Virginia SB 570: Search warrants; unattended deaths.

Bill Text

2027 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26103541D

SENATE BILL NO. 570

Offered January 14, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 19.2-53, 19.2-54, and 19.2-56, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to search warrants; unattended deaths.

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Patron—Mulchi

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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 19.2-53, 19.2-54, and 19.2-56, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 19.2-53. What may be searched and seized.

A. Search warrants may be issued for the search of or for specified places, things, or persons, and seizure therefrom of the following things as specified in the warrant:

1. Weapons or other objects used in the commission of crime;

2. Articles or things the sale or possession of which is unlawful;

3. Stolen property or the fruits of any crime;

4. Any object, thing, or person, including (i) documents, (ii) books, (iii) papers, (iv) records, (v) body fluids, or (vi) electronic records stored within or outside the Commonwealth of a commercial enterprise, whether a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation, that is transacting or has transacted any business in the Commonwealth, constituting evidence of the commission of crime; or

5. Any person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been issued; or

6. A dead human body where, at the time of death, the decedent was not being attended to by a physician, or evidence of the cause or manner of death of such a body.

Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter to the contrary, no search warrant may be issued as a substitute for a witness subpoena.

B. Any search warrant issued for the search and seizure of a computer, computer network, or other device containing electronic or digital information shall be deemed to include the search and seizure of the physical components and the electronic or digital information contained in any such computer, computer network, or other device, except information for which a search warrant is prohibited by § 19.2-60.2.

C. Any search, including the search of the contents of any computer, computer network, or other device conducted pursuant to subsection B, may be conducted in any location and is not limited to the location where the evidence was seized.

§ 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 (i) the offense or; (ii) the identity of the person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been issued; or (iii) the presence of a dead human body where, at the time of death, the decedent was not being attended to by a physician, or evidence of the cause or manner of death of such a body, in relation to which such search is to be made and that the object, thing, or person searched for (a) constitutes evidence of the commission of such offense or, (b) is the person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been issued, or (c) is a dead human body where, at the time of death, the decedent was not being attended to by a physician or is evidence of the cause or manner of death of such a body. The affidavit may be filed by electronically transmitted (i) (1) facsimile process or (ii) (2) electronic record as defined in § 59.1-480. Such affidavit shall be certified by the officer who issues such warrant and delivered in person; mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested; or delivered by electronically transmitted facsimile process or by use of filing and security procedures as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (§ 59.1-479 et seq.) for transmitting signed documents, by such officer or his designee or agent, to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or city wherein the search is made, within seven days after the issuance of such warrant and shall by such clerk be preserved as a record and shall at all times be subject to inspection by the public after the warrant that is the subject of the affidavit has been executed or 15 days after issuance of the warrant, whichever is earlier; however, such affidavit, any warrant issued pursuant thereto, any return made thereon, and any order sealing the affidavit, warrant, or return may be temporarily sealed for a specific period of time 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 s