FAQ

In this sec­tion we will be covering:

CALLING 911

NO TRESPASSING

EVICTION PROCEDURES

HOW DO I HANDLE BEARS?

HOW DO I OBTAIN A CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMIT?

HOW DO I OBTAIN A PROTECTIVE ORDER?

HOW DO I OBTAIN AN EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION?

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) / CRASH REPORTS

EMPLOYER REQUIRED FINGERPRINTING

BURN LAWS AND INFORMATION

HAVE I BEEN SCAMMED?

CHILD CUSTODY

WHAT IS A THREAT?

WHAT IS AN ECO AND HOW TO OBTAIN ONE?


CALLING 911


When call­ing 911 here are a few tips and things to expect. Try to remain calm so the dis­patch­er can under­stand you. Be pre­pared to answer a few essen­tial ques­tions (Name, Birth­day, Address, Phone Num­ber, and Nature of your call). If you acci­den­tal­ly dialed 911, please remain on the line and advise the dis­patch­er that you dialed 911 by acci­dent. If you just hang up expect a phone call back from our com­mu­ni­ca­tion cen­ter and a vis­it from a deputy, to ensure every­one is safe. 


NO TRESPASSING

How to tres­pass some­one from your property?

Option 1 – The prop­er­ty that you are request­ing some­one not enter upon can be prop­er­ly post­ed. This means post­ing a sign, giv­ing notice to any per­son not to tres­pass upon your prop­er­ty. This method is a blan­ket tres­pass and not spe­cif­ic to a spe­cif­ic per­son. This sign must be post­ed in a con­spic­u­ous place so that the sign can be eas­i­ly seen by all. If you have a large area of prop­er­ty, mul­ti­ple signs may be needed.

Option 2 – You may send some­one a notice of no tres­pass­ing through the mail. This notice must include at a min­i­mum; the date issued, who is being tres­passed, the address of the prop­er­ty you are request­ing they not tres­pass upon, that you are request­ing them not to enter upon or tres­pass on this prop­er­ty, and who the no tres­pass notice is from. To ensure the intend­ed recip­i­ent receives this notice and to prove ser­vice, this no tres­pass notice should be mailed cer­ti­fied through the Post Office, sig­na­ture upon deliv­ery. You should also keep a dupli­cate copy of the notice sent for your records and keep the cer­ti­fied sig­na­ture receipt with to no tres­pass notice.

Sam­ple – No Tres­pass­ing Notice


EVICTION PROCEDURES


Evic­tion is the process by which a land­lord obtains pos­ses­sion of the rental prop­er­ty by enter­ing a law­suit against the tenant(s) and receiv­ing judg­ment from the court direct­ing the tenant(s) to leave the prop­er­ty and pay back any rent, dam­age claims and costs of the court process. Fol­low­ing are the steps a land­lord must take in the evic­tion process.  Click to down­load this infor­ma­tion as well as sam­ple 5 and 30 Day Notice forms.


Step 1: Notice to Tenant(s)

(Referred to here­in as “Ten­ant” whether sin­gu­lar or plural)

5‑day let­ter (Non­pay­ment Notice) for mon­ey-relat­ed issues. This notice is used for fail­ure to pay rent. The land­lord gives the ten­ant writ­ten notice that rent must be paid with­in four­teen days of ser­vice date or ten­ant must vacate the premis­es. Ten­ant has 5 days after receipt of notice to respond.

OR

Mate­r­i­al Non­com­pli­ance Notice for fail­ure to fol­low the terms of the lease or fail­ure to fol­low the terms of the Vir­ginia Res­i­den­tial Land­lord and Ten­ant Act (VRLTA). Code of Vir­ginia §§55.1–1200 to 55.1–1262. With this type of notice the land­lord gives the ten­ant writ­ten notice to vacate the premis­es with­in 30 days of service.

If a land­lord requests Sheriff’s Ser­vice for Notice to Ten­ant, the notice must include:

The name of the individual(s) to be served and the address of the rental prop­er­ty. The orig­i­nal notice for return to land­lord, plus a copy for each indi­vid­ual being served. Self-addressed, stamped enve­lope to send back landlord’s proof of ser­vice. A $12.00 ser­vice fee for each indi­vid­ual being served.

Step 2: Sum­mons for Unlaw­ful Detain­er

VA Code § 8.01–126

  1. If the ten­ant does not com­ply with the notice, the land­lord brings proof of the notice to the Gen­er­al Dis­trict Court to obtain a Sum­mons for Unlaw­ful Detain­er, which is a civ­il claim for eviction.
  2. The court issues a Sum­mons for Unlaw­ful Detain­er and assigns a date when the land­lord and ten­ant have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to appear.
  3. If the Judge rules in favor of the land­lord (Plain­tiff), the ten­ant (Defen­dant) is grant­ed a 10-day appeal period.

Step 3: Writ of Evic­tion in Unlaw­ful Detain­er Proceedings 

VA Code § 8.01–471, 8.01–470, 8.01–472

  1. After the 10-day appeal peri­od, the plain­tiff files a Request for Writ of Evic­tion in Unlaw­ful Detain­er Pro­ceed­ings with the clerk of the Gen­er­al Dis­trict Court.
  2. The court sends the Writ of Evic­tion for the plain­tiff to the Sheriff’s Office.
  3. The Sheriff’s Office has 30 days from the court’s sign­ing to exe­cute the doc­u­ment. The Sheriff’s Office con­tacts the plain­tiff with the sched­uled date and time of the eviction.
  4. The defen­dant is giv­en a min­i­mum of 72 hours’ notice pri­or to the sched­uled eviction. 

Step 4: Evic­tion

There are two types of Evic­tion: 

  1. Full Evic­tion – The defen­dan­t’s prop­er­ty, in its entire­ty, is placed on the near­est pub­lic right of way. The plain­tiff must pro­vide a lock­smith and enough adults deemed nec­es­sary by the Sheriff’s Office to exe­cute the evic­tion. The Sher­if­f’s Office is respon­si­ble for pro­tect­ing the inter­ests of both par­ties. Depend­ing on the par­tic­u­lar cir­cum­stances, the Sher­if­f’s Office may require the plain­tiff to pro­vide a mov­ing truck, box­es and bags, and/or spe­cial equip­ment. In cas­es of inclement weath­er or unfore­seen cir­cum­stances, the Sher­if­f’s Office reserves the right to post­pone the evic­tion to the next avail­able date.


    OR 

  2. 24-Hour Lock Change Evic­tion – This is the most com­mon­ly used evic­tion because it is far less cost­ly than a Full Evic­tion. Pos­ses­sion of the dwelling is grant­ed to the plain­tiff with­in 24 hours after the sched­uled evic­tion date and time. On evic­tion day, the plain­tiff must pro­vide a lock­smith to change all of the locks on exte­ri­or entrances to the dwelling. The dwelling becomes a stor­age facil­i­ty for the defen­dan­t’s prop­er­ty for the next 24 hours. The plain­tiff must grant the defen­dant rea­son­able access to remove his or her prop­er­ty dur­ing that 24 hour peri­od. The defen­dant can­not stay in the dwelling overnight. At the end of the 24 hour peri­od, any prop­er­ty left in the dwelling goes into the pos­ses­sion of the plain­tiff who must sell or destroy it. If the defen­dant remains on the prop­er­ty or returns to the prop­er­ty after the 24 hour peri­od expires, the defen­dant is trespassing.


For more infor­ma­tion about fill­ing fees at the War­ren Coun­ty Gen­er­al Dis­trict Court please con­tact them at 540–635-2335.

All evic­tion infor­ma­tion is sub­ject to change. The War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office will fol­low the guide­lines from local, state, and fed­er­al orders. These orders may include but not lim­it­ed to the Pres­i­dent of the Unit­ed States, Gov­er­nor of Vir­ginia, and/or any judge (Fed­er­al or Vir­ginia). We will also fol­low the guid­ance of the Com­mon­wealth Attorney.


HOW DO I HANDLE BEARS?

Have a friend­ly neigh­bor­hood bear prob­lem? We know part of the ben­e­fit of liv­ing in an envi­ron­ment so close to a nature reserve such as the Shenan­doah Nation­al Park is the beau­ti­ful wildlife, but for both your safe­ty and your fur­ry neigh­bors, Be Bear Aware!

Don’t feed the bears!

By tak­ing away food sources like trash cans left out or unse­cured, bird feed­ers or even Fido’s din­ner, you min­i­mize the appeal for a bear to near your home.  Even if it is an inad­ver­tent, feed­ing of bears that is a vio­la­tion of code.

Please take a moment to review the  Vir­ginia Depart­ment of Wildlife Resources (for­mer­ly known as Vir­ginia Game War­den or Vir­ginia Game and Inland Fish­eries — DGIF) poli­cies and infor­ma­tion.  You’ll find facts and infor­ma­tion­al tips on how to deter bears near your homehow to bear-proof your trash con­tain­ers and the plans and poli­cies for bear man­age­ment


HOW DO I OBTAIN A CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMIT?

PROCESS FOR OBTAINING A CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMIT

The appli­cant must obtain and com­plete an Appli­ca­tion for Con­cealed Hand­gun Per­mit. Appli­ca­tions are locat­ed at the War­ren Coun­ty Sheriff’s Office and at the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s Office or it can be down­loaded here

The appli­cant must be at least 21 years of age and pro­vide doc­u­men­ta­tion that he/she has demon­strat­ed com­pe­tence with a handgun. 

Once the appli­ca­tion has been com­plet­ed, the appli­ca­tion along with pay­ment to the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court may be sub­mit­ted by mail or in per­son to the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s Office, 1 E. Main Street, Front Roy­al, VA 22630. If you have any ques­tions please direct them to the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s Office, (540) 635‑4107.

A back­ground check will then be per­formed by the War­ren Coun­ty Sheriff’s Office and  infor­ma­tion obtained from the back­ground check is for­ward­ed to the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s Office. 

The appli­ca­tion will then be reviewed by the Cir­cuit Court Judge. The Judge will make a deci­sion to approve or deny the permit. 

Once the process has been com­plet­ed, the appli­cant will be con­tact­ed by the War­ren Coun­ty Cir­cuit Court Clerk’s Office.  For more infor­ma­tion vis­it the Vir­ginia State Police web­site.


HOW DO I OBTAIN A PROTECTIVE ORDER?

What is a Pro­tec­tive Order?
It is a legal order issued by a mag­is­trate or the judge to pro­tect one per­son from phys­i­cal abuse or threat­en­ing behav­ior by anoth­er. A pro­tec­tive order is issued in cas­es of domes­tic vio­lence and stalk­ing to pro­tect the health and safe­ty of an abused per­son and his/her fam­i­ly or house­hold members.

Pro­tec­tive Orders are Free
There is no charge for peti­tion­ing for a pro­tec­tive order, fil­ing copies of a pro­tec­tive order, or hav­ing the order served on the abuser.

Do I Need Legal Rep­re­sen­ta­tion for a Pro­tec­tive Order?
No. You do not need an attor­ney to file for a pro­tec­tive order. How­ev­er, there are often free legal ser­vices avail­able for low income vic­tims who would like to obtain a pro­tec­tive order. Many area domes­tic vio­lence ser­vice agen­cies have free attor­neys and vic­tim advo­cates avail­able for vic­tims who would like a Pro­tec­tive Order. Local Legal Aid offices also assist vic­tims in obtain­ing pro­tec­tive orders. All local Juve­nile and Domes­tic Rela­tions Dis­trict Courts have court ser­vices units to assist vic­tims in obtain­ing pro­tec­tive orders. To find out more about the ser­vices avail­able in your area, please call the toll free Statewide Domes­tic Vio­lence Hot­line at 1–800-838‑8238

Do I Have to Press Charges to Get a Pro­tec­tive Order?
No. A pro­tec­tive order is a civ­il order, and is not the same as press­ing crim­i­nal charges. You may press crim­i­nal charges against the abuser, in addi­tion to peti­tion­ing for a fam­i­ly abuse pro­tec­tive order, but you do not have to press charges in order to get a pro­tec­tive order.

How Do I Get a Pro­tec­tive Order?
Con­tact the War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office at (540) 635‑4128.  More detailed infor­ma­tion can be found in the pam­plet below.

Pro­tec­tive Order Brochure


HOW DO I OBTAIN AN EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION?

To apply to the War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office, please com­plete and nota­rize our Employ­ment Appli­ca­tion Pack­et and return

War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office
200 Sky­line Vista Dri­ve
Front Roy­al, VA 22630

Or

Email com­plet­ed and nota­rized appli­ca­tion pack­et to the War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office.

Employ­ment pack­ets can also be obtained in per­son at the War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office and the War­ren Coun­ty Gov­ern­ment Cen­ter.  

To view a list of cur­rent open posi­tions vis­it the War­ren Coun­ty Gov­ern­ment Employ­ment Oppor­tu­ni­ties page.


FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) / CRASH REPORTS

War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office FOIA Request Pack­et 
can be down­loaded and returned to the War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office. 

For more infor­ma­tion vis­it the Code of Vir­ginia Free­dom of Infor­ma­tion Act Rights or con­tact our FOIA Offi­cer, at 540–635-7243.

Pub­lic Com­ment Form

If you need an acci­dent report from an auto­mo­tive crash, please go to http://www.crashdocs.org/ to get your report. You will need to know the acci­dent date, report num­ber and the last name of the dri­ver to obtain a report.

A crash report should be avail­able on CrashDocs.org, 5–7 days after a traf­fic crash. If your traf­fic crash was pri­or to Octo­ber 1, 2021, you will need to con­tact the records depart­ment at 540–635‑2074 or stop by the sheriff’s office to request the record in per­son. If the crash was after Octo­ber 1, 2021, and you have wait­ed 14 days after the crash and you still are unable to obtain your crash report on CrashDocs.org please con­tact our office at 540–635‑2074.


EMPLOYER REQUIRED FINGERPRINTING

My employ­er informed me that I need to have my fin­ger­prints tak­en for my new job. Can you assist me with that?

Answer: Appli­cant fin­ger­prints are tak­en at the War­ren Coun­ty Court Hold­ing facil­i­ty locat­ed at 8 E. Jack­son St., Front Roy­al, VA. 22630. Sched­uled days and times for appli­cant fin­ger­print­ing are:

Wednes­day  12:30 pm — 3:30 pm

Thurs­day  9:00 am — 12:00 pm

The War­ren Coun­ty Sher­if­f’s Office charges a fee of $10.00 for appli­ca­tion fingerprinting.

*This fee will not apply to any cur­rent War­ren Coun­ty employ­ee or any per­spec­tive appli­cant going through the War­ren Coun­ty hir­ing process.


BURN LAWS AND INFORMATION

Spring Wild­fire Sea­son begins Feb­ru­ary 15th each year and con­tin­ues through April 30th.

As a safe­ty pre­cau­tion, open air burn­ing is restrict­ed to only the hours of 4pm-12 mid­night. Once wild­fire sea­son con­cludes, open air burn­ing is no longer restrict­ed and you may burn at any time (unless oth­er­wise post­ed). For more infor­ma­tion on what you are allowed to burn, please vis­it http://www.dof.virginia.gov/

Please con­tact the War­ren Coun­ty Sheriff’s Office 24hrs a day pri­or to start­ing your burn and with any fur­ther questions.


HAVE I BEEN SCAMMED? 

If you receive a call and do not pro­vide any infor­ma­tion you may report that to the Sher­if­f’s Office but as long as you don’t give any per­son­al infor­ma­tion it is not a vio­la­tion of law. We still ask that you call it in so we can tell the pub­lic.  If you do give infor­ma­tion about your­self or finan­cial infor­ma­tion please report that so it can be investigated.


CHILD CUSTODY

The Sher­if­f’s Office does not inter­pret civ­il doc­u­ments we can keep the peace dur­ing exchanges if need­ed but do not decide what par­ent a child will go with. 


WHAT IS A THREAT? 

Here is a link to the Code of Vir­ginia on the def­i­n­i­tion of a threat against a per­son and the require­ments to break that law. Link 


WHAT IS AN ECO AND HOW TO OBTAIN ONE?

Here is a link to the Code of Vir­ginia § 37.2–808. Emer­gency cus­tody; issuance and exe­cu­tion of order. Link

An ECO can be papered or paper­less. This pro­ce­dure is used when some­one has a men­tal ill­ness and that there exists a sub­stan­tial like­li­hood that, as a result of men­tal ill­ness, the per­son will, in the near future, (a) cause seri­ous phys­i­cal harm to him­self or oth­ers as evi­denced by recent behav­ior caus­ing, attempt­ing, or threat­en­ing harm and oth­er rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion, if any, or (b) suf­fer seri­ous harm due to his lack of capac­i­ty to pro­tect him­self from harm or to pro­vide for his basic human needs, (ii) is in need of hos­pi­tal­iza­tion or treat­ment, and (iii) is unwill­ing to vol­un­teer or inca­pable of vol­un­teer­ing for hos­pi­tal­iza­tion or treatment. 

When con­sid­er­ing whether there is prob­a­ble cause to issue an emer­gency cus­tody order, the mag­is­trate may, in addi­tion to the peti­tion, or the court may pur­suant to § 19.2–271.6, con­sid­er (1) the rec­om­men­da­tions of any treat­ing or exam­in­ing physi­cian or psy­chol­o­gist licensed in Vir­ginia, if avail­able, (2) any past actions of the per­son, (3) any past men­tal health treat­ment of the per­son, (4) any rel­e­vant hearsay evi­dence, (5) any med­ical records avail­able, (6) any affi­davits sub­mit­ted, if the wit­ness is unavail­able and it so states in the affi­davit, and (7) any oth­er infor­ma­tion avail­able that the mag­is­trate or the court con­sid­ers rel­e­vant to the deter­mi­na­tion of whether prob­a­ble cause exists to issue an emer­gency cus­tody order.

Any per­son for whom an emer­gency cus­tody order is issued shall be tak­en into cus­tody and trans­port­ed to a con­ve­nient loca­tion to be eval­u­at­ed to deter­mine whether the per­son meets the cri­te­ria for tem­po­rary deten­tion pur­suant to § 37.2–809 and to assess the need for hos­pi­tal­iza­tion or treat­ment. The eval­u­a­tion shall be made by a per­son des­ig­nat­ed by the com­mu­ni­ty ser­vices board who is skilled in the diag­no­sis and treat­ment of men­tal ill­ness and who has com­plet­ed a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram approved by the Department.

  • Any­one may go to the mag­is­trate and attempt to obtain an Emer­gency Cus­tody Order (ECO). The mag­is­trate will make the deter­mi­na­tion if the indi­vid­ual meets the require­ments to be tak­en into cus­tody on an ECO.
  • An Offi­cer or Deputy may also take some­one into cus­tody on a paper­less ECO if cer­tain cri­te­ria is met.
  • If you or a loved one has been tak­en into cus­tody on an ECO, the Vir­ginia Courts DC-4050 form explains the emer­gency cus­tody pro­ce­dures.