                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

(EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026) TO WHOM SEARCH WARRANT DIRECTED; WHAT IT SHALL COMMAND;
WARRANT TO SHOW DATE AND TIME OF ISSUANCE; COPY OF AFFIDAVIT TO BE PART OF
WARRANT AND SERVED THEREWITH; WARRANTS NOT EXECUTED WITHIN 15 DAYS (§ 19.2-56)

A. The judge, magistrate, or other official authorized to issue criminal
warrants shall issue a search warrant only if he finds from the facts or
circumstances recited in the affidavit that there is probable cause for the
issuance thereof. If a search warrant is issued for electronic records of a
foreign corporation, as described in &#xA7; 19.2-53, such affidavit shall state
that the complainant believes such records are actually or constructively
possessed by such foreign corporation. In order to comply with the requirements
of &#xA7; 19.2-54, any search of the records of a foreign corporation, as
described in &#xA7; 19.2-53, shall be deemed to have been made in the same place
where the search warrant was issued.
			Every search warrant shall be directed (i) to the sheriff, sergeant, or any
policeman of the county, city, or town in which the place to be searched is
located; (ii) to any law-enforcement officer or agent employed by the
Commonwealth and vested with the powers of sheriffs and police; or (iii) jointly
to any such sheriff, sergeant, policeman, or law-enforcement officer or agent
and an agent, special agent, or officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S. Department
of Justice, the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United
States Army Criminal Investigation Division, the United States Air Force Office
of Special Investigations, or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any
inspector, law-enforcement official, or police personnel of the United States
Postal Service or the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The warrant shall
(a) name the affiant, (b) recite the offense or the identity of the person to be
arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been issued in relation to
which the search is to be made, (c) name or describe the place to be searched,
(d) describe the property or person to be searched for, and (e) recite that the
magistrate has found probable cause to believe that the property or person
constitutes evidence of a crime (identified in the warrant) or tends to show
that a person (named or described therein) has committed or is committing a
crime or that the person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest
has been issued is located at the place to be searched.
			The warrant shall command that the place be forthwith searched and that the
objects or persons described in the warrant, if found there, be seized. An
inventory shall be produced before a court having jurisdiction of the offense or
over the person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been
issued in relation to which the warrant was issued as provided in &#xA7;
19.2-57.
			Any such warrant as provided in this section shall be executed by the
policeman or other law-enforcement officer or agent into whose hands it shall
come or be delivered. If the warrant is directed jointly to a sheriff, sergeant,
policeman, or law-enforcement officer or agent of the Commonwealth and a federal
agent or officer as otherwise provided in this section, the warrant may be
executed jointly or by the policeman, law-enforcement officer, or agent into
whose hands it is delivered. No other person may be permitted to be present
during or participate in the execution of a warrant to search a place except (1)
the owners and occupants of the place to be searched when permitted to be
present by the officer in charge of the conduct of the search and (2) persons
designated by the officer in charge of the conduct of the search to assist or
provide expertise in the conduct of the search.
			Any search warrant for records or other information pertaining to a
subscriber to, or customer of, an electronic communication service or remote
computing service, whether a domestic corporation or foreign corporation, that
is transacting or has transacted any business in the Commonwealth, to be
executed upon such service provider may be executed within or outside the
Commonwealth by hand, United States mail, commercial delivery service,
facsimile, or other electronic means upon the service provider. Notwithstanding
the provisions of &#xA7; 19.2-57, the officer executing a warrant pursuant to
this paragraph shall endorse the date of execution thereon and shall file the
warrant, with the inventory attached (or a notation that no property was seized)
and the accompanying affidavit, unless such affidavit was made by voice or
videotape recording, within three days after the materials ordered to be
produced are received by the officer from the service provider. The return shall
be made in the circuit court clerk&#8217;s office for the jurisdiction wherein
the warrant was (A) executed, if executed within the Commonwealth, and a copy of
the return shall also be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of the
county or city where the warrant was issued or (B) issued, if executed outside
the Commonwealth. Saturdays, Sundays, or any federal or state legal holiday
shall not be used in computing the three-day filing period.
			Electronic communication service or remote computing service providers,
whether a foreign or domestic corporation, shall also provide the contents of
electronic communications pursuant to a search warrant issued under this section
and &#xA7; 19.2-70.3 using the same process described in the preceding
paragraph.
			Any search warrant for electronic records or other information stored outside
of the Commonwealth by a commercial enterprise, whether a domestic corporation
or a foreign corporation, that is transacting or has transacted any business in
the Commonwealth, to be executed upon such commercial enterprise may be executed
within or outside the Commonwealth by hand, United States mail, commercial
delivery service, facsimile, or other electronic means upon the commercial
enterprise. Notwithstanding the provisions of &#xA7; 19.2-57, the officer
executing a warrant pursuant to this paragraph shall endorse the date of
execution thereon and shall file the warrant, with the inventory attached (or a
notation that no property was seized) and the accompanying affidavit, unless
such affidavit was made by voice or videotape recording, within three days after
the materials ordered to be produced are received by the officer from the
commercial enterprise. The return shall be made in the circuit court
clerk&#8217;s office for the jurisdiction wherein the warrant was (I) executed,
if executed within the Commonwealth, and a copy of the return shall also be
delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city where the
warrant was issued or (II) issued, if executed outside the Commonwealth.
Saturdays, Sundays, or any federal or state legal holiday shall not be used in
computing the three-day filing period.
			Notwithstanding the provisions of &#xA7; 19.2-57, any search warrant for
records or other information pertaining to a customer of a financial institution
as defined in &#xA7; 6.2-604, money transmitter as defined in &#xA7; 6.2-1922,
commercial business providing credit history or credit reports, or issuer as
defined in &#xA7; 6.2-424 may be executed within the Commonwealth by hand,
United States mail, commercial delivery service, facsimile, or other electronic
means upon the financial institution, money transmitter, commercial business
providing credit history or credit reports, or issuer. The officer executing
such warrant shall endorse the date of execution thereon and shall file the
warrant, with the inventory attached (or a notation that no property was seized)
and the accompanying affidavit, unless such affidavit was made by voice or
videotape recording, within three days after the materials ordered to be
produced are received by the officer from the financial institution, money
transmitter, commercial business providing credit history or credit reports, or
issuer. The return shall be made in the circuit court clerk&#8217;s office for
the jurisdiction wherein the warrant was executed. Saturdays, Sundays, or any
federal or state legal holiday shall not be used in computing the three-day
filing period. For the purposes of this section, the warrant will be considered
executed in the jurisdiction where the entity on which the warrant is served is
located.
			Every search warrant shall contain the date and time it was issued. However,
the failure of any such search warrant to contain the date and time it was
issued shall not render the warrant void, provided that the date and time of
issuing of said warrant is established by competent evidence.
			The judge, magistrate, or other official authorized to issue criminal
warrants shall attach a copy of the affidavit required by &#xA7; 19.2-54, which
shall become a part of the search warrant and served therewith. However, this
provision shall not be applicable in any case in which the affidavit is made by
means of a voice or videotape recording or where the affidavit has been sealed
pursuant to &#xA7; 19.2-54.
			Any search warrant not executed within 15 days after issuance thereof shall
be returned to, and voided by, the officer who issued such search warrant.

B. No law-enforcement officer shall seek, execute, or participate in the
execution of a no-knock search warrant. A search warrant for any place of abode
authorized under this section shall require that a law-enforcement officer be
recognizable and identifiable as a uniformed law-enforcement officer and provide
audible notice of his authority and purpose reasonably designed to be heard by
the occupants of such place to be searched prior to the execution of such search
warrant.
			After entering and securing the place to be searched and prior to undertaking
any search or seizure pursuant to the search warrant, the executing
law-enforcement officer shall give a copy of the search warrant and affidavit to
the person to be searched or the owner of the place to be searched or, if the
owner is not present, to at least one adult occupant of the place to be
searched. If the place to be searched is unoccupied by an adult, the executing
law-enforcement officer shall leave a copy of the search warrant and affidavit
in a conspicuous place within or affixed to the place to be searched.
			Search warrants authorized under this section for the search of any place of
abode shall be executed by initial entry of the abode only in the daytime hours
between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. unless (i) a judge or a magistrate, if a judge
is not available, authorizes the execution of such search warrant at another
time for good cause shown by particularized facts in an affidavit or (ii) prior
to the issuance of the search warrant, law-enforcement officers lawfully entered
and secured the place to be searched and remained at such place continuously.
			A law-enforcement officer shall make reasonable efforts to locate a judge
before seeking authorization to execute the warrant at another time, unless
circumstances require the issuance of the warrant after 5:00 p.m., pursuant to
the provisions of this subsection, in which case the law-enforcement officer may
seek such authorization from a magistrate without first making reasonable
efforts to locate a judge. Such reasonable efforts shall be documented in an
affidavit and submitted to a magistrate when seeking such authorization.
			Any evidence obtained from a search warrant executed in violation of this
subsection shall not be admitted into evidence for the Commonwealth in any
prosecution.

C. For the purposes of this section:
			&#8220;Foreign corporation&#8221; means any corporation or other entity,
whose primary place of business is located outside of the boundaries of the
Commonwealth, that makes a contract or engages in a terms of service agreement
with a resident of the Commonwealth to be performed in whole or in part by
either party in the Commonwealth, or a corporation that has been issued a
certificate of authority pursuant to &#xA7; 13.1-759 to transact business in the
Commonwealth. The making of the contract or terms of service agreement or the
issuance of a certificate of authority shall be considered to be the agreement
of the foreign corporation or entity that a search warrant or subpoena, which
has been properly served on it, has the same legal force and effect as if served
personally within the Commonwealth.
			&#8220;Properly served&#8221; means delivery of a search warrant or subpoena
by hand, by United States mail, by commercial delivery service, by facsimile or
by any other manner to any officer of a corporation or its general manager in
the Commonwealth, to any natural person designated by it as agent for the
service of process, or if such corporation has designated a corporate agent, to
any person named in the latest annual report filed pursuant to &#xA7; 13.1-775.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 19.1-86; 1960, c. 366; 1968, c. 572; 1975, c. 495; 1977,
c. 289; 1979, c. 584; 1980, c. 573; 1981, c. 559; 1984, cc. 491, 598; 1988, c.
50; 1989, c. 719; 2000, c. 783; 2001, cc. 183, 205; 2007, c. 416; 2009, c. 725;
2015, cc. 75, 126; 2017, cc. 228, 233, 242, 641; 2018, c. 410; 2020, Sp. Sess.
I, cc. 31, 37; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 34; 2022, c. 403; 2023, cc. 107, 108; 2025,
cc. 214, 345.