Virginia Code 17.1-276: Fee allowed for providing secure remote access to land records
A. A clerk of the circuit court who provides secure remote access to land records pursuant to § 17.1-294 may charge a fee as provided in this section. The fee shall be paid to the clerk’s office and deposited by the clerk into the clerk’s nonreverting local fund to be used to cover operational expenses as defined in § 17.1-295. The clerk may charge a flat clerk’s fee to be assessed for each subscriber, as defined in § 17.1-295, in an amount not to exceed $50 per month and a separate fee per image downloaded in an amount not to exceed the fee provided in subdivision A 8 of § 17.1-275. The clerk’s fees shall be used to cover operational expenses as defined in § 17.1-295.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 17.1-276
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- 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.
- Month: means a calendar month and "year" means a calendar year. See Virginia Code 1-223
- Operational expenses: means expenses of the clerk of court used to maintain the clerk's office and includes, but is not limited to, (i) computer support, maintenance, enhancements, upgrades, and replacements and office automation and information technology equipment, including software and conversion services; (ii) preserving, maintaining, and enhancing court records, including, but not limited to, the costs of repairs, maintenance, consulting services, service contracts, redaction of social security numbers from certain records, and system replacements or upgrades; and (iii) improving public access to records maintained by the clerk, including locating technology in an offsite facility for such purposes or for implementation of a disaster recovery plan. See Virginia Code 17.1-295
- 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
- Secure remote access to land records: means public access by electronic means on a network or system to land records maintained by the clerk of the circuit court or the clerk's designated application service providers, in compliance with the Secure Remote Access Standards developed by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. See Virginia Code 17.1-295
- 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
- state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § 2. See Virginia Code 1-206
- Subscriber: means any person who has entered into a subscriber agreement with the clerk of the circuit court authorizing the subscriber to have secure remote access to land records or secure remote access to court records maintained by the clerk or the clerk's designated application service providers. See Virginia Code 17.1-295
The Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Debt Collection, the Department of Transportation, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Department of Historic Resources, the Department of General Services, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, and the State Corporation Commission shall be exempt from paying any fee for remote access to land records. If any clerk contracts with an outside vendor to provide remote access to land records to subscribers, such contract shall contain a provision exempting the Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Debt Collection, the Department of Transportation, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, the Department of Historic Resources, the Department of General Services, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Department of Rail and Public Transportation, and the State Corporation Commission from paying any access or subscription fee.
B. The circuit court clerk shall enter into an agreement with each person whom the clerk authorizes to have remote access, in accordance with the security standards established by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. Any such agreement between a state agency or employee thereof acting in the employee’s official capacity and the clerk or an outside vendor contracted by the clerk to provide remote access to land records to subscribers, or such an agreement between a state agency or employee thereof acting in the employee’s official capacity and both the clerk and the outside vendor, shall not contain any provision requiring the state agency or employee thereof acting in the employee’s official capacity to indemnify the clerk or the vendor. Any such agreement between a state agency and the clerk or an outside vendor shall provide that the state agency is required to monitor its employees’ activity under such agreement to ensure compliance with its terms.
C. The clerk may establish a program under which the clerk assesses a reasonable convenience fee that shall not exceed $2 per transaction for remote access to land records and a separate fee per image downloaded in an amount not to exceed the fee provided in subdivision A 8 of § 17.1-275.
D. Nothing herein shall be construed to require the use by the general public of the secure remote access to land records made available by the clerk, and such records may continue to be accessed in person in the clerk’s office.
1985, c. 489, § 14.1-118.1; 1993, c. 445; 1995, c. 592; 1997, c. 413; 1998, cc. 650, 872; 2004, c. 230; 2006, c. 474; 2008, cc. 823, 833; 2009, cc. 76, 723, 797; 2010, c. 430; 2011, cc. 434, 493; 2012, cc. 234, 469, 780; 2013, c. 77; 2015, cc. 65, 174; 2019, c. 611; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 124.