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2011 SESSION
11100937DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 19.2-71 and 19.2-72 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-71. Who may issue process of arrest.
A. Process for the arrest of a person charged with a criminal
offense may be issued by the judge, or clerk of any circuit court, any general
district court, any juvenile and domestic relations district court, or any
magistrate as provided for in Chapter 3 (§ 19.2-26 et seq.) of this title.
However, no magistrate may issue an arrest warrant for a felony offense upon
the basis of a citizen complaint by a person other than a law-enforcement officer
or an animal control officer without prior consultation by the magistrate with the
attorney for the Commonwealth or, if no attorney for
the Commonwealth is available, without prior consultation with a
law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction
over the alleged offense without prior authorization from the attorney for the Commonwealth or from a
law-enforcement agency in his jurisdiction unless the person who is to be
issued the warrant is already under arrest pursuant to § 19.2-82.
B. No law-enforcement officer shall seek issuance of process by any judicial officer, for the arrest of a person for the offense of capital murder as defined in § 18.2-31, without prior authorization by the attorney for the Commonwealth. Failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall not be (i) a basis upon which a warrant may be quashed or deemed invalid, (ii) deemed error upon which a conviction or sentence may be reversed or vacated, or (iii) a basis upon which a court may prevent or delay execution of sentence.
§ 19.2-72. When it may issue; what to recite and require.
On complaint of a criminal offense to any officer authorized
to issue criminal warrants he shall examine on oath the complainant and any
other witnesses, or when such officer shall suspect that an offense punishable
otherwise than by a fine has been committed he may, without formal complaint,
issue a summons for witnesses and shall examine such witnesses. A written
complaint shall be required whenever practicable, if
the complainant is not a law-enforcement officer. If upon such examination such
officer finds that there is probable cause to believe the accused has committed
an offense, such officer shall issue a warrant for his arrest, except that no
magistrate may issue an arrest warrant for a felony offense upon the basis of a
citizen complaint by a person other than
a law-enforcement officer or an animal control officer without
prior consultation by the magistrate with the attorney for the Commonwealth or,
if no attorney for the Commonwealth is available, without prior consultation
with a law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the
alleged offense without prior
authorization from the attorney for the Commonwealth or from a law-enforcement
agency in his jurisdiction unless the person who is to be issued the warrant is
already under arrest pursuant to § 19.2-82. The warrant
shall (i) be directed to an appropriate officer or officers, (ii) name the
accused or, if his name is unknown, set forth a description by which he can be
identified with reasonable certainty, (iii) describe the offense charged with
reasonable certainty, (iv) command that the accused be arrested and brought
before a court of appropriate jurisdiction in the county, city or town in which
the offense was allegedly committed, and (v) be signed by the issuing officer.
The warrant shall require the officer to whom it is directed to summon such
witnesses as shall be therein named to appear and give evidence on the
examination. But in a city or town having a police force, the warrant shall be
directed "To any policeman, sheriff or his deputy sheriff of such city (or
town)," and shall be executed by the policeman, sheriff or his deputy
sheriff into whose hands it shall come or be delivered. A sheriff or his deputy
may execute an arrest warrant throughout the county in which he serves and in
any city or town surrounded thereby and effect an arrest in any city or town
surrounded thereby as a result of a criminal act committed during the execution
of such warrant. The venue for the prosecution of such criminal act shall be
the jurisdiction in which the offense occurred.