Finding Your Court
How Virginia courthouses and magistrate offices are organized by locality, and a worked example of a general district court traffic docket.
4 guides
Virginia has a courthouse, and usually a magistrate's office, in nearly every city and county, grouped into the thirty-two districts Va. Code § 16.1-69.6 establishes — so "which court is mine" depends on where the offense happened, not where the driver lives.
These pages explain how that local structure works and point to the judiciary's own directories for a specific address or phone number, plus one general district court's traffic docket as a worked example of how a routine Virginia traffic case actually runs, start to finish.
All guides
- How Virginia's Courthouses Are Organized, City by City
Virginia groups its courts into 32 districts, yet nearly every city and county runs its own courthouse — and yours is set by where the case happened.
- Brunswick County General District Court: How a Traffic Case Runs
Brunswick County's general district court hears its traffic cases like any Virginia GDC. Here is exactly how a routine traffic docket runs, step by step.
- How Virginia District Courts Handle a Traffic Case
Every Virginia traffic infraction and misdemeanor is heard in district court, with no jury. Here is exactly what that court can decide, and what it cannot.
- Where's the Magistrate's Office Near Me? How It Actually Works
Searching "magistrate's office near me"? Here is what a Virginia magistrate's office actually does, why people end up there, and how to find yours.