Search Chesterfield County Circuit Court Records

The Chesterfield County Court System

Chesterfield sits in Virginia's 12th Judicial Circuit and 12th Judicial District. The court structure runs from the state's top courts down to the local trial courts. The Circuit Court is the court of record and the primary trial court of general jurisdiction. The district courts are courts not of record that handle limited matters in high volume. Above them sit the state's appellate courts.

A simple way to picture the path of a case is below.

Case flow: General District Court › Circuit Court › Court of Appeals of Virginia › Supreme Court of Virginia

Most local cases start in a trial court and only move up on appeal. A district court matter is commonly appealed to Circuit Court for a new trial, while a Circuit Court decision is appealed to the state appellate courts.

Chesterfield Circuit Court Jurisdiction

The Circuit Court hears the county's most serious cases. Its civil jurisdiction includes monetary disputes over $4,500, with concurrent jurisdiction with the General District Court for civil actions up to $25,000 and for personal injury or wrongful death up to $50,000. It also handles civil and equity matters such as adoptions, guardian and conservator appointments, divorces, estate and will disputes, name changes, and property disputes. On the criminal side, the Circuit Court hears all felony cases, misdemeanors that come by grand jury action, and appeals from the district courts.

The court seats six judges. Hon. Jayne Ann Pemberton is the Presiding and Chief Judge, joined by Hon. David E. Johnson, Hon. Steven C. McCallum, Hon. M. Duncan Minton Jr., Hon. Steven B. Novey, and Hon. Edward A. Robbins Jr. The Clerk of the Circuit Court, Hon. Amanda L. Pohl, keeps the court's records. For the clerk's record and copy process, see the Clerk of the Circuit Court page.

Chesterfield Court Directory

The county's courts and the magistrate sit across a few addresses in the Chesterfield Court House area. The table gathers each court, its main role, address, and contact.

Court security and civil process run through the Sheriff's Office, with court security at 804-748-1261 and the Civil Process Unit at 804-751-4412.

Comparing the Chesterfield Trial Courts

The three trial courts do not overlap much. Each takes a defined set of cases. The comparison shows how the work splits.

That last row matters for searching. General District and Circuit cases appear online by court, while J&DR cases stay offline to protect confidentiality. The court records page covers the search systems in detail.

Chesterfield General District Court

The General District Court carries the highest case volume. It handles traffic, misdemeanors, preliminary felony hearings, civil matters within statutory limits, garnishments, and landlord-tenant cases. Traffic dockets run each weekday morning at 8:30, with afternoon traffic dockets earlier in the week. The court seats several judges, including Chief Judge Hon. Matthew D. Nelson, and the clerk is Linda McCollum-Moore.

The Virginia Judicial System keeps an official directory and schedule for the court.

The Chesterfield General District Court page lists the clerk, hours, judges, and the traffic, criminal, and civil schedules.

The court's daily mix is wide. Beyond traffic, the General District Court hears criminal dockets, protective-order hearings, arraignments, civil dockets, garnishments, attorney interrogatories, motions, small claims, and school citations. Lengthy contested civil matters are set by the court for a separate date. Most traffic infractions stay in this court unless they are appealed to the Circuit Court. For traffic specifically, including how to pay or contest a ticket, the traffic court records page covers the process in full.

Civil, Small Claims, and Landlord-Tenant

The General District Court is where most everyday civil disputes land. Its small claims division handles money claims or the return of personal property up to $5,000, and small claims require self-representation. The court also handles warrants in debt, warrants in detinue, garnishments, and landlord-tenant or unlawful detainer matters. Civil actions up to $25,000 can be filed here, sharing jurisdiction with the Circuit Court.

Virginia's self-help site explains small claims and landlord-tenant cases in plain terms.

The Virginia small claims and landlord-tenant page covers warrants in debt, service, and how to prepare a case.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court

The J&DR Court sits a short drive from the main courthouse at 7000 Lucy Corr Boulevard. It handles juvenile traffic and delinquency, custody, visitation, support, adult criminal matters involving family or household members, child welfare cases, and protective orders within its jurisdiction. Its clerk is Jennifer G. Nicely, and the court seats several judges, including Chief Judge Hon. Tara D. Hatcher.

Because these cases involve juveniles and families, the court's records carry strong confidentiality protections.

The Chesterfield J&DR Court page lists the clerk, hours, judges, and schedule. Online case information is not available for ordinary J&DR cases, so confirming a date there means a call to the clerk.

The Magistrate's Office

The Magistrate's Office is the 24-hour front door for many criminal matters. It adjoins the jail at 6900 Mimms Drive. Magistrates handle initial process such as issuing arrest warrants and setting bond. All bonding activity in the county takes place there, not at a court clerk's counter. The on-duty magistrate line is 804-748-1410.

This is also where a person can turn themselves in on a warrant by reporting to the jail front lobby. For warrants and bond, see the warrant records page and the inmate records page.

Visiting the Chesterfield Courthouse

The main Courts Building holds both the Circuit Court and the General District Court. It is a large brick building with white columns and a circular drive, at the corner of Iron Bridge Road, Route 10, and Courthouse Road. The J&DR Court is a short drive away on Lucy Corr Boulevard. Deputies from the Sheriff's Office screen everyone at entry, and weapons, cell phones, and smart watches are flagged. Parking is free except in gated, reserved, or juror-designated spaces, and morning dockets can back up traffic, so leave early.

The courthouse area has been the county seat since 1749, and the Clerk's Office keeps permanent land and court records dating from that year. The historic courthouse square, with its 1892 jail and 1917 courthouse, sits beside the active courts.

Appeals and How a Case Moves

A case can travel up through the system. A decision in the General District Court or the J&DR Court is commonly appealed to the Circuit Court, where it gets a new trial rather than a paper review. From the Circuit Court, an appeal goes to the Court of Appeals of Virginia and, in appropriate cases, to the Supreme Court of Virginia. Some matters from the county also reach federal court through the Eastern District of Virginia.

Knowing the path helps you find the right record. A case that has been appealed may have files in more than one court, since the trial court file and the appeal file are kept separately. When a district court case is appealed and retried in Circuit Court, the Circuit Court record becomes the one to follow. The court dockets page covers how to find hearing dates across these courts.

Related Chesterfield Record Searches

The trial courts connect to most records on the site. The court records page covers the case search, the court dockets page covers hearing dates, the traffic court records page covers citations, and the Clerk of the Circuit Court page covers copies and recorded documents.