RESPONSIBILITIES

The Criminal Division is responsible for the indexing, processing and maintaining of felony and misdemeanor criminal appeal cases, including the indexing and processing of traffic appeal cases and collecting court costs. The plaintiff in criminal cases is the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the individual charged with the offense is the defendant. The Criminal Division handles cases that have been certified to grand jury or transferred by a judge for trial in Circuit Court.

CASE STATUS
To check case status information, please visit the Supreme Court's website for Virginia [1]. This website has information regarding upcoming court dates, pleadings filed, as well as orders entered in the case. Other information will need to be obtained from the court file.

Parking is limited around the Courthouse.  In order to assure parking near the Courthouse, please plan to arrive early for your scheduled hearing date(s).

CIRCUIT COURT FINES AND COSTS

When an individual is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in the Circuit Court or found guilty of an appealed traffic infraction, court imposed fines and/or court costs will be assessed against the defendant.  All court costs are assessed in accordance with the Code of Virginia.  An individual who does not promptly pay fines and court costs will be subject to the following:

• A judgment will be entered against the defendant and interest will accrue on the balance due.  A judgment is entered on all convictions that are not paid the same day.  All judgments will be docketed against real estate, thereby creating a lien on the defendant's real property in the land records.
• Unpaid balances are reported to the Department of Taxation for Set-Off Debt Collection (after proper notice, any tax refund or lottery proceeds due the defendant will be sent to the Clerk's Office to pay off the debt.
• Notification is sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles of any unpaid fine and/or court costs for suspension of the defendant's operator's license.
• Interest shall accrue on any fine and costs after the period of 40 days from the date of the final judgment imposing such fine and costs or after the final due on date set by the Court.  See §19.2-353.5 [2].  Whenever interest on any unpaid fine or costs accrues, it shall accrue at the judgment rate of interest set forth in §6.2-302 [3].    A person who owes fines and costs on which interest has accrued during a period of incarceration may request [4] any court in which he owes fines and costs to waive the interest that accrued on such fines and costs during such period of incarceration.  Upon Certification of the period of incarceration [5] by the superintendent, warden, or other official in charge of a correction facility, such interest shall be waived.   
• Pursuant to §19.2-354(c) [6], if a defendant owes fines and costs in the Madison County Circuit Court, he/she may petition the court to be allowed to perform community service to earn credit to discharge all or a part of the fine and costs imposed. See Community Service Notice [7] and Community Service Petition [8] in the Support Documents section.

The Criminal Division accepts payment for criminal fines and costs by cash, money order, personal & certified check (defendants name/case number needs to be on check) or credit card (Mastercard, Visa and Discover are accepted - there will be a 4% convenience fee assessed on each transaction)..  Restitution payments must be paid by cash or money order and must be paid prior to fines and costs.  Please do not send cash through the mail.
**Beginning February 1, 2020, the Madison County Circuit Court will begin accepting payment for criminal fines, costs and restitution by credit card on-line at: 
https://eapps.courts.state.va.us/fmsOnline/#/ [9].  Make sure you have linked into the Circuit Court division and Madison County.  You will be given instructions on how to pay.  **THERE WILL BE A 4% CONVENIENCE FEE ASSESSED PER TRANSACTION **

TIME TO PAY PLAN

You must come to our office with the Installment Payment Plan form [10] filled out, or you may fill it out at our office.  You should call our office at 540-948-6888 to find out the total amount of fines and costs that are owed.  Please read Madison County Circuit Court Procedures and Polices for the Collection of Unpaid Fines and Court Costs [11] [11]before entering into an installment payment plan with this court.

RESTRICTED DRIVER'S LICENSE

If the Court has previously granted you a restricted license permit, you must come into the clerk's office and fill out the Restricted License Application Form [12].  The license will then by typed up by staff.  You will need to review the typed license and sign.  The form will then be forwarded to the judge for review and entry.  Please note that this may take a few days to a week for entry.  If you provide a phone number, we will call you to come in an pick up the Restricted Driver's License.  Otherwise, we will mail the Restricted Driver's License upon entry.    

If the Court has not granted you a restricted permit, you must submit a written request to be placed on the Court's docket along with the Restricted License Application Form [12].  It will then be forwarded to the judge, who will determine a date to place the matter on the court's docket.  Please provide a telephone number and our office will notify you of your court date.  

Parking is limited around the Courthouse.  In order to assure parking near the Courthouse, please plan to arrive early.

Proper dress is required for trials.  You should dress comfortably, but in proper attire. 

Weapons of any kind (including pocket knives) are prohibited from the courtroom.  Cell phones are not permitted in the courtroom.

NOTE ABOUT LEGAL ADVICE

**Court personnel are prohibited by law from giving legal advice, restating the law or recommending legal action. Questions regarding interpretation of the law should be directed to an attorney licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia**

Certification of Incarceration Period [5]

Request for Waiver of Interest on Fines and Costs [4]