Judicial records as evidence; full faith and credit; recitals in deeds, deeds of trust, and mortgages; "records" defined; certification
Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-389
in effectA. The records of any judicial proceeding and any other official records of any court of this Commonwealth shall be received as prima facie evidence provided that such records are certified by the clerk of the court where preserved to be a true record. For the purposes of this section, judicial proceeding shall include the review of a petition and issuance of a temporary detention order under § 16.1-340.1 or 37.2-809 .
A1. The records of any judicial proceeding and any other official record of any court of another state or country, or of the United States, shall be received as prima facie evidence provided that such records are certified by the clerk of the court where preserved to be a true record.
B. Every court of this Commonwealth shall give such records of courts not of this Commonwealth the full faith and credit given to them in the courts of the jurisdiction from whence they come.
B1. In any instance in which a court not of this Commonwealth shall have entered an order of injunction limiting or preventing access by any person to the courts of this Commonwealth without that person having had notice and an opportunity for a hearing prior to the entry of such foreign order, that foreign order is not required to be given full faith and credit in any Virginia court. The Virginia court may, in its discretion, hold a hearing to determine the adequacy of notice and opportunity for hearing in the foreign court.
C. Specifically, recitals of any fact in a deed or deed of trust of record conveying any interest in real property shall be prima facie evidence of that fact.
D. "Records" as used in this article, shall be deemed to include any memorandum, report, paper, data compilation, or other record in any form, or any combination thereof.
E. The use of the term "copy teste," "true copy," or "certified copy" or a substantially similar term on a certification affixed or annexed to a copy of an official record maintained by a clerk of court that bears the signature of the clerk or any deputy clerk, and that has the name of the court where such record is preserved on the document or on the certification, shall be prima facie proof that such record is certified by such clerk to be a true copy of the official record kept in the office of the clerk. Nothing herein shall be construed to require or prevent a clerk from using an official seal or prevent a clerk from using any other acceptable method of certification for a court record.
F. The certification of any record pursuant to this section shall automatically authenticate such record for the purpose of its admission into evidence in any trial, hearing, or proceeding.
Code 1950, §§ 8-271, 8-275, 8-276, 8-276.1; 1977, c. 617; 1980, c. 453; 1995, c. 594 ; 1996, c. 417 ; 2008, c. 786 ; 2010, cc. 778 , 825 ; 2013, c. 263 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/8.01-389/Fetched: 10/17/2026