Title 17.1, Title 17.1. Courts of Record

A. The clerks of the several courts of the Commonwealth may, in lieu of money, collect or secure all fees, and fines and penalties collected for offenses committed against the Commonwealth or against any county, city or town, and for payment of spousal or child support, by any me…

Where an order entered in any condemnation proceeding or inverse condemnation proceeding directs the clerk to disburse just compensation, or any portion thereof, the clerk shall, unless otherwise provided in the order, promptly and in accordance with the provisions of this sectio…

A. Every writing authorized by law to be recorded, with all certificates, plats, schedules or other papers thereto annexed or thereon endorsed, upon payment of fees for the same and the tax thereon, if any, shall, when admitted to record, be recorded by or under the direction of …

In offices of clerks of courts of record in which instruments are recorded by any photographic or electronic imaging process, the clerk may, in the event any such instrument is in such condition that a perfect and legible record cannot be produced by such process, make and certif…

The clerk of the circuit court of any county or city may provide remote access, including Internet access, to all nonconfidential court records on an automated case management or other system maintained by his office and described in § 17.1-242. The clerk shall be responsible for…

The governing body of any locality may give the clerk of its circuit court information from local agencies that the clerk may provide to remote access users.

All deeds, deeds of trust, deeds of release, certificates of satisfaction or certificates of partial satisfaction, quitclaim deeds, homestead deeds, grants, transfers and mortgages of real estate, releases of such mortgages, powers of attorney to convey real estate, leases of rea…

A. Circuit court clerks may require that any deed or other instrument conveying or relating to an interest in real property be submitted for recordation with a cover sheet detailing the information contained in the deed or other instrument necessary for the clerk to properly inde…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever the writings required by law to be recorded in the deed book in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of any city or county are recorded by a microphotographic process or by any other method or process which renders impr…

All deeds, homestead deeds and leases of personal property, bills of sale, and all other contracts or liens as to personal property, which are by law required or permitted to be recorded, all mechanics' liens, all other liens not directed to be recorded elsewhere and all other wr…

All bonds taken of officers, executors, administrators, trustees or other fiduciaries and all bonds of commissioners and receivers, and all suspending bonds, appeal bonds, injunction bonds, attachment bonds, cost bonds, and all other bonds required to be recorded, shall be record…

All wills, inventories, appraisements, lists of sales and settlements of accounts of executors, administrators, curators, trustees or other fiduciaries shall be recorded in a book to be known as the will book. Provided, that the judges of the several courts of the Commonwealth be…

Abstracts of all judgments authorized or required by law to be docketed or recorded shall be recorded in a book to be known as the judgment docket.

All marriage licenses and all matters relating to marriages required or authorized to be recorded under § 20-20 shall be recorded in a book to be known as the marriage register.

All deeds and other instruments which have been only partially proved shall be recorded in a separate book to be known as "writings partially proved."

The clerks of the circuit courts shall keep a separate book, which shall be known as the federal farm loan mortgage book, in which shall be recorded mortgages executed to secure the payment of loans made by federal land banks under authority of the act of Congress, approved July …

All plats and maps may in the discretion of the clerks of the several circuit courts be recorded in a book to be known as the plat book. In case of such recordation of any plat or map which is attached to or made a part of any deed, deed of trust or writing which is recorded in t…

All books in which prior to June 24, 1944, plats were recorded separately from the deed books in all the clerks' offices of this Commonwealth are hereby validated and made parts of the official records of the offices. 1918, p. 504, § 17-69; Michie Code 1942, § 3393a; 1944, p. 472…

The state highway plat book, which shall be provided by the Department of Transportation, shall be installed in the circuit court clerk's office of each county of the Commonwealth and in the clerk's office of the circuit court of any city wherein the Department of Transportation …

All books used in the clerk's office for the permanent recordation of deeds, wills and other instruments shall either be made of high quality record paper, strictly number one rag stock, or permanent-durable, acid-free paper composed of strong, well-purified chemical wood fibers …

A procedural microphotographic process, digital reproduction, or any other micrographic process that stores images of documents in reduced size or in electronic format may be used to accomplish the recording of writings otherwise required by any provision of law to be spread in a…

Every circuit court clerk shall procure appropriate books for records as the business of his office requires. But orders for the same shall first be obtained by the clerks from the governing bodies of their respective counties or cities.

The circuit court clerks shall have custody of and shall keep all court records, including books, evidence, records, maps, and papers, deposited in their offices or at such location otherwise designated by the clerk, as well as records stored in electronic format whether the stor…

Except those clerks using an automated system, clerks shall bind, in volumes of convenient size, all books in their respective clerks' offices not currently bound showing the assessments of lands since the year 1850, and shall bind in like volumes such books hereafter filed in th…

Any court of record or, if so designated by the judge, the clerk thereof may cause any of the books or records in the clerk's office which may be in need thereof to be rebound, transcribed, microfilmed or digitally reproduced. The same faith and credit shall be given to such tran…

The court or, if so designated by the judge, the clerk directing any book or books to be bound, rebound, microfilmed or digitally reproduced may allow the same to be taken from the clerk's office in which such book or books may be on file, but shall take all necessary and proper …

The cost incurred shall be certified by the court or, if so designated by the judge, the clerk, to the governing body of the county or city in whose clerk's office the books or records so bound, rebound, microfilmed, transcribed or digitally reproduced are on file, to be paid by …

The clerk of every circuit court shall have an index to each book he is required to keep, except those for which general indexes are required or permitted, and kept, making convenient reference to every order, record or entry therein. Every execution and every judgment or decree …

A. There shall be kept in every clerk's office modern, family name or ledgerized alphabetical key-table general indexes to all deed books, miscellaneous liens, will books, judgment dockets and court order books. The clerk shall enter daily, either in such general indexes or in th…

No clerk or deputy clerk of any court in which deeds are recorded shall correct any indexing mistake by insertion, or alter or reprint the page, unless, at the time of such insertion, alteration or reprinting, he (i) notes the date and nature of the change in the index or (ii) by…

When any plat or map of a subdivision which contains fifteen lots or more is recorded in the general index, the clerk shall, in addition to complying with the requirements set forth in § 17.1-249, add the magisterial district wherein the subdivision is located. Such plat or map s…

Circuit court clerks in those localities with a unique parcel identification system shall require that any deed or other instrument conveying or relating to an interest in real property bear, on the first page of the deed or other instrument, or state in the cover sheet submitted…

A. Whenever the circuit court, or the judge thereof, finds that there is need of an improved system of general indexing to any of the records kept by the clerk of court, it shall be the duty of the court or judge, in its or his discretion, to appoint a committee to inquire into t…

The "General Index to Judgment Lien Docket and Execution Books" designated "A-D," "E-K," "L-R" and "S-Z," respectively, in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk is hereby validated, and is and shall be for all purposes whatever the legal record of ju…

As used in this article, "electronic filing of documents" means the filing or recordation with a circuit court clerk of written information as defined in § 1-257, for the purpose of creating an electronic record as defined in subdivision 7 of § 59.1-480.

Any clerk of circuit court may establish and operate a system for electronic filing in civil or criminal proceedings that shall be governed by the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia. The circuit court clerk may require each person whom the clerk authorizes to file documents elect…

A. A clerk of a circuit court may provide a network or system for electronic filing of land records in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 (§ 55.1-346 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 55.1 regarding the satisfaction of mortgages and the Uniform Real Property Electronic Reco…

A clerk of circuit court may establish a system for providing official certificates and certified records in digital form of any document maintained by the clerk. The clerk may require any person to provide proof of identity to the clerk in order to obtain access to such records.…

Upon written agreement with the clerk, any agency or instrumentality of the Commonwealth may submit any record to the clerk as an electronic document. The form of electronic submission shall comply with the security and data standards established by the Virginia Information Techn…

A. If the electronically filed document contains an electronic signature pursuant to the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (§ 59.1-479 et seq.) that is capable of independent verification and renders any subsequent changes or modifications to the electronic document evident, an…

All documents recorded on or after July 1, 2004 that comply with the provisions of this article shall be conclusively presumed to be in proper form for recording, except in cases of fraud.

A. In connection with civil or criminal proceedings in circuit court, any statutory requirement for an original, original paper, paper, record, document, facsimile, memorandum, exhibit, certification, or transcript shall be satisfied if such is in an electronic form approved for …

A. Any person may record in any clerk's office in the Commonwealth where deeds are recorded a form of a deed of trust, hereinafter referred to as a "master deed." B. The master deed shall bear the caption "Master Deed of Trust," and may contain any provisions not in conflict with…

Any person may record a deed of trust hereinafter referred to as an "incorporating deed," which incorporates by reference any one or more of the provisions of a master deed recorded in the same clerk's office. The provisions incorporated by reference shall be of the same force an…

The clerk of the circuit court of each county or city shall preserve the book or books in which have been recorded the lists of the residents of such counties or cities, who became members of the military forces of the United States during World War I. Any person who has joined e…

Whenever the honorable discharge of any person who served in the military or naval forces of the United States or its associates during World War I, and who at the time of entering such service was a resident of Virginia shall be delivered to the clerk of any circuit court in thi…