Sign In. Clerk of the Circuit Court Court Jurisdiction The Circuit Courts are trial courts which have jurisdiction over civil claims, criminal cases, equity suits and appeals. Other services provided by the Clerk's Offices include recording deeds, deeds of trust, leases, plats, financial statements, judgments, tax liens, releases, partnerships and charters; assisting in the location of information in public records, applications; issuing marriage licenses, proof of services, and subpoenas; administering oaths of office for Notary Publics, County officials and bonds when required; probating wills, qualifying executors and administrators of estates, certifying allowance of court appointed attorney, releasing deeds of trusts, judgments and mechanic's liens; and receiving and recording court fines and costs for James City County and the City of Williamsburg.
The Clerk's Office accepts e-recordings for deeds through Simplifile.
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Subscribers are encouraged to contact AJIS customer service support from 9 a. Monday - Thursday via email onlinerecordshelp alexandriava. Monday — Friday, excluding holidays. The Health Department can issue birth, death, or other vital records. For hours and requirements, visit their website or call For this and all other trade name questions or concerns, contact the Clerk at Printed index of trade names from , computerized index from , corporation records prior to , available in Clerk's Office. For information about corporations, limited partnerships and limited liability companies, contact the State Corporation Commission Phone The two main functions of these courts were to relieve the president and council of part of their duties as justices and bring justice closer to all Virginians.
In , eight shires were established, and the monthly court became the court of shire. By it was called the county court and was required to meet a minimum of six times annually. The governor appointed commissioners as justices, and in they became known as justices of the peace.
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There were usually eight to ten justices for the court, and four were appointed to the quorum. A valid court consisted of three justices and one quorum member. Special terms were sometimes held by the court as meetings for specific functions.
Its function was to review annual accounts of estates inherited by orphans to make sure the guardians were providing proper stewardship of assets and care for the orphan. This court was also open to apprentices to file petitions against their masters when they did not live up to their contracts. A special session called the court of claim was held for citizens of the county to present monetary claims against the county before the levy was laid see Tax records. The county court began functioning as a probate court in to settle estates, grant certificates of probate and administration, and order inventories and appraisals.
However, there are no surviving records of the proceedings. In , monthly courts were formed, and the president and council only heard appeals from those courts and major cases. In , this court became the General Court. During this time, the high court of chancery and the district courts were established. General Court judges also presided over district courts established in , which heard appeals from common law cases in the county. The General Court was abolished by the state constitution, and its functions were transferred to the state supreme court of appeals. There has been no other court of final appeals since the abolishment of the General Court in Since the state supreme court of appeals was created in , it has had final jurisdiction in all civil cases.
The Superior Courts of Chancery replaced this court in In , three more districts were formed: Wythe County, Winchester, and Clarksburg. Greenbrier County and Lynchburg were established in The district courts were held in the same location two times per year. In, the superior courts of law replaced the district courts.
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A general court judge rode a circuit throughout his district to hold court, so it was also known as the circuit court. The circuit superior courts of law and chancery took over this role in They assumed the roles of the superior courts of law and the superior courts of chancery.
Virginia Court Records - A Guide to Courthouse Research
These courts were abolished by the state constitution in and replaced by the circuit courts. Since when county court provisions were eliminated, the Circuit Courts have been the only court of record in Virginia. The Library of Virginia keeps original court records. The state library and the Virginia FHL both hold microfilmed copies of records before Many abstracts of early court records are being published. Original documents are always the most reliable, but they are not always in the best condition. In the case of lost or damaged originals, printed transcripts can be helpful, as long as the researcher recognizes the limitations of such sources.
The largest collections of printed manuscripts are at the FHL and Library of Virginia, but other libraries have smaller collections.
The original charter given to the Virginia Company included provisions for land grants. These grants were given to planters settlers and adventurers investors. In , revisions were made, specifying that all lands were to be held in common for seven years. After that time period, planters received 50 acres and investors received acres. By , planters who were especially industrious were rewarded with three acre plots.
The success of tobacco led many planters to include it in their fields. When the charter was reorganized in , four boroughs were established with designated public land in each. Land within each borough could be granted by the governor and council. One copy of each patent was retained for company records, and another copy was made and given as proof of title to the grantee.
In , when Virginia became a royal colony, it was governed by crown-appointed governors. It took many years for the Privy Council to give him the power to do so, but in grants totaling millions of acres were made. This right was usually claimed the person who paid for the travel. However, these headrights could be bought or sold. Some sold their headrights for money to get established in the new world. There is a record generated for most of the steps of the patenting process. This served as proof of the number of headrights claimed. Each right was taken to the county surveyor to create a plat.
All of these papers were then returned to the secretary. The secretary made one copy of the patent to retain for records.
A second copy was made to be signed by the governor, sealed, and delivered to the patentee. A patentee was given three years from the date of issue to seat and plant the land. The requirement to plant could be met by cultivating one acre or building a house and keeping livestock. If a patent was given to an orphan, he was given until three years passed the age of majority to possess and plant it. Sometimes an extension on this three year period would be granted if the widow petitioned the county court.
The need to incentivize immigration subsided by the end of the seventeenth century. The treasury right was created to allow purchase of land by native Virginians. Anyone could purchase a land right to fifty acres for five shillings. The treasury right was the primary method of land patent by See also The Virginia Land Office online at.
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If you are researching grants and deeds, you will find the following information easily: original patents and land grants from —; survey plats from —; Northern Neck the area between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers land grants from — ; Northern Neck surveys from — and —; land warrants from —; and miscellaneous land records from — The Library of Virginia keeps original land office records. You can search an online index of land patents through the Library of Virginia for land patents issued prior to ; land grants issued by the Virginia Land Office after ; grants issued in the Northern Neck from —; and original and recorded Northern Neck surveys — These grants are listed chronologically.
Abstracts of many patents have been published. County, town, or independent city deed books were used to record land purchase transactions.