                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SUBMISSION OF QUARTERLY REPORTS CONCERNING UNEXECUTED FELONY AND MISDEMEANOR
WARRANTS AND OTHER CRIMINAL PROCESS; DESTRUCTION; DISMISSAL (§ 19.2-76.1)

It shall be the duty of the chief law-enforcement officer of the police
department or sheriff&#8217;s office, whichever is responsible for such service,
in each county, town or city of the Commonwealth to submit quarterly reports to
the attorney for the Commonwealth for the county, town or city concerning
unexecuted felony and misdemeanor arrest warrants, summonses, capiases or other
unexecuted criminal processes as hereinafter provided. The reports shall list
those existing felony arrest warrants in his possession that have not been
executed within seven years of the date of issuance, those misdemeanor arrest
warrants, summonses and capiases and other criminal processes in his possession
that have not been executed within three years from the date of issuance, and
those unexecuted misdemeanor arrest warrants, summonses and capiases in his
possession that were issued for a now deceased person, based on mistaken
identity or as a result of any other technical or legal error. The reports shall
be submitted in writing no later than the tenth day of April, July, October, and
January of each year, together with the unexecuted felony and misdemeanor
warrants, or other unexecuted criminal processes listed therein. Upon receipt of
the report and the warrants listed therein, the attorney for the Commonwealth
shall petition the circuit court of the county or city for the destruction of
such unexecuted felony and misdemeanor warrants, summonses, capiases or other
unexecuted criminal processes. The attorney for the Commonwealth may petition
that certain of the unexecuted warrants, summonses, capiases and other
unexecuted criminal processes not be destroyed based upon justifiable
continuing, active investigation of the cases. The circuit court shall order the
destruction of each such unexecuted felony warrant and each unexecuted
misdemeanor warrant, summons, capias and other criminal process except (i) any
warrant that charges aggravated murder and (ii) any unexecuted criminal process
whose preservation is deemed justifiable by the court. No arrest shall be made
under the authority of any warrant or other process which has been ordered
destroyed pursuant to this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed
to relate to or affect the time within which a prosecution for a felony or a
misdemeanor shall be commenced.
		Notwithstanding the foregoing, an attorney for the Commonwealth may at any
time move for the dismissal and destruction of any unexecuted warrant or summons
issued by a magistrate upon presentation of such warrant or summons to the court
in which the warrant or summons would otherwise be returnable. The court shall
not order the dismissal and destruction of any warrant that charges aggravated
murder and shall not order the dismissal and destruction of an unexecuted
criminal process whose preservation is deemed justifiable by the court.
Dismissal of such a warrant or summons shall be without prejudice.
		As used herein, the term &#8220;chief law-enforcement officer&#8221; refers to
the chiefs of police of cities, counties and towns and sheriffs of cities and
counties, unless a political subdivision has otherwise designated its chief
law-enforcement officer by appropriate resolution or ordinance, in which case
the local designation shall be controlling.

HISTORY: 1976, c. 252; 1979, c. 34; 1982, c. 608; 1985, c. 199; 1990, c. 626;
1991, c. 542; 1993, c. 550; 2003, c. 147; 2010, c. 652; 2011, cc. 336, 347;
2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 344, 345.