Can a Virginia circuit court clerk carry a firearm into the courthouse where they work?

Subject

Whether the term "court officer" in Virginia Code § 18.2-283.1, which generally prohibits weapons in Virginia courthouses, includes the elected clerk of the circuit court, so that the clerk is exempt from the prohibition.

Plain-English summary

Section 18.2-283.1 makes it a crime to carry a gun, ammunition, stun gun, or other dangerous weapon into a Virginia courthouse. The statute lists a long set of people who are exempt while on official duty: police officers, sheriffs, law-enforcement agents and officials, conservation police officers, conservators of the peace, magistrates, "court officer," judges, city and county treasurers, and commissioners and deputy commissioners of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission. Senator Obenshain asked whether "court officer" includes the elected clerk of a circuit court.

AG Miyares concluded yes. The Code does not define "court officer," so ordinary meaning controls. Black's Law Dictionary treats "court officer" as synonymous with "officer of the court" and lists "a judge, clerk, bailiff, sheriff, or the like" as examples. The clerk is the elected chief administrator of the local circuit court, responsible for managing court documents, recording orders and pleadings, issuing process, administering oaths, preparing bonds, issuing commitment and release orders, recording real property transactions, and issuing marriage licenses, all of which are duties that fall comfortably within the role of "upholding the law and administering the judicial system."

The AG also pointed out that the other people specifically listed in § 18.2-283.1 (judges, magistrates, sheriffs) would already cover those roles, so reading "court officer" to include the clerk gives the term its own work to do and avoids redundancy. Virginia case law has long referred to clerks as "officers of the court" or "court officers," some of it dating back to 1800. And Code § 17.1-266 already uses the phrase "clerk or other court officer," which assumes the clerk is one type of court officer.

The opinion is limited. The AG did not opine on whether anyone other than the clerk (for example, a deputy clerk) qualifies as a court officer under § 18.2-283.1. Each person seeking the exemption needs to be evaluated on their own role and duties.

What this means for you

If you are an elected circuit court clerk

You are within the exemption when you are conducting your official duties. The opinion is direct authority. The same conclusion applies regardless of whether your courthouse has separate security screening, since the statutory exemption operates independently of building-access rules.

That said, the exemption is not a license to ignore everything else. Some chief circuit court judges have entered standing orders restricting weapons in particular courtrooms or chambers, and a chief judge's order under the inherent authority to control the courtroom can be enforced through contempt regardless of § 18.2-283.1. If your chief judge has such an order, the safe move is to comply or to seek clarification rather than rely on the AG opinion as a defense.

The opinion does not address open versus concealed carry, federal firearms restrictions (federal courthouses are governed by federal law), or weapons other than firearms. If you carry a concealed handgun, your concealed handgun permit rules still apply outside the exemption's scope.

If you are a deputy clerk or other clerk's office employee

The AG specifically declined to opine on whether anyone other than the elected clerk qualifies. Many deputy clerks perform the same administrative duties as the clerk, and the reasoning of the opinion would seem to extend to them, but there is no controlling guidance. Do not assume the exemption applies to deputies without checking with the clerk and the chief circuit judge.

If you are a chief circuit court judge

The opinion does not affect your authority to control the courtroom and the immediate court environment. You can still set rules about weapons in your courtroom by standing order. The opinion just clarifies the meaning of one statutory exemption.

If your courthouse has a security agreement or magnetometer policy, this opinion may require you to revisit how clerks pass through screening. Most courthouses already have a workable carve-out for sworn personnel and clerks; this opinion confirms that approach.

If you are a sheriff or courthouse security officer

You and your deputies are already explicitly exempt under § 18.2-283.1. This opinion tells you that the clerk and clerk's office leadership are also exempt by virtue of the "court officer" category. If you are running screening at a courthouse entrance, treat the elected clerk's bypass the same as you would for a magistrate or judge.

If you are a citizen with business at the courthouse

Nothing in this opinion changes the rules for you. Section 18.2-283.1 still bars weapons in the courthouse for non-listed people, and the punishment is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Leave your firearm in a locked container in your vehicle, or use a court-provided locker if available, before approaching the security checkpoint.

Common questions

Q: Does this exemption apply to a clerk's personal firearm or only to weapons issued for duty?
A: The statute says the exemption applies "while in the conduct of such person's official duties." It does not distinguish between personal and issued firearms. A clerk carrying a personal firearm while performing official clerk duties at the courthouse would be within the exemption's terms.

Q: Does it cover the clerk when they are at the courthouse for personal reasons?
A: Probably not. The statutory phrase "while in the conduct of such person's official duties" is the key limit. A clerk visiting the courthouse on a Saturday for a personal errand is likely outside the exemption, and the general weapons ban would apply.

Q: Does the same logic extend to clerks of district courts (general district court or juvenile and domestic relations district court)?
A: The opinion addresses circuit court clerks specifically. District court clerks are organizationally different (they are appointed, not elected, and report to the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia rather than running an independent office). The general reasoning may apply, but the AG did not extend the holding to district court clerks, and a careful district court clerk would not assume the exemption without separate guidance.

Q: What about court reporters, law clerks, or bailiffs?
A: Bailiffs and sheriffs' deputies serving in court security roles are typically already exempt as law-enforcement personnel. Court reporters and law clerks are not specifically addressed. The opinion does not extend to them.

Q: Does the exemption apply at federal courthouses?
A: No. Section 18.2-283.1 is a Virginia statute and only addresses Virginia courthouses. Federal facilities are governed by 18 U.S.C. § 930, which has its own exemptions and operates independently of state rules.

Q: Does a chief judge's order prohibiting weapons in a particular courtroom override this opinion?
A: Likely yes, within that courtroom. A chief judge has inherent authority to control the courtroom, and a violation of a standing order can be enforced through contempt. The AG opinion does not displace that authority; it just interprets the statute.

Background and statutory framework

Section 18.2-283.1, enacted in 1988 (2 Va. Acts ch. 615), created a general ban on dangerous weapons in courthouses. The original 1988 list of exempt persons has been expanded twice: in 2012 the General Assembly added city and county treasurers, and in 2017 it added Workers' Compensation Commissioners. The list reflects a pragmatic legislative judgment that certain officials have duties that require them to be in the courthouse and to be armed.

The interpretive question turned on the meaning of "court officer." The AG used several reinforcing tools to reach the conclusion that the clerk is a court officer:

• Plain-meaning analysis using Black's Law Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary contemporaneous to the 1988 enactment;
• The statutory canon against surplusage: reading "court officer" to mean only judges, sheriffs, and magistrates would make the term redundant with adjacent listed exemptions;
• Statutory cross-reference: § 17.1-266 already uses "clerk or other court officer," treating "clerk" as a subcategory of "court officer";
• Historical Virginia case law treating clerks as officers of the court, including Mayo v. Bentley (1800) and Anglea v. Commonwealth (1853);
• Policy reasoning: clerks have closer working relationships with judges and courthouse staff than treasurers and Workers' Compensation Commissioners do, and excluding clerks while including those officials would create an anomaly.

The opinion expressly does not address whether deputy clerks or any other personnel besides the elected circuit court clerk are "court officers." Anyone in the clerk's office relying on this opinion should check with counsel.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-283.1 (courthouse weapons ban)
- Va. Code Ann. § 17.1-242 (clerks have custody of court records)
- Va. Code Ann. § 17.1-266 ("clerk or other court officer")

Cases:
- Mayo v. Bentley, 8 Va. 528 (1800) (clerk as "officer of the court")
- Caldwell v. Commonwealth, 221 Va. 291 (1980) ("clerk or any other court officer")
- Colbert v. Commonwealth, 47 Va. App. 390 (2006) (statutory construction)
- Ferrara v. Commonwealth, 299 Va. 438 (2021) (canon against surplusage)
- Jones v. Conwell, 227 Va. 176 (1984) (give effect to every word)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2022/22-029-Obenshain-issued.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA

Office of the Attorney General

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General
202 North Ninth Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
Fax 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services

September 30, 2022

The Honorable Mark D. Obenshain
Member, Senate of Virginia
Post Office Box 555
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22803

Dear Senator Obenshain:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

ISSUE PRESENTED

You ask whether the term "court officer," as used in Virginia Code § 18.2-283.1, includes the clerk of the circuit court so that the clerk is exempt from the statute's prohibition on possessing a weapon in or transporting a weapon into a courthouse of the Commonwealth.

RESPONSE

It is my opinion that the clerk of a circuit court is a "court officer" for purposes of § 18.2-283.1.

APPLICABLE LAW AND DISCUSSION

Section 18.2-283.1 of the Code of Virginia generally prohibits the carrying of dangerous weapons, including firearms, "into any courthouse in this Commonwealth." The prohibition more specifically extends to "any (i) gun or other weapon designed or intended to propel a missile or projectile of any kind; (ii) frame, receiver, muffler, silencer, missile, projectile, or ammunition designed for use with a dangerous weapon or (iii) other dangerous weapon, including explosives, stun weapons as defined in § 18.2-308.1, and those weapons specified in subsection A of § 18.2-308." Per the statute's terms, however, its prohibitions "shall not apply to any police officer, sheriff, law-enforcement agent or official, conservation police officer, conservator of the peace, magistrate, court officer, judge, city or county treasurer, or commissioner or deputy commissioner of the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission while in the conduct of such person's official duties."

The term "court officer" is not defined in § 18.2-283.1 or elsewhere in the Code. "Words not defined in a statute are to be construed according to their ordinary meaning," given the context in which they are used. Black's Law Dictionary defines the term "court officer" as synonymous with the term "officer of the court"; "officer of the court" is defined as "[s]omeone who is charged with upholding the law and administering the judicial system" and typically refers to "a judge, clerk, bailiff, sheriff, or the like."

Based on this accepted definition, I find that the clerk of a circuit court falls comfortably within the meaning of the term "court officer" for purposes of § 18.2-283.1. Virginia law clearly establishes that the clerk of court, an elected officer, serves as the chief administrator of the local circuit court, where the clerk's office generally must be housed. Chief among the clerk's duties is the management of all court documents, to include the pleadings and briefs filed in civil and criminal proceedings; orders entered and to be recorded in the order book; and various instruments, such as the records documenting the real property transactions within the jurisdiction. In addition, the clerk issues process, administers oaths, prepares bonds, issues orders for the commitment or release of criminal defendants, and issues marriage licenses. As these tasks are designed to ensure the orderly "administ[ration] of the judicial system," I conclude that circuit court clerks are "court officers" as that term ordinarily is understood.

Moreover, a review of the other persons specifically set forth in § 18.2-283.1 evinces an intent that "court officer" include clerks of circuit courts. The list of exempted persons, "any police officer, sheriff, law-enforcement agent or official, conservation police officer, conservator of the peace, magistrate, court officer, judge, city or county treasurer, or commissioner or deputy commissioner of the Virginia Worker's Compensation Commission," otherwise specifies certain persons to whom "court officer" might refer other than a clerk of court, such as a judge, magistrate, or sheriff. Because constructions of a statute that render any part of the statute useless or superfluous are to be avoided, "court officer" should be read so as to give it a meaning distinct from the other identified exemptions. Interpreting "court officer" to include the clerk of court ensures that § 18.2-283.1 is "read so as to give reasonable effect to every word" of the enactment.

In addition, even in the absence of an overarching definition, circuit court clerks implicitly have been referred to as "court officers" in other contexts. For example, Code § 17.1-266, which exempts the Commonwealth and its localities from payment of certain court fees, refers to the circuit clerk as an "officer" and also makes specific reference to the "clerk or other court officer." An 1848 statute, no longer in effect, similarly referred to the "clerk and other officers of the court." Virginia courts also have included the circuit court clerk among "officers of the court" or "court officers" consistently for more than two centuries.

Policy considerations also support the view that "court officer" as used in § 18.2-283.1 includes the clerk of the circuit court. The statute addresses weapons in courthouses: because the functions of circuit court clerks are primarily judicial in nature, these clerks ordinarily are located within courthouses and have the closest working relationship with judges and other court personnel. That the General Assembly would have exempted treasurers and Workers' Compensation Commissioners from the weapons ban, but not the clerk of the court, would create an anomaly not supported by the text of the statute.

In applying § 18.2-283.1 as written, "[t]he proper course . . . is to search out and follow the true intent of the legislature, and to adopt that sense of the words which harmonizes best with the context, and promotes in the fullest manner the apparent policy and objects of the legislature." Based on the foregoing reasons, I therefore conclude that the exemption afforded a "court officer" under § 18.2-283.1 extends to the clerk of a circuit court.

Because your inquiry is limited to the clerk of the circuit court, I offer no opinion on whether any person other than the clerk might qualify as a "court officer" for purposes of § 18.2-283.1.

CONCLUSION

Accordingly, it is my opinion that the clerk of a circuit court is a "court officer" as that term is used in § 18.2-283.1 and therefore is exempt from that statute's prohibition against possessing a weapon in or transporting a weapon into a courthouse of the Commonwealth.

With kindest regards, I am,

Very truly yours,

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General