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2016 SESSION
16100927DBe 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 complaint by a person other than a
law-enforcement officer or an animal control officer without prior
authorization by the attorney for the Commonwealth or by a law-enforcement
agency having jurisdiction over the alleged offense. In
addition, no magistrate may issue an arrest warrant for a misdemeanor offense
where the accused is a law-enforcement officer and the alleged
offense is directly related to the performance
of his public duties upon the basis of a
complaint by a person other than a law-enforcement officer or an animal control
officer without prior authorization by the attorney for the
Commonwealth or by a law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the
alleged offense.
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 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 (i) a felony offense or (ii) a misdemeanor offense where the accused is
a law-enforcement officer and the alleged offense is directly related to the
performance of his public duties upon the basis of a
complaint by a person other than a law-enforcement officer or an animal control
officer without prior authorization by the attorney for the Commonwealth or by
a law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the alleged offense. The
warrant shall (i) (a) be directed to an
appropriate officer or officers, (ii) (b) name the accused or, if
his name is unknown, set forth a description by which he can be identified with
reasonable certainty, (iii) (c) describe the offense
charged with reasonable certainty, (iv) (d) 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) (e)
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. A jail officer as defined in § 53.1-1
employed at a regional jail or jail farm is authorized to execute a warrant of
arrest upon an accused in his jail. The venue for the prosecution of such
criminal act shall be the jurisdiction in which the offense occurred.