HB 736 — Search warrants; execution.

SESSION INTRODUCEDHOUSE 22100839DSUBSTITUTE I22105951D HOUSE BILL NO.

736 OfferedAMENDMENT JanuaryIN 12,THE 2022NATURE NOF PrefiledA JanuarySUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the House Committee for Courts of Justice on February 11, 20222022) T(Patron Prior to Substitute––Delegate Bell) A BILL to amend and reenact § 19.2-56 of ––––––––––fthe Code of Virginia, relating to search warrants;

exeRution.execution.

Patron––Bell1. –––––––––– O Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice D –––––––––– Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

U 1.

C § 19.2-56.

warrant to show date and executedtime within 15 days.f affidavit to be part of warrantissuance; and served therewith;

warrantscopy notof Eaffidavit A.to be part of warrant and served therewith;

Thewarrants judge,not magistrate,executed orwithin other15 officialdays. authorized to issue criminal warrants, shall issue a search warrant only if he finds from the facts or circumstances recited in the affidavit that there is probable cause for the issuance thereof.

EveryA. search warrant shall be directed (i) to the sheriff, sergeant, or any policeman of the county, city, or town in which the place to be searched is located;

The judge, magistrate, or other official authorized to issue criminal warrants, shall issue a search cause for the issuance thereof.he facts or circumstances recited in the affidavit that there isHprobable Every search warrant shall be directed (i) to the sheriff, sergeant, or any policeman of the county, city, or town in which the place to be searched is located;

or (iii) jointly to any such sheriff, sergeant, policeman, or law-enforcement officer or agent and an agent, special agent, or Unitedofficer Statesof Treasury, the UnitedFederal StatesBureau Navalof CriminalInvestigation, Investigativethe Service,Bureau theof UnitedAlcohol, StateseTobacco and Firearms of the Department of Homeland Security, any inspector, law-enforcement official, or police personnel of the United States Postal Service, or the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The warrant shall (a) nam3namE the affiant, (b) recite the offense or the identity of the person to be arrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest has been issued in relation to which the search is to be made, (c) name or describe the place to be searched, (d) describe the property or person to be searched for, and (e) recite that the magistrate has found probable cause to believe that the property or person constitutes evidence of a crimecrimeS (identifiedis incommitting thea warrant)crime or tends to show that athe person (named or described therein) has committed or been issued is located at the place to be searched.stedarrested for whom a warrant or process for arrest hashasd The warrant shall command that the place be forthwith searched, either in day or night,been andissued thatis thelocated objectsat or persons described in the warrant,place ifto found there, be seized.searched.

AnThe inventorywarrant shall becommand producedthat beforethe aplace courtbe havingforthwith jurisdictionsearched, ofeither thein offenseday or overnight, and that the personobjects toor bepersons arresteddescribed forin whomthe awarrant, warrantif orfound :there, be seized.

35An processinventory forshall arrestbe haspSoduced beenbefore issueda incourt relationhaving tojurisdiction whichof the warrantoffense wasor issuedover the person to be arrested for whom a Tarrant or proAny such warrant as provided in this section shall be executed by the policeman or otherin § 19.2-57.

36 Any such warrant as provided in this section shall be executed by the policeman or other 37 law-enforcement officer or agent into whose hands it shall come or be delivered.

If the warrant is 3836 directed jointly to a sheriff, sergeant, policeman, or law-enforcement officer or agent of the T 37 Commonwealth and a federal agent or officer as otherwise provided in this section, the warrant may be 38 executed jointly or by the policeman, law-enforcement officer, or agent into whose hands it is delivered.

39 No other person may be permitted to be present during or participate in the execution of a warrantwarrTnt to search a place except (1) the owners and occupants of the place to be searched when permitted to be present by the officer in charge of the conduct of the search and (2) persons designated by thetheEofficer officer in charge of the conduct of the search to assist or provide expertise in the conduct of the search.

Notwithstanding the provisions of § 19.2-57, the officer executing a warrant pursuant to this paragraph shall endorse the date of execution thereon and shall file the warrant, with the inventoryinveHtory attached (or a notation that no property was seized) and the accompanying affidavit, unless suchsucB affidavit was made by voice or videotape recording, within three days after the materials orderedorder3d to be produced are received by the officer from the service provider.

The return shall be made in thetheHcircuit circuit court clerk's office for the jurisdiction wherein the warrant was (A) executed, if executed within the Commonwealth, and a copy of the return shall also be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of the Saturdays,county Sundays, or anycity federalwhere orthe statewarrant legalwas holidayissued shallor not(B) beissued, usedif inexecuted computingoutside the three-dayCommonwealth. HB736 2 of 3 filing period.

ElectronicSaturdays, communicationSundays, service or remoteany computingfederal service providers, whether a foreign or domesticstate corporation,legal holiday shall alsonot providebe theused contentsin ofcomputing electronic communications pursuant to a search warrant issued under this section and § 19.2-70.3 using the samethree-day processfiling describedperiod. in the preceding paragraph.

Electronic communication service or remote computing service providers, whether a foreign or domestic corporation, shall also provide the contents of electronic communications pursuant to a search HB736H1 2 of 3 warrant issued under this section and § 19.2-70.3 using the same process described in the preceding paragraph.

No law-enforcement officer shall seek, execute, or participate in the execution of a no-knock search warrant,warrant. unless authorized by a judge for good cause shown by particularized facts.

A search warrant for any place of abode authorized under this section shall require that a at least one law-enforcement officer be recognizable and identifiable as a uniformed law-enforcement officer and provide audible notice of his authority and purpose reasonably designed to be heard by the occupants of such place to be searched prior to the execution of such search warrant.

and 5:00 9:0010:00 p.m.

unless (i) a judge or a magistrate, if a judge is not available, authorizes the execution of such search warrant at another time for good cause shown by particularized facts in an affidavit as necessary for law-enforcement officers to obtain the objects or persons described in the warrant or in the interest of public safety or (ii) prior to the issuance of the search warrant, law-enforcement officers lawfully entered and secured the place to be searched and remained at such place continuously.

The making of the contract or terms of service of 3 agreement or the issuance of a certificate of authority shall be considered to be the agreement of the hasforeign thecorporation sameor legalentity forcethat and effect as if served personally within the Commonwealth.erly servedIon it, "Properly served" means delivery of a search warrant or subpoenasubpoena, bywhich hand,has bybeen Unitedproperly Statesserved mail,on byit, generalhas manager in the Commonwealth,same tolegal anyforce naturaland personeffect designated by it as agent for the serviceits of process, or if suchserved corporationpersonally haswithin designatedthe aCommonwealth. corporate agent, to any person named in theRlatest annual report filed pursuant to § 13.1-775.

"Properly served" means delivery of a search warrant or subpoena by hand, by United States mail, by commercial delivery service, by facsimile or by any other manner to any officer of a corporation or its of 3 12general manager in the Commonwealth, to any natural person designated by it as agent for the service 12annual report filed pursuant to § 13.1-775.gnated a corporate agent, to any person named in the latest H O DU S E S U CB T I T U T E DB 61