Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-271.3 (2026)

Communications between ministers of religion and persons they counsel or advise (Supreme Court Rule 2:503 derived in part from this section)

✓ current as of May 2026

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No regular minister, priest, rabbi or accredited practitioner over the age of eighteen years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as a church, shall be required in giving testimony as a witness in any criminal action to disclose any information communicated to him by the accused in a confidential manner, properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, where such person so communicating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the information so imparted.

1985, c. 570.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1988–1996 · leading case: Nestle v. Commonwealth, 470 S.E.2d 133 (Va. Ct. App. 1996).

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Nestle v. Commonwealth, 470 S.E.2d 133 (Va. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 12× “Code § 19.2-271.3 states: Communications between ministers of religion and persons they counsel or advise.”

O'Dell v. Commonwealth, 364 S.E.2d 491 (Va. 1988). · cites it 2× “Code § 19.2-271.3 creates a “priest-penitent” privilege in criminal cases, but limits the privilege to “information communicated to [the minister] by the accused.”

In Re Grand Jury Investigation. Appeal of United States of Am., 918 F.2d 374 (3rd Cir. 1990). “12, § 1607 (1990); Va.Code Ann. § 19.2-271.3 (1990); Wash.Rev.”

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