CHAPTER 203
An Act to amend and reenact § 19.2-56 , as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to search warrant; search of place of abode; copy of affidavit to be part of warrant and served therewith; temporary sealing.
[H 690]
Approved April 6, 2026
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-56 , as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-56 . (Effective until 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.
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 § 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 § 19.2-54 , any search of the records of a foreign corporation, as described in § 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 § 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.