SENATE BILL NO. 1129 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 9, 2007 A BILL to amend and reenact § 17.1-124 of the Code of Virginia, relating to microfilming of order books. ---------- Patron-- Norment ---------- Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 17.1-124 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 17.1-124. Order books.

Except as otherwise provided herein, each circuit court clerk shall keep order books recording all proceedings, orders and judgments of the court in all matters, all decrees, and decretal orders of such court and all matters pertaining to trusts, the appointment and qualification of trustees, committees, administrators, executors, conservators and guardians shall be recorded, except when the same are appointed by the clerk of court, in which event the order appointing such administrators or executors, shall be made and entered in the clerk's order book. In any circuit court, the clerk may, with the approval of the chief judge of the court, by order entered of record, divide the order book into two sections, to be known as the civil order book and the criminal order book. All proceedings, orders and judgments of the court in all matters at civil law shall be recorded in the civil order book, and all proceedings, orders and judgments of the court in all matters at criminal law shall be recorded in the criminal order book. In any proceeding brought for the condemnation of property, all proceedings, orders, judgments and decrees of the court shall be recorded in the civil order book of the court. The recordation prior to January 1, 1974, of all proceedings, orders, judgments and decrees in such cases, whether entered in the common-law order book or the chancery order book of any court, is hereby declared a valid and proper recordation of the same. Orders in cases appealed from the juvenile and domestic relations district courts shall be maintained as provided in this section and, to the extent inconsistent with this section, § 16.1-302.

The clerk shall ensure that these order books are microfilmed and shall further provide security negative copies of any such microfilmed materials for storage in the Library of Virginia.