Whenever the Commonwealth or a defendant in a criminal prosecution in any circuit court in this Commonwealth requires as a witness in his behalf, an inmate in a state or local correctional facility as defined in § 53.1-1, the court, on the application of such defendant or his attorney, or the attorney for the Commonwealth, shall issue an order to the Director of the Department of Corrections to deliver such witness to the sheriff of the jurisdiction of the court issuing the order. If authorized by the court, the clerk of the circuit court or a deputy clerk may issue these orders on behalf of the court. The sheriff shall go where such witness may then be and carry him to the court to testify as such witness, and after he has testified and been released as such witness, carry him back to the place whence he came, for all of which service the sheriff shall be paid out of the criminal expense funds in the state treasury such compensation as the court in which the case is pending may certify to be reasonable.
Code 1950, § 8-300; 1966, c. 227; 1974, cc. 44, 45; 1977, c. 624; 2002, cc. 515, 544.
Structure Code of Virginia
Title 19.2 - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 16 - Evidence and Witnesses
§ 19.2-267.1. Authority of law-enforcement officer to issue summons to witness; failure to appear
§ 19.2-267.2. Response to subpoena for information stored in electronic format
§ 19.2-268. Right of accused to testify
§ 19.2-268.3. Admissibility of statements by children in certain cases
§ 19.2-269. Convicts as witnesses (Supreme Court Rule 2:609 derived from this section)
§ 19.2-269.1. Inmates as witnesses in criminal cases
§ 19.2-269.2. Nondisclosure of addresses or telephone numbers of crime victims and witnesses
§ 19.2-270. When statement by accused as witness not received as evidence
§ 19.2-270.1. Use of photographs as evidence in certain larceny and burglary prosecutions
§ 19.2-270.1:1. Computer and electronic data in obscenity, etc. cases; access to defendant
§ 19.2-270.3. Admissible evidence as to identity of party presenting bad check, draft or order
§ 19.2-270.4. When donation, destruction, or return of exhibits received in evidence authorized
§ 19.2-270.4:1. Storage, preservation and retention of human biological evidence in felony cases
§ 19.2-270.5. DNA profile admissible in criminal proceeding
§ 19.2-271.1. Competency of spouses to testify
§ 19.2-271.4. Privileged communications by certain public safety personnel
§ 19.2-271.5. Protected information; newspersons engaged in journalism
§ 19.2-271.6. Evidence of defendant's mental condition admissible; notice to Commonwealth
§ 19.2-273. Certificate that witness is needed in another state; hearing
§ 19.2-274. When court to order witness to attend
§ 19.2-276. Penalty for failure to attend and testify
§ 19.2-277. Summoning witnesses in another state to testify in this Commonwealth
§ 19.2-279. Penalty for failure of such witnesses to testify
§ 19.2-280. Exemption of such witnesses from arrest or service of process