CHAPTER 172
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 16.1-69.54:1 and 17.1-208 of the Code of Virginia, relating to court records; aggregated case data; request by attorney for the Commonwealth exempted.
[H 567]
Approved April 6, 2026
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 16.1-69.54:1 and 17.1-208 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 16.1-69.54:1 . Request for district court records.
A. For the purposes of this section, "confidential court records," "court records," and "nonconfidential court records" shall have the same meaning as set forth in § 17.1-292 .
B. Requests for copies of nonconfidential court records maintained in individual case files shall be made to the clerk of a district court.
C. Requests for reports of aggregated, nonconfidential case data fields that are viewable through the online case information systems maintained by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court shall be made to the Office of the Executive Secretary. Such reports of aggregated case data shall not include the name, date of birth, or social security number of any party and shall not include images of the individual records in the respective case files. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to permit any reports or aggregated case data to be sold or posted on any other website or in any way redistributed to any third party. The Executive Secretary, in his discretion, may deny such request to ensure compliance with these provisions. However, such data may be included in products or services provided to a third party, provided that such data is not made available to the general public. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if such request is made by an attorney for the Commonwealth to assist in the performance of his duties, the Executive Secretary shall approve such request and provide such report of aggregated case data, which shall include the name, date of birth, and the last four digits of the social security number of any party if such information is requested, only for cases arising within the jurisdiction of such attorney for the Commonwealth. No report of aggregated case data that includes the name, date of birth, and the last four digits of the social security number of any party provided to an attorney for the Commonwealth shall be disseminated further unless such information is redacted.
D. Any clerk or the Executive Secretary, as applicable, may require that the request be in writing and that the requester provide his name and legal address. A request for nonconfidential court records or reports of aggregated nonconfidential case data shall identify the requested records with reasonable specificity. Any clerk or the Executive Secretary, as applicable, may determine the costs to provide the requested records to the requester, advise the requester of such costs, and, before continuing to process the request, require the requester to agree to payment of a deposit not to exceed the amount of the advance determination, which shall be credited to the final cost of supplying the requested records. No clerk, nor the Executive Secretary, shall be required to create a new record if the record does not already exist or provide a report of aggregated, nonconfidential case data in a format not regularly used by the clerk or the Executive Secretary; however, a clerk or the Executive Secretary, as applicable, may abstract or summarize information under such terms and conditions as agreed to by the requester and the clerk or Executive Secretary, as provided herein.