Virginia Code 32.1-48.010: Appeal of any order of quarantine.
A. Any person or persons subject to an order of quarantine or a court-ordered extension of any such order pursuant to this article may file an appeal of the order of quarantine as such order applies to such person or persons in the circuit court for the city or county in which the subject or subjects of the order reside or are located or the circuit court for the jurisdiction or jurisdictions for any affected area. Any petition for appeal shall be in writing, shall set forth the grounds on which the order of quarantine is being challenged vis-a-vis the subject person or persons or affected area, and shall be served upon the State Health Commissioner or his legal representative.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 32.1-48.010
- Affected area: means any part or the whole of the Commonwealth, which has been identified as where persons reside, or may be located, who are known to have been exposed to or infected with or who are reasonably suspected to have been exposed to or infected with a communicable disease of public health threat. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- 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
- Communicable disease of public health threat: means an illness of public health significance, as determined by the State Health Commissioner in accordance with regulations of the Board of Health, caused by a specific or suspected infectious agent that may be reasonably expected or is known to be readily transmitted directly or indirectly from one individual to another and has been found to create a risk of death or significant injury or impairment; this definition shall not, however, be construed to include human immunodeficiency viruses or tuberculosis, unless used as a bioterrorism weapon. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
- 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.
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
- Individual: shall include any companion animal. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- 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: means an individual, corporation, partnership, or association or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 32.1-3
- Quarantine: means the physical separation, including confinement or restriction of movement, of an individual or individuals who are present within an affected area, as defined herein, or who are known to have been exposed or may reasonably be suspected to have been exposed to a communicable disease of public health threat and who do not yet show signs or symptoms of infection with the communicable disease of public health threat in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease of public health threat to other unexposed and uninfected individuals. See Virginia Code 32.1-48.06
- 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
- Supreme Court: means the Supreme Court of Virginia. See Virginia Code 1-249
B. A hearing on the appeal of the order of quarantine shall be held within 48 hours of the filing of the petition for appeal or, if the 48-hour period terminates on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or day on which the court is lawfully closed, the hearing shall be held on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or day on which the court is lawfully closed.
In extraordinary circumstances, for good cause shown, the Commissioner may request a continuance of the hearing, which the court shall only grant after giving due regard to the rights of the affected individuals, the protection of the public health and safety, the severity of the emergency, and the availability of witnesses and evidence.
C. Any person appealing an order of quarantine shall have the burden of proving that he is not properly the subject of the order of quarantine.
D. The filing of an appeal shall not stay any order of quarantine.
E. Upon receiving multiple appeals of an order of quarantine that applies to a group of persons or an affected area, the court may, on the motion of any party or on the court’s own motion, consolidate the cases in a single proceeding for all appeals when (i) there are common questions of law or fact relating to the individual claims or rights to be determined; (ii) the claims of the consolidated cases are substantially similar; and (iii) all parties to the appeals will be adequately represented in the consolidation.
F. The circuit court shall not conduct a de novo review of the order of quarantine; however, the court shall consider the existing record and such supplemental evidence as the court shall consider relevant. The court shall conduct the hearing on an appeal of an order of quarantine in a manner that will protect the health and safety of court personnel, counsels, witnesses, and the general public and in accordance with rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia pursuant to subsection C of § 17.1-503. The court may, for good cause shown, hold all or any portion of the hearings in camera upon motion of any party or upon the court’s own motion.
G. Upon completion of the hearing, the court may (i) vacate or modify the order of quarantine as such order applies to any person who filed the appeal and who is not, according to the record and the supplemental evidence, appropriately subject to the order of quarantine; (ii) vacate or modify the order of quarantine as such order applies to all persons who filed an appeal and who are not, according to the record and the supplemental evidence, appropriately subject to the order of quarantine; (iii) confirm the order of quarantine as it applies to any person or all appealing parties upon a finding that such person or persons are appropriately subject to the order of quarantine and that quarantine is being implemented in the least restrictive environment to address the public health threat effectively, given the reasonably available information on effective control measures and the nature of the communicable disease of public health threat; or (iv) confirm the order of quarantine as it applies to all persons subject to the order upon finding that all such persons are appropriately subject to the order of quarantine and that quarantine is being implemented in the least restrictive environment to address the public health threat effectively, given the reasonably available information on effective control measures and the nature of the communicable disease of public health threat.
In any case in which the court shall vacate the order of quarantine as it applies to any person who has filed a request for review of such order and who is subject to such order or as it applies to all persons seeking judicial review who are subject to such order, the person or persons shall be immediately released from quarantine unless such order to vacate the quarantine shall be stayed by the filing of an appeal to the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals. Any party to the case may file an appeal of the circuit court decisions to the Court of Appeals. Parties to the case shall include any person who is subject to an order of quarantine and has filed an appeal of such order with the circuit court and the State Health Commissioner.
H. Appeals of any final order of any circuit court regarding the State Health Commissioner’s petition for review and confirmation or extension of an order of quarantine or any appeal of an order of quarantine by a person or persons who are subject to such order shall be appealable to the Court of Appeals, with an expedited review in accordance with the rules of the court pursuant to subsection C of § 17.1-503.
I. Appeals of any circuit court order relating to an order of quarantine shall not stay any order of quarantine.
J. Persons requesting judicial review of any order of quarantine shall have the right to be represented by an attorney in all proceedings. If the person is unable to afford an attorney, counsel shall be appointed for the person by the circuit court for the jurisdiction in which the person or persons who are subject to the order of quarantine reside or, in the case of an affected area, by the circuit court for the jurisdiction or jurisdictions for the affected area. Counsel so appointed shall be paid at a rate established by the Supreme Court of Virginia from the Commonwealth’s criminal fund.
2004, cc. 773, 1021; 2007, cc. 699, 783; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 489.