City of Virginia Beach County
Virginia Beach's culture goes back thousands of years to when it was a settlement for Native Americans. The first English colonists occupied the area in 1607 and created their first permanent settlement at Jamestown. The county was later established in 1887. Virginia Beach city has a population of 455,618, covering an area of 244.7 square miles.
The Virginia Beach Judicial system has three courts: the General District, Circuit, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. From these, the Circuit Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction presiding over civil and criminal cases. The general district court covers traffic and criminal citations. It also covers civil cases of up to $50,000 and online citations. The juvenile and domestic relations court covers these cases, entailing support, visitation, or parentage. It handles offenses that have been committed among family members.
Court records are documentation created during proceedings, entailing pleas, decrees, witness statements, decisions, appeals, and evidence. These records may be obtained from the circuit court clerk's office. The clerk of the circuit court works as a Constitutional Officer whom the county residents elect. Virginia Beach County's clerk's office is responsible for filing civil suits, docketing, and filing criminal actions. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, court records in Virginia Beach are considered public records. Interested parties may access these records from the clerk in person or via mail.
The circuit court clerk allows public access to the following:
- Criminal cases
- Civil cases
- Family cases
- Juvenile cases
- Small claims cases
- Probate cases
Virginia Beach court records can also be accessed through online portals. Specific access to court records is determined by the Virginia Beach County courthouse where the case was held. For cases heard at the General District Court, requesters can utilize the case management search portal. Similarly, civil cases heard at the Circuit Court can be viewed via the Online Case Information System. The cases that are handled by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court can be accessed via the J&DR Court Payment Name Search. When filtering the search, requesters can give names, hearing dates, or case numbers to access the desired documents. That is provided the information is not confidential or restricted.
