Virginia outstanding warrants do not go out of effect hence information on these orders is circulated among various law enforcement agencies to ensure that the judicial directives get served as soon as possible. To facilitate arrests under these detention decrees, an extensive amount of information about the criminal matter in question is provided with these orders.
The criminal procedure of Virginia is not very different from that of other states. The power of the state is brought into a criminal matter the minute an arrest warrant is issued against an accused. Not only does the release of an active warrant call for the involvement of the judiciary but also from hereon, the tribunal is involved in the entire process that comprises of various hearings, the trial proper and the sentencing.
In the state of Virginia arrest records and information on active warrants and all criminal matters is kept by the Criminal Information Network (VCIN). This is a service facility that is designed to offer operational support to the entire justice network of the state. The VCIN offers means of communication between various branches and offices of the state judiciary and law enforcement.
A unified system that is dedicated to resolving civil and criminal disputes expeditiously, justly and economically, the Virginia judicial hierarchy is divided into four levels. The tribunals at the various judicial levels comprise of judges, court personnel and standardized rules of practice and procedure.
The release of active warrants in Virginia is governed by the State Criminal Code section19.2-71 which describes these directives as judicial processes that are issued in response to a writ filed by the police with a local tribunal. The authority to issue these orders is vested in judges and magistrates and clerks of court.