Virginia Code 17.1-272: Process and service fees generally.
A. The fee for process and service in the following instances shall be $12:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 17.1-272
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Process: includes subpoenas, the summons and complaint in a civil action, and process in statutory actions. See Virginia Code 1-237
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- 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.
1. Service on any person, firm or corporation, an order, notice, summons or any other civil process, except as herein otherwise provided, and for service on any person, firm, or corporation any process when the body is not taken and making a return thereof, except that no fee shall be charged for service pursuant to § 2.2-4022.
2. Summoning a witness or garnishee on an attachment.
3. Service on any person of an attachment or other process under which the body is taken and making a return thereon.
4. Service of any order of court not otherwise provided for, except that no fees shall be charged for protective orders issued pursuant to Chapter 11 of Title 16.1.
5. Making a return of a writ of fieri facias where no levy is made or forthcoming bond is taken.
6. Summoning a witness in any case in which custody or visitation of a minor child or children is at issue.
B. The fees for process and service in the following instances shall be $25:
1. Service and publication of any notice of a publicly-advertised public sale.
2. Service of a writ of possession or writ of eviction, except that there shall be an additional fee of $12 for each additional defendant.
3. Levying upon current money, bank notes, goods or chattels of a judgment debtor pursuant to § 8.01-478.
4. Service of a declaration in ejectment on any person, firm or corporation, except that there shall be an additional fee of $12 for each additional defendant.
5. Levying distress warrant or an attachment.
6. Levying an execution.
C. The process and service fee for serving any papers returnable out of state shall be $75, except no fees shall be charged for the service of papers in connection with the prosecution of any misdemeanor or felony domestic violence offense, or in connection with the filing, issuance, registration, or service of a protective order or a petition for a protective order. A victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault shall not bear the costs associated with the filing of criminal charges against the offender, and no victim shall bear the costs associated with the filing, issuance, registration, or service of a warrant, protective order, petition for a protective order, or witness subpoena, issued inside or outside the Commonwealth.
D. The fees set out in this section shall be allowable for services provided by such officers in the circuit and district courts.
Code 1950, §§ 14-104, 14-116, p. 25; 1964, c. 386, §§ 14.1-93, 14.1-105; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 155; 1972, c. 719; 1975, c. 591; 1976, cc. 308, 310; 1981, c. 411; 1982, c. 674; 1983, c. 407; 1984, c. 317; 1992, c. 648; 1995, c. 51, § 14.1-95.1; 1998, c. 872; 2002, c. 508; 2004, cc. 198, 211, 588; 2011, cc. 445, 480; 2019, cc. 180, 700.