2006 Code of Virginia § 19.2-56 - To whom search warrant directed; what it shall command; warrant to show date and time of issuance; ...

19.2-56. To whom search warrant directed; what it shall command; warrant toshow date and time of issuance; copy of affidavit to be part of warrant andserved therewith; warrants not executed within fifteen days.

The judge, magistrate or other official authorized to issue criminalwarrants, shall issue a search warrant if he finds from the facts orcircumstances recited in the affidavit that there is probable cause for theissuance thereof.

Every search warrant shall be directed to (i) the sheriff, sergeant, or anypoliceman of the county, city or town in which the place to be searched islocated, (ii) any law-enforcement officer or agent employed by theCommonwealth and vested with the powers of sheriffs and police, or (iii)jointly to any such sheriff, sergeant, policeman or law-enforcement officeror agent and an agent, special agent or officer of the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of the UnitedStates Treasury, the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service orthe Drug Enforcement Administration. The warrant shall (i) name the affiant,(ii) recite the offense in relation to which the search is to be made, (iii)name or describe the place to be searched, (iv) describe the property orperson to be searched for, and (v) recite that the magistrate has foundprobable cause to believe that the property or person constitutes evidence ofa crime (identified in the warrant) or tends to show that a person (named ordescribed therein) has committed or is committing a crime.

The warrant shall command that the place be forthwith searched, either in dayor night, and that the objects or persons described in the warrant, if foundthere, be seized. An inventory shall be produced before a court havingjurisdiction of the offense in relation to which the warrant was issued asprovided in 19.2-57.

Any such warrant as provided in this section shall be executed by thepoliceman or other law-enforcement officer or agent into whose hands it shallcome or be delivered. If the warrant is directed jointly to a sheriff,sergeant, policeman or law-enforcement officer or agent of the Commonwealthand a federal agent or officer as otherwise provided in this section, thewarrant may be executed jointly or by the policeman, law-enforcement officeror agent into whose hands it is delivered. No other person may be permittedto be present during or participate in the execution of a warrant to search aplace except (i) the owners and occupants of the place to be searched whenpermitted to be present by the officer in charge of the conduct of the searchand (ii) persons designated by the officer in charge of the conduct of thesearch to assist or provide expertise in the conduct of the search.

Every search warrant shall contain the date and time it was issued. However,the failure of any such search warrant to contain the date and time it wasissued shall not render the warrant void, provided that the date and time ofissuing of said warrant is established by competent evidence.

The judge, magistrate, or other official authorized to issue criminalwarrants shall attach a copy of the affidavit required by 19.2-54, whichshall become a part of the search warrant and served therewith. However, thisprovision shall not be applicable in any case in which the affidavit is madeby means of a voice or videotape recording or where the affidavit has beensealed pursuant to 19.2-54.

Any search warrant not executed within fifteen days after issuance thereofshall be returned to, and voided by, the officer who issued such searchwarrant.

(Code 1950, 19.1-86; 1960, c. 366; 1968, c. 572; 1975, c. 495; 1977, c.289; 1979, c. 584; 1980, c. 573; 1981, c. 559; 1984, cc. 491, 598; 1988, c.50; 1989, c. 719; 2000, c. 783; 2001, cc. 183, 205.)