The General Assembly finds that arrest records can be a hindrance to a citizen's ability to obtain employment and an education. It further finds that the police and court records of those of its citizens who have been absolutely pardoned for crimes for which they have been unjustly convicted or who have demonstrated their rehabilitation can also be a hindrance. This chapter is intended to protect such persons from the unwarranted damage that may occur as a result of being arrested and convicted.
Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-392.1
Statement of policy
Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case Hearn v. Hudson (1982)
Most recently applied in A.R.A. v. Commonwealth (March 2018)
1977, c. 675; 1984, c. 642; 2021 Sp
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Virginia Law Portal (LIS). Reproduced from public-domain Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.