Virginia Code 8.01-546: What attachment to command; summons.
Every attachment sued out against specific personal property shall command the sheriff or other officer to whom it may be directed to attach the specific property claimed in the petition, and so much more of the real and personal property of the principal defendant as shall be necessary to cover the damages for the detention of the specific property sued for and the costs of the attachment. Every other attachment shall command the sheriff or other officer to whom it may be directed to attach the property mentioned and sought to be attached in the petition, if any, and so much of the lands, tenements, goods, chattels, moneys and effects of the principal defendant not exempt from execution as will be sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff‘s demand, and, in case of tangible personal property, taken possession of under § 8.01-551, to keep the same safely in his possession to satisfy any judgment that may be recovered by the plaintiff in such attachment.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-546
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Sheriff: shall include deputy sheriffs and such other persons designated in § Virginia Code 8.01-2
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
Every attachment sued out under this section shall also command the sheriff or other officer to summon the defendant or defendants, if he or they are found within his county or city, or any county or city wherein he may have seized property under and by virtue of such writ, to appear and answer the petition for the attachment.
Each copy of the summons shall be issued together with a form for requesting a hearing on a claim of exemption from levy or seizure as provided in § 8.01-546.1. Both documents shall be served on each defendant.
Code 1950, § 8-533; 1977, c. 617; 1986, c. 341.