Whenever any party in a civil action in any circuit court in this Commonwealth requires as a witness in his behalf, an inmate in a state or local correctional facility as defined in § 53.1-1, the court, on the application of such party or his attorney may, in its discretion and upon consideration of the importance of the personal appearance of the witness and the nature of the offense for which he is imprisoned, issue an order to the Director of the Department of Corrections to deliver such witness to the sheriff of the jurisdiction of the court issuing the order. If authorized by the court, the clerk of the circuit court or a deputy clerk may issue these orders on behalf of the court. The sheriff shall transport the inmate to the court to testify as such witness, and after he has testified and been released as such witness, the sheriff shall return the witness to the custody of the Department.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.01-410

  • court: shall be deemed to include the courts of this Commonwealth, any other person or body appointed by it or acting under its process or authority in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity, and any other judicial, quasi-judicial, or fact-finding body acting pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth, including without limitation, the State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. See Virginia Code 8.01-385
  • Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
  • 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.
  • Sheriff: shall include deputy sheriffs and such other persons designated in § 15. See Virginia Code 8.01-2
  • 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
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.

If necessary the sheriff may confine the inmate for the night in any convenient local correctional facility.

Under such rules and regulations as the superintendent of such an institution may prescribe, any party to a civil action in any circuit court in this Commonwealth may take the deposition of an inmate in the facility, which deposition, when taken, may be admissible in evidence as other depositions in civil actions.

The party seeking the testimony of such inmate shall advance a sum sufficient to defray the expenses and compensation of the correctional officers and sheriff, which the court shall tax as other costs.

For the purposes of this section, “correctional officers” shall have the same meaning as provided in § 53.1-1.

Code 1950, § 8-300.1; 1952, c. 487; 1966, c. 227; 1974, cc. 44, 45; 1977, c. 617; 1998, c. 596; 2001, c. 513; 2002, cc. 515, 544.

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