issued for one or more of the purposes set forth in subsection C.
Such order to access a paper or a digital image of a court record that has been
sealed shall allow the requestor to photocopy such court record. No fee shall be
charged to any person filing a motion to access a paper or a digital image of a
court record that has been sealed if the person filing such motion is the same
person who was arrested, charged, or convicted of the offense that was sealed.

E. No access shall be provided to electronic records in an appellate court,
circuit court, or district court case management system or other system
containing electronic case information maintained by the Executive Secretary of
the Supreme Court or in a case management system maintained by a clerk of the
circuit court for any arrest, charge, or conviction that was ordered to be
sealed pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-392.7, 19.2-392.8, 19.2-392.11, 19.2-392.12,
19.2-392.12:1, or upon the sealing of an offense without a court order pursuant
to &#xA7; 19.2-392.6:1 or 19.2-392.17, except to (i) the Virginia Criminal
Sentencing Commission, the Virginia State Crime Commission, and the Joint
Legislative Audit and Review Commission for research purposes; (ii) the Auditor
of Public Accounts for audit purposes; (iii) any person authorized to engage in
the collection of court costs, fines, or restitution under subsection C of
&#xA7; 19.2-349 for the purposes of collection of such court costs, fines, or
restitution; and (iv) any person authorized to submit a request for payment to
the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court for services provided
in a criminal case. Electronic records may be disseminated as authorized in this
subsection without a court order.

F. If a pleading or case document in a court record that was sealed is included
among other court records that have not been ordered to be sealed, the clerk of
the court shall not be required to prohibit dissemination of that record. If an
appellate court record contains court records that have been sealed, with or
without a court order, and court records that have not been sealed, the clerk of
the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals shall not be required to prohibit
dissemination of such appellate record. Any circuit court shall not be required
to prohibit dissemination of any published or unpublished opinion relating to an
arrest, charge, or conviction that was ordered to be sealed. The Supreme Court
and Court of Appeals shall not be required to prohibit dissemination of any (i)
published or unpublished opinion, order, or summary of a case; (ii) court
records for matters in which the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals has original
jurisdiction; or (iii) appellate court record of a traffic infraction under
Title 46.2 that is not punishable as a criminal offense relating to an arrest,
charge, or conviction that was sealed. A clerk of the court shall not be
required to redact information pertaining to a court record that has been sealed
in any reports or electronic transmissions of case information that are required
by statute or prepared and distributed to a state or local government entity in
the normal course of business. Nothing in this subsection shall authorize a
business screening service to allow dissemination of a sealed record due to its
continued existence in any appellate record.

G. The clerk of any circuit court shall not be required to redact any sealed
record contained in (i) an order book or order book index; (ii) a land record,
as defined in subsection B of &#xA7; 17.1-292; or (iii) on microfilm or
microfiche. The clerk of any circuit court shall not be required to redact or
seal any paper record for an offense that has been sealed pursuant to &#xA7;
19.2-392.6:1 or 19.2-392.17. The clerk of any circuit court who physically
removes the paper record of the primary case file for any other charge or
conviction that has been sealed and maintains that file in a physically secure
location that is not accessible to the public shall be in compliance with the
requirement to seal the paper record. For the purposes of this subsection, the
primary case file includes the indictment or warrant and any other papers
relating to any proceedings on such indictment or warrant. Nothing in this
subsection shall authorize a business screening service to allow dissemination
of a sealed record due to its continued existence in any such record.

H. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall not seal any conviction or any charge
that was deferred and dismissed after a finding of facts sufficient to justify a
finding of guilt (i) in violation of federal regulatory record retention
requirements or (ii) in violation of federal program requirements if the
Department of Motor Vehicles is required to suspend a person&#8217;s driving
privileges as a result of a conviction or deferral and dismissal ordered to be
sealed. Upon receipt of an electronic notification of an order directing that an
offense be sealed, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall seal all records if
the federal regulatory record retention period has run and all federal program
requirements associated with a suspension have been satisfied. However, if the
Department of Motor Vehicles cannot seal an offense pursuant to this subsection
at the time it is ordered, the Department of Motor Vehicles shall (a) notify the
Department of State Police of the reason the record cannot be sealed and cite
the authority prohibiting sealing at the time it is ordered; (b) notify the
Department of State Police of the date, if known at the time when the sealing is
ordered, on which such record can be sealed; (c) seal such record on that date;
and (d) notify the Department of State Police when such record has been sealed
within the Department of Motor Vehicles&#8217; records.

I. The Library of Virginia shall not be required to seal any court records in
its possession, provided that such records are not accessible or disseminated to
the public.

J. No arrest, charge, or conviction that has been sealed may be used to impeach
the credibility of a testifying witness at any hearing or trial unless (i) its
probative value, supported by specific facts and circumstances, substantially
outweighs its prejudicial effect and (ii) the proponent gives an adverse party
reasonable written notice of the intent to use it so that the party has a fair
opportunity to contest its use.

K. The provisions of this section shall not prohibit the disclosure of sealed
criminal history record information or any information from such records among
law-enforcement officers and attorneys when such disclosures are made by such
officers or attorneys while engaged in the performance of their duties for
purposes solely relating to the disclosure or use of exculpatory, mitigating,
and impeachment evidence or between attorneys for the Commonwealth when related
to the prosecution of a separate crime.

HISTORY: 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 524, 542; 2023, cc. 554, 555; 2025, cc. 634,
671.