Virginia Code 3.2-3942: Right of entry; warrant requirements; procedure.
A. The Commissioner may enter any public or private premises operating as a pesticide business at reasonable times, with the consent of the owner or tenant thereof, and upon presentation of appropriate credentials for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-3942
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- 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
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- 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
- Pesticide: means : (i) any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, fungi, bacteria, weeds, other forms of plant or animal life, bacterium, or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals, which the Commissioner shall declare to be a pest; (ii) any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant; and (iii) any substance intended to become an active ingredient in any substance defined in clause (i) and (ii). See Virginia Code 3.2-3900
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
B. If the Commissioner is denied access, he may apply for an administrative search warrant from a judge with authority to issue criminal warrants or a magistrate whose jurisdiction encompasses the premises.
1. No warrant shall be issued except upon probable cause and supported by an affidavit particularly describing (i) the place, things, or persons to be inspected or tested; and (ii) the purpose for which the inspection, testing, or collection of samples is to be made.
2. Probable cause shall exist if either (i) reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting inspection, testing, or collection of samples are satisfied with respect to the particular place, thing, or person, or (ii) there is cause to believe that a condition, object, activity, or circumstance legally justifies the inspection, testing, or collection of samples.
3. The supporting affidavit shall contain either (i) a statement that consent to inspect, test, or collect samples has been sought and refused, or (ii) facts or circumstances reasonably justifying the failure to seek consent. If probable cause is based upon legislative or administrative standards for selecting places of business for inspection, the affidavit shall contain factual allegations sufficient to justify an independent determination by the court that the inspection program is based on reasonable standards and that the standards are being applied to a particular place of business in a neutral and fair manner. After issuing a warrant under this section, the magistrate or judge shall file the affidavit in the manner prescribed by § 19.2-54.
C. Any administrative search warrant shall be effective for a period of not more than 15 days unless extended or renewed by the judicial officer who issued the original warrant. The warrant shall be executed and returned to the clerk of the circuit court of the city or county wherein the search was made within the time specified or within the extended or renewed time. The return shall list any records removed or samples taken pursuant to the warrant. The warrant shall be void after the expiration of time unless executed or renewed.
D. No warrant shall be executed in the absence of the owner, tenant, operator, or custodian of the premises unless the issuing judicial officer specifically authorizes that such authority is reasonably necessary to affect the purposes of the law or regulation. Entry pursuant to such a warrant shall not be made forcibly. The issuing officer may authorize a forcible entry where the facts (i) create a reasonable suspicion of an immediate threat to the health and safety of persons or to the environment, or (ii) establish that reasonable attempts to serve a previous warrant have been unsuccessful. If forcible entry is authorized, the warrant shall be issued jointly to the Commissioner and to a law-enforcement officer who shall accompany the Commissioner during the execution of the warrant.
E. No court of the Commonwealth shall have jurisdiction to hear a challenge to the warrant prior to its return, except as a defense in a contempt proceeding or if the owner or custodian of the place to be inspected submits a substantial preliminary showing by affidavit and accompanied by proof that (i) a statement included by the affiant in his affidavit for the administrative search warrant was false and made knowingly and intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth, and (ii) the false statement was necessary to the finding of probable cause. The court may conduct in camera review as appropriate.
F. After the warrant has been executed and returned, the validity of the warrant may be reviewed either as a defense to any Notice of Violation or by declaratory judgment action brought in a circuit court. The review shall be confined to the face of the warrant, affidavits, and supporting materials presented to the issuing judicial officer. If the owner or custodian of the place inspected submits a substantial showing by affidavit and accompanied by proof that (i) a statement included in the warrant was false and made knowingly and intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth, and (ii) the false statement was necessary to the finding of probable cause, the reviewing court shall limit its inquiry to whether there is substantial evidence in the record supporting the issuance of the warrant and shall not conduct a de novo determination of probable cause.
1975, c. 377, § 3.1-249.18; 1989, c. 575, § 3.1-249.58; 1993, c. 773; 2008, c. 860; 2014, c. 354.