Written by Matt Wright, L’26
Introduction
The lack of a uniform state-wide policy on whether cell phones and other portable electronic devices may be allowed in courthouses has created an access to justice issue in Virginia courthouses. Policies vary from courthouse to courthouse, are not consistently communicated to the general public, and frequently restrict cell phone access, which may be necessary for some courthouse visitors.
This blog post will give an overview of the inconsistent policies throughout Virginia, explain how and why restrictive cell phone policies harm courthouse visitors, and propose a legislative “two-track” solution to the lack of access and consistency regarding cell phone policies in Virginia courthouses[1].
Inconsistency Throughout Virginia
In Virginia, the courts are divided into thirty-two judicial districts.[2] Within each of those 32 districts, each city and county has their own general district courts and juvenile and domestic relations district courts, totaling over 120 general district courts and juvenile and domestic relations district courts in the state.[3] The courts are also organized into 31 judicial circuits, with 120 circuit courts throughout the state.[4]
Each courthouse has a different policy regarding cell phones, and not every city or county has all three of its courts in the same courthouse; sometimes, the policies may differ among one city or county’s circuit court, general district court, and juvenile and domestic relations court.[5] The lack of uniformity regarding courthouse cell phone policies poses an issue for courthouse visitors and adds an element of guesswork which, at the very least, could cause delays at the door of the courthouse, and, at the worst, could force a courthouse visitor to choose between leaving their phone outside or missing their hearing.
For example, the City of Richmond is one of many localities with a restrictive phone policy.[6] The policy states that courthouse visitors “cannot bring a laptop, tablet, camera, firearm, knife, or other dangerous weapon into any courthouse.”[7] It explicitly bans cell phones from any courthouse, explaining that courthouse visitors “must leave [their] cell phone[s] in [their] vehicle[s].”[8] This policy is very difficult to find online because it was only available on the City of Richmond website by clicking the “Commonwealth’s Attorney” tab, and then “Resources.”[9] It is not posted on the “Circuit Court Clerk” tab of the website, on the “Sheriff” tab, or on the Virginia Judicial System website.[10]
In contrast, Fairfax County is the gold standard for an accessible courthouse cell phone policy. The Fairfax courthouse allows portable electronic devices in courthouse common areas, but requires that they be turned off in the courtrooms unless authorized by the presiding judge.[11] The policy does not mention lockers or storage; however, such storage would be redundant due to the courts permissive approach to possession of electronic devices.[12] Despite being posted in two locations, Fairfax’s policy is still difficult to find. One place it can be found is on the “Sheriff” tab of the Fairfax County website.[13] It can also be found on the “Fairfax Circuit Court” tab of the Fairfax County website, but to access that page one would need to do a search for “cellphone.”[14] In either location, the policy is not easily accessible unless a website visitor is specifically seeking it out and knows where to look for the policy. Fairfax County’s accessible cell phone policy is an outlier, however, as most other courts’ policies throughout Virginia restrict cell phone access for courthouse visitors.[15]
Consequences of Inconsistent, Restrictive Policies
Restrictive cell phone policies create problems for courthouse visitors and contribute to the justice gap in Virginia because the policies are often poorly communicated, lack storage, and do not establish a formal procedure for allowing cell phone-based evidence to be shown in court.
Poor Communication
When courthouse cell phone policies are able to be found, they are typically available (1) online, (2) at the door of the courthouse, and/or (3) on the back of a court summons.
There are generally two places to find a courthouse phone policy online. One is Virginia’s Judicial System website(“VJS”), which has a homepage for each individual courthouse, and the other is on the courthouse’s individual website, which is usually a page on the local government website.[16] Of the policies posted online, some are on VJS, but many courthouses do not have their policies on VJS. When it comes to policies posted on courthouse websites, they are often difficult to find and require navigation through many tabs to find them. There are courthouses where the policies are easy to locate, but that is rare. This lack of consistency with cell phone policy communication is a major part of the problem– what you get depends on where you are.
Another option for policy communication is to post it at the entrance to the building. The issue with communication via signs is that if a courthouse visitor arrives via public transportation, and the courthouse prohibits cell phones and has no storage, the courthouse visitor must then decide to leave their cell phone outside or miss their hearing.
Some courthouse cell phone policies are included in the materials sent out with summons to court.[17] However, not everyone notices or reads the cell phone policy, and many people still come to court unaware of the policy.[18]
Lack of Storage
Very few of the cell phone policies available online mention personal belonging storage at all, but just because a courthouse website does not mention lockers or storage does not mean storage is not available. For example, from personal experience and interviews, Norfolk, Chesterfield, and Virginia Beach have lockers available, but none of those localities mentioned these storage options on their courthouse websites.[19] The lockers provided are also not always free; Norfolk and Virginia Beach, for example, charge a quarter to use the lockers.[20] This poses a problem for a courthouse visitor that does not carry cash, again limiting accessibility.
Lack of Defined Procedure for Self-Represented Litigants to Present Evidence from Cell Phones
The process for self-represented litigants to present evidence from their cell phones or other portable electronic devices varies from courthouse to courthouse, and perhaps even courtroom by courtroom. Of the courthouses surveyed, there are three ways that the presentation of cell phone-based evidence is handled: (1) tell the judge during the hearing, (2) tell the security deputy/bailiff before the hearing, or, in the most restrictive courthouses, (3) phones just aren’t allowed, lockers aren’t provided, and security will not hold them.[21]
Legislative Proposal
To mitigate the inconsistencies throughout the state and promote cell phone accessibility in courthouses, Virginia should adopt a legislative solution that sets out a baseline minimum that every courthouse in Virginia needs to meet, while also allowing chief judges in each jurisdiction to set more permissive policies at their discretion. This would ensure that every courthouse has the same baseline cell phone policy, while allowing others to implement even more permissive cell phone policies if they wish to do so.
Such legislation should provide a clear definition of “personal electronic device” and “visitor to the court.” These definitions will ensure that it is clear what devices and people the policy applies to. From there, the legislation should lay out the “two-track” system.
The legislation should also state that the chief judge of each courthouse is responsible for setting the policy of their courthouse, and if that chief judge decides to prohibit or restrict cell phone access, (1) the court shall provide storage for visitors to store their personal electronic devices and (2) the chief judge shall also set a policy for ensuring that any personal electronic devices that contain evidence can be presented to the court and will be available for use during that visitor’s court proceeding.
The legislation should also state that the chief judge may decide to implement a cell phone policy that permits possession of personal electronic devices in the courthouse. The legislation should then allow the chief judge to impose reasonable limitations on such possessions. Examples of reasonable limitations include conditioning possession on a security screening, requiring that electronics be set on silent mode, and allowing the possession for prescribed use only. Finally, the legislation should also mandate that each courthouse’s cell phone policy be posted on the home page of the VJS website, on the court’s local website or the local government’s website, and at the courthouse entrance.
This proposed legislation would make it certain that whenever a member of the public walks into any courthouse in Virginia, they will encounter one of two situations:hey will either be allowed to bring their cell phone into the courtroom or, if not, there will be adequate storage provided as well as a clearly defined policy for making sure that any cell phone-based evidence will be available for presentation to the court. Additionally, the proposed legislation would make it easier for people to locate the cell phone policy before going to court so that there would be no surprises upon arrival.
Conclusion
The current landscape of courthouse cell phone policies in Virginia is confusing. The lack of consistency, communication, and accessibility results in courthouse visitors being unaware of the cell phone policy on arrival, being unable to present evidence from their cell phones in court, and/or being forced to choose between attending a hearing and hiding their phone in a bush outside.
Virginia needs to adopt the proposed legislation. Although the proposed legislation does not create one uniform, statewide policy, it does ensure that there will be storage available for those who need it and that those who need to present evidence from their cell phones in court will be able to.
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Grace Condello, Illustration of a courthouse banning cell phones, from Canva.
[1] This blog is written as an excerpt from a longer paper written by both the author, Matthew Wright, and Jackson Pope, another student at Richmond Law.
[2] Virginia Courts In Brief, Va.’s Jud. Sys., https://vacourts.gov/static/courts/cib.pdf (last visited Nov. 7, 2024).
[3] Id.; see also Individual General District Court Homepages, Va.’s Jud. Sys., https://vacourts.gov/courts/gd (last visited Nov. 7, 2024); Individual Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Homepages, VA.’S JUD. SYS., https://vacourts.gov/courts/jdr (last visited Nov. 7, 2024).
[4] Virginia Courts In Brief, Va.’s Jud. Sys., https://vacourts.gov/static/courts/cib.pdf (last visited Nov. 7, 2024).
[5] See, e.g., Courts, Chesterfield Va, https://www.chesterfield.gov/1126/Courts (last visited Nov. 9, 2024) (showing that cell phones are only prohibited in the circuit court and general district court).
[6] See Resources: Appearing in Court, City Of Richmond, VA, https://www.rva.gov/commonwealths- attorney/resources (last visited Oct. 8, 2024).
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10]Id.; the Virginia Judicial System website contains a homepage for each individual courthouse in the state. https://www.vacourts.gov/.
[11] Courthouse Security, FAIRFAX CNTY., VA, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/courthouse-security (last visited Oct. 8, 2024).
[12] See id.
[13] Id.
[14] Electronic Devices in the Courthouse, FAIRFAX CNTY., VA, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/circuit/courthouse-electronic-devices (last visited Dec. 3, 2024).
[15] See e.g., Jury Service, Norfolk Cir. Ct. Clerk’s Office, https://www.norfolkcircuitcourt.us/jury-service/ (last visited Oct. 8, 2024); Pulaski Juv. And Domestic Rels. Dist. Ct., Dress And Conduct Code (2013), https://www.courts.state.va.us/static/courts/jdr/pulaski/dressnconduct.pdf; Albertis S. Harrison Jr. Courthouse Information, Brunswick Cnty. Sheriff’s Off., https://brunswickso.org/courthouse-information (last visited Oct. 8, 2024).
[16] VA.’S JUD. SYS., https://www.vacourts.gov/online/home (last visited Nov. 9, 2024).
[17] Interview with Anonymous Deputy, Brunswick Cnty. Sheriff’s Office (Oct. 31, 2024).
[18] Id.
[19] Interview with Anonymous Judge, Norfolk Gen. Dist. Ct. (Oct. 30, 2024); Interview with Anonymous Deputy, Norfolk Sheriff’s Office (Nov. 4, 2024); Interview with Anonymous Deputy, Chesterfield Cnty. Sheriff’s Office (Nov. 4, 2024).
[20] Interview with Anonymous Deputy, Norfolk Sheriff’s Office (Nov. 4, 2024); Court Security, VA. BEACH SHERIFF’S OFFICE, https://vbso.net/court-security (last visited Nov. 9, 2024).
[21] Interview with Anonymous Judge Fairfax Cir. Ct. (Oct. 25, 2024); interview with Anonymous Judge, Norfolk Gen. Dist. Ct. (Oct. 30, 2024); DANVILLE JUV. AND DOMESTIC RELS. DIST. CT., POLICY REGARDING USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN COURTROOM, https://www.vacourts.gov/static/courts/jdr/danville/elecdevicepolicy.pdf (last visited Nov. 8, 2024) (explaining that the deputy/bailiff will hold a litigant’s phone until needed);interview with Anonymous Deputy, Brunswick Cnty. Sheriff’s Office (Oct. 31, 2024).