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2008 SESSION
084618272Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 19.2-54 and 19.2-57 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-54. Affidavit preliminary to issuance of search warrant; general search warrant prohibited; effect of failure to file affidavit.
No search warrant shall be issued until there is filed with
the officer authorized to issue the same an affidavit of some person reasonably
describing the place, thing, or person to be searched, the things or persons to
be searched for thereunder, alleging briefly material facts, constituting the
probable cause for the issuance of such warrant and alleging substantially the
offense in relation to which such search is to be made and that the object,
thing, or person searched for constitutes evidence of the commission of such
offense. The affidavit may be filed by electronically transmitted facsimile
process. Such affidavit shall be certified by the officer who issues such
warrant and delivered in person or,
mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, or delivered by
electronically transmitted facsimile
process by such officer or other officer
authorized to certify such warrants or his designee or
agent to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city
wherein the search is made, with a copy of the affidavit also being delivered
to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city where the warrant
is issued, if in a different county or city, within seven days
after the issuance of such warrant and shall by such clerk
clerks be preserved as a record and
shall at all times be subject to inspection by the public; however such
affidavit may be temporarily sealed by the appropriate court upon application
of the attorney for the Commonwealth for good cause shown in an ex parte
hearing. Any individual arrested and claiming to be aggrieved by such search
and seizure or any person who claims to be entitled to lawful possession of
such property seized may move the appropriate court for the unsealing of such
affidavit, and the burden of proof with respect to continued sealing shall be
upon the Commonwealth. Each such clerk shall maintain an index of all such
affidavits filed in his office in order to facilitate inspection. No such
warrant shall be issued on an affidavit omitting such essentials, and no
general warrant for the search of a house, place, compartment, vehicle or
baggage shall be issued. The term "affidavit" as used in this section,
means statements made under oath or affirmation and preserved verbatim.
Failure of the officer issuing such warrant to file the
required affidavit shall not invalidate any search made under the warrant
unless such failure shall continue for a period of thirty 30
days. If the affidavit is filed prior to the expiration of the thirty30-day
period, nevertheless, evidence obtained in any such search shall not be
admissible until a reasonable time after the filing of the required affidavit.
§ 19.2-57. Execution and return of warrant; list of property seized.
The warrant shall be executed by the search of the place
described in the warrant and, if property described in the warrant be
is found there, by the seizure of the
property. The officer who seizes any property shall prepare an inventory
thereof, under oath. An inventory of any seized property shall be produced
before the circuit court designated in the
warrant of the county or city where the search was
conducted. The officer executing the warrant shall endorse the date
of execution thereon and shall file the warrant, with the inventory attached
(or a notation that no property was seized) and the accompanying affidavit,
unless such affidavit was made by voice or videotape recording, within three
days after the execution of such search warrant in the circuit court clerk's
office, wherein the search was made, as provided in § 19.2-54. Saturdays,
Sundays, or any federal or state legal holiday shall not be used in computing
the three-day filing period. The officer, or
his designee or agent, may file the warrant, inventory, and accompanying
affidavit by delivering them in person, or by mailing them certified mail,
return receipt requested, or delivering them by electronically transmitted
facsimile process.