Appeal Procedures

*Please note: Court personnel are prohibited by law from giving legal advice. If you need assistance or advice please see our Legal Aid and Links page.

Filing an Appeal

Filing an appeal to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court does not mean that you automatically get a new trial. Once a Notice of Appeal is filed, the Circuit Court (within 90 days from the date of the order being appealed) will forward the case to the appeals court to determine if a judicial error was made in the case. If so, they will remand the case back to this court for a new trial.

Deadlines & Fees

Notices of appeal must be filed in writing in the Clerk's office within 30 calendar days of the date of the order being appealed. A $20 filing fee and a $500 bond must be submitted at the time of filing the notice for those appeals to the Supreme Court and to the Court of Appeals. Please note July 1 fee changes (PDF).

Requirements

Appeals should contain all information required by the Rules of the Supreme Court (PDF) (Code of Virginia, Volume 11 Code), comply with the statutory requirements and include to which court the case is being appealed (Supreme Court- VA Code §8.01-670 or Court of Appeals - VA Code Section 17-400 et seq. and following statutes). It is your responsibility to ensure that any transcripts or statement of facts are filed within the established time frames and that notices of such are sent.  Per the Court of Appeals, condensed transcripts are not accepted pursuant to Rule 5A:4(a) of the Rules of the Court of Appeals of Virginia which states that “the use of condensed or multi-page transcripts is prohibited.” The Court of Appeals will reject appeals that contain condensed transcripts and states that the party that ordered the transcripts needs to go back to the Court Reporter that prepared them to have this fixed. Once fixed, the transcripts need to be filed with the Circuit Court and the record will need to be resent to the Court of Appeals.

Some of the procedures are jurisdictional and require strict compliance. Please refer to the rules of the Supreme Court (PDF) for more complete information pertaining to appeals, along with the deadlines and fees associated with appeals.

Learn More

For further information about the appeal process, please contact the Virginia Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals of Virginia: