Orange County
Orange County was established in 1734 as part of the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is located in the central part of the state and named after Prince William of Orange, later King William III of England. The county has a population of approximately 36,593 residents occupying an area of 340.5 square miles. The county seat is Orange, a small yet historically significant town.
The court system in Orange County operates under Virginia's Unified Judicial System, comprising the Circuit, General District, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court to address legal matters. The Circuit Court has general jurisdiction over all cases. It handles felonies, lesser-included offenses, misdemeanors charged by a grand jury indictment, civil cases with claims over $25,000, and equity matters such as property disputes. It also presides over probate cases and matters related to the administration of wills and estates. The General District Court deals with misdemeanor criminal cases, municipal violations, traffic infractions, and civil claims of $25,000 or less. It also conducts preliminary hearings for felonies. At the same time, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court addresses cases involving juveniles, such as delinquency, custody, child support, protective orders, and other family-related disputes. Its jurisdiction also includes matters of child abuse, neglect, and foster care placement.
Court records in Orange County are the legal documentation of case trials held in the various county's courts, including indexes, docket entries, memoranda, transcriptions of proceedings, orders, and judgments. They are usually preserved in multiple formats for easy storage and retrieval, including transcriptions, and microfilms. They are useful tools for verifying an individual's legal status and are maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. These records include:
- Criminal records
- Civil records
- Family law records
- Probate records
Virginia law, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ensures public access to most court records unless specifically restricted like juvenile records or sealed cases. Records are available online through the Officer of the Court Remote Access (OCRA), a subscription-based portal for authorized users, or via Virginia's Online Case Information System, which allows searches by name or case number. Alternatively, interested persons can use the computer terminals to view court records free of charge at the Circuit Court Clerk's Office at:
Orange County Virginia Courthouse
110 N. Madison Road
Orange, VA 22960
Phone: (540) 672-4030
Obtaining court record copies, however, attracts certain fees.
