Criminal charges can be brought in Virginia in one of three ways:
- Summons
- Warrant
- Indictment
Summons:
A police officer may write a summons for a traffic infraction or a misdemeanor, according to Va. Code §19.2-74. A summons does three things — it notifies you of the charge, it tells you when to come to court for the charge, and, if you sign the summons, it is your promise to appear at the time stated. On signing the promise to appear, you are free to leave. You are not taken to the magistrate, and you don’t have to post bond. (If you do not sign the warrant and promise to appear, you can be arrested and taken to a magistrate for a warrant to be issued.)
Warrant:
An arrest warrant can only be issued by the magistrate. This can happen in one of three ways.
If an officer detains you for a felony, or for a misdemeanor that he didn’t actually see you commit, or for a misdemeanor for which he thinks you ought to have to post a bond, the officer will take you into custody and will take you to the magistrate’s office. In Charlottesville and Albemarle, the magistrate’s office is on the back end of the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. There he will state under oath to the magistrate what happened, and the magistrate will have to decide what crime to charge you with. The magistrate will then issue an arrest warrant, the officer will serve you, and the magistrate will then have to decide whether to allow you to be released on a bond (and if so, on what conditions).
If an officer develops a case against you and you are not already in his custody, the officer will go to the magistrate and will state under oath what his evidence is, and the magistrate will then issue an arrest warrant and give it to the officer as authority to him or to any other law enforcement officer to arrest you. Once arrested, you will be brought to the magistrate for the initial bond determination.
If a private citizen believes that you have committed a crime, she can go to the magistrate and can file a sworn statement (called a criminal complaint) that states what her evidence is to support a criminal charge. The magistrate may ask her some questions to clarify or to supplement what is on the criminal complaint, and then the magistrate will have to decide what crime to charge you with. The magistrate can then issue a warrant charging you with a misdemeanor. If the private citizen wants you to be charged with a felony, the magistrate cannot issue a felony arrest warrant without first getting the authorization of the Commonwealth’s Attorney or by “a law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the alleged offense.” §19.2-71. When such a warrant is issued, it is given to a police officer so that they can come arrest you and bring you to the magistrate’s office for a bond determination.
Indictment:
Sometimes charges are brought by direct indictment, meaning that sworn testimony has been presented to a grand jury, and the grand jury has issued an indictment. This procedure is most often used (at least in our area) for drug distribution cases — usually where there is an informant involved and the narcotics officers are trying to protect the identity of the informant. Sometimes an indictment is sought where there has been a special investigation. “Cold” cases (cases that happened a long time ago without an arrest), or government corruption, or investigations that involve bringing in a lot of witnesses to force them to testify are examples of the kinds of cases that may be brought by direct indictment.
If the grand jury issues a direct indictment for you, the police will arrest you and will usually hold you until a bond hearing can be held in the local Circuit Court.
Direct indictments are uncommon in state charges, but they are virtually always used for most federal charges.
