What a Virginia Magistrate Can and Cannot Do

A Virginia magistrate is a judicial officer with exactly seven powers, listed by Va. Code § 19.2-45 — and a magistrate is not a judge. A magistrate cannot hold a trial, decide guilt, or impose a sentence or fine. Everything a magistrate issues, from an arrest warrant to a bail order, is returnable before a district court, where a judge takes it from there.

The seven things a Virginia magistrate is allowed to do

Section 19.2-45 opens with a phrase that settles most of the confusion by itself: “A magistrate shall have the following powers only.” It is a closed list, not an example list.

#	Power	What it means in practice
1	Issue process of arrest	Arrest warrants and summonses, within the limits of Va. Code § 19.2-71 through § 19.2-82
2	Issue search warrants	Under a separate warrant procedure elsewhere in Title 19.2
3	Admit to bail or commit to jail	Decide pretrial release for a person already charged
4	Issue warrants and subpoenas	The same power a district court has, on the same limits — and every one is returnable before a district court
5	Issue civil warrants	Small civil claims, directed to the sheriff or constable, returnable within 30 days
6	Administer oaths and take acknowledgments	Sworn statements and notarial-type acts
7	Act as a conservator of the peace	The general peacekeeping authority every magistrate holds

Two more subsections of the original list, (8) and (9), have been repealed, and a final catch-all lets a magistrate do only “such other acts or functions specifically authorized by law” — another closed door, not an opening. The word “only” in the statute’s opening line is doing real legal work: courts read a closed list like this one as excluding everything not named, which is why a magistrate cannot, for example, dismiss a charge, reduce it, or promise a particular outcome — none of that is on the list.

Why “a magistrate is not a judge” is the fact to remember

A district or circuit court judge can find someone guilty, enter a sentence, and set a fine amount. A magistrate can do none of that. Nothing on the seven-item list above includes a trial, a verdict, or a punishment. A magistrate’s job is entirely at the front end of a case — deciding whether there is probable cause for an arrest or a search, and whether to release someone on bail — and the case itself is then heard by an actual judge in general district court. That is what “returnable before a district court” means in item 4: the paperwork a magistrate signs is not the end of the matter, it is the document that starts a court case.

This distinction answers the most common confusion about a Virginia traffic stop that turns into an arrest: a magistrate deciding to issue a warrant, or to set bail, is not the same event as a conviction. Nothing is decided about guilt until the case reaches a court that can try it — and Virginia has two levels that can, general district court and circuit court, neither of which a magistrate sits in.

How someone ends up in front of a magistrate

Two statutes explain the two common paths.

A law-enforcement officer requests a warrant. Va. Code § 19.2-71 lets a magistrate issue arrest process for most offenses, with one limit worth knowing: a magistrate may not issue a felony arrest warrant on a private citizen’s complaint (as opposed to an officer’s or animal control officer’s) without the Commonwealth’s Attorney or a law-enforcement agency signing off first.

Someone is arrested without a warrant first. This is the scenario behind “why am I seeing a magistrate at 2 a.m.” Va. Code § 19.2-82 requires that a person arrested without a warrant be brought before a magistrate “forthwith.” The magistrate examines the arresting officer under oath, and if there is probable cause, issues either a warrant or a summons. If there is not, the person is released. Magistrates cover this function around the clock — including by live two-way video and audio connection where the law’s conditions are met, so the accused and the arresting officer can appear before a magistrate without a physical trip when needed — precisely because arrests do not happen only during court hours.

Both paths lead to the same place. Whether a magistrate acts on an officer’s request or on a warrantless arrest already made, the document that comes out the other end — a warrant, a summons, or a bail order — is what starts (or continues) a court case. The magistrate’s decision is about process and pretrial status, not about whether the underlying charge will stick.

What happens after the magistrate acts

Once a magistrate issues a warrant or sets bail, the case moves to court. A felony warrant issued on a citizen’s complaint is promptly copied to the Commonwealth’s Attorney; any warrant or subpoena a magistrate issues is returnable before a district court, which is where the actual case — the plea, the evidence, and any finding of guilt — is decided. A traffic case specifically goes to the general district court for the county or city where it happened, and it is that court, not the magistrate’s office, that a driver should expect to deal with going forward. Only if a case is a felony, or a district court conviction is appealed within ten days, does it move up to the circuit court level — where where a jury first becomes available, and the only one that can revisit a district court’s finding. A felony charge is also the point at which the Commonwealth’s Attorney is required to prosecute rather than merely permitted to.

Becoming a magistrate, and how magistrates are paid

Magistrates are state employees. Va. Code § 19.2-46.1 puts salary decisions in the hands of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, who sets pay at least annually based on each magistrate’s workload, territory and population served — not a flat statewide number, and not a figure the Code itself states. A local governing body may add a limited supplement on top of the state salary, but that option was capped as of June 30, 2008, and cannot grow further. There is no public salary schedule in the statute to quote; a current figure would have to come from the Office of the Executive Secretary itself, not from this section.

When to involve an attorney

A magistrate’s decision — a warrant, a bail amount, a summons — happens fast and early, often before a driver has had any chance to consult anyone. A driver who is arrested, or whose case involves anything beyond a routine ticket, is generally better served by talking to a Virginia traffic or criminal defense attorney as soon as practical rather than waiting for the district court date; what a magistrate decided is rarely the last word, but early decisions can still matter to what happens next.

Where to find a magistrate’s office

Magistrate’s offices are organized by the same judicial districts as Virginia’s general district courts, and most operate 24 hours a day because arrests are not confined to business hours. Where a Virginia magistrate’s office is, and what actually happens there covers the locator and the practical side of a visit.