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2001 SESSION
011008924Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 20-124 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 20-124. Sequestration of record.
A. Upon motion of a party to any suit under this chapter or in an appeal from
the juvenile and domestic relations district court, the court may order the
record thereof or any agreement of the parties, filed therein, to be sealed and
withheld from public inspection and thereafter the same shall only be opened to the parties, their
respective attorneys, and to such other persons as the judge of such court at
his in its discretion decides have a proper interest therein.
B. In any such case that is filed electronically, or is otherwise retained by the court in electronic form, upon the motion of a party the file shall be sealed from public access by remote electronic means. After a file is sealed from remote electronic access, only the court and counsel of record in that case who have registered to use the court's electronic filing system shall be allowed remote electronic access to the file. A person who is registered to use the electronic filing system may file any initial pleading in the case, and thereafter shall be a counsel of record in that case. A party may access his own electronically sealed file by remote electronic means if the party complies with the registration procedures required for remote access to court files by electronic means. The public may access an index of filed documents in the case by remote electronic means provided the court maintains such an index. Nothing contained in this subsection shall limit access to an electronically sealed court file by anyone who personally appears at the clerk's office and requests to review a file, subject to the hours and procedures of operation of the clerk's office and provided that the file has not been sealed pursuant to subsection A.