In Virginia, Courts across the Commonwealth have made it relatively easy to go online with your computer, tablet or smart phone and check the status of your pending criminal, civil, or divorce case.   The amount of information provided depends on the type of case and the particular Court, but will usually include the Court dates, case numbers, filing dates, offense dates and arrest dates (if applicable).  In some cases, the attorney’s names and the final disposition will also be posted online.

Follow these simple steps to find your online case information:

• Go to the Virginia Court’s Website: www.courts.va.state.us.
• On the left sidebar, click on the tab labeled “Case Status and Information”, which should bring you here.
• Circuit Court (i.e. Divorce, or Felony Charge that has already been before the Grand Jury for certification or indictment):
  • Click on “Case Information” under the heading for Circuit Court, which should bring you here.
  • Use the drop-down menu to select the Court where your case is pending (i.e. Hanover, Richmond City).
  • Once you have selected the right Court, click “Begin”.
  • On the next page, beneath the words “Main Menu” you have the option to select “Criminal” or “Civil” – select the appropriate option.
  • Then type in the name of the person you are searching for (unless you choose to search via case number) and click the search button.
  • On the next page, if there are cases related to the name, you should see a list of cases.  Once you find the case you are looking for, you can click on the case number on the left which should reveal the online information for that particular matter.
• General District Court (i.e. most misdemeanor criminal and traffic charges):
  • Click on “Case Information” under the heading for General District Court, which should bring you here.
  • Read the Terms and Conditions of Use and type in the Numbers or Characters as requested in order to enter the database.
  • Once inside, on the left sidebar, select the appropriate Court from the drop-down menu.
  • After you have selected the right Court, click on the type of search you want to perform (i.e. Name search in a Traffic/Criminal matter).
  • If you have selected the name search, the new page will prompt you to enter the name of the party.
  • Once the name is entered, a list of relevant cases should appear.

There are a few caveats:

• If your case is pending in Juvenile Court you will not be able to access any case information online.
• If your case is pending in a Court that does not post information online (i.e. Henrico County Circuit Court and Chesterfield County Circuit Court do not provide online case information at the present time) you won’t be able to take advantage of this feature.
• Do not rely solely on the online case information; due to the nature of this database, information may be incorrect or outdated.  Accordingly, you should Contact the Court directly to verify important information.

Once you have reviewed the online case information, it might also be wise to go back to the Virginia Court’s Website and browse around for a while.  Who knows, you might just stumble upon some useful information for your case!

For additional information, contact an experienced attorney at BoykoNapier, PLLC—call (804)658-3418 or contact us via email for assistance.