Va. Code » Title 8.01. Civil Remedies and Procedure » Chapter 14. Evidence » Article 1. Judicial Notice
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-386 (2026)

Judicial notice of laws (Supreme Court Rule 2:202 derived in part from this section)

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. Whenever, in any civil action it becomes necessary to ascertain what the law, statutory or otherwise, of this Commonwealth, of another state, of the United States, of another country, or of any political subdivision or agency of the same is, or was, at any time, the court shall take judicial notice thereof whether specially pleaded or not.

B. The court, in taking such notice, may consult any book, record, register, journal, or other official document or publication purporting to contain, state, or explain such law, and may consider any evidence or other information or argument that is offered on the subject.

Code 1950, §§ 8-264, 8-270, 8-273; 1960, c. 504; 1977, c. 617.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22 cases, 1979–2019 · leading case: Settlement Funding v. Von Neumann-Lillie, 645 S.E.2d 436 (Va. 2007).
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Settlement Funding v. Von Neumann-Lillie, 645 S.E.2d 436 (Va. 2007). · cites it 2× “See also Code § 8.01-386. Therefore, the circuit court erred in refusing to apply Utah law in the construction of the loan agreement.”
Davis v. Commonwealth, 252 S.E.2d 299 (Va. 1979). · cites it 3× “Under Code § 8.01-386, whenever it becomes necessary in a civil action to ascertain what the law of another state was at any time, the trial court “shall” take judicial notice thereof.”
Bouldin v. Commonwealth, 355 S.E.2d 352 (Va. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 2× “See Code § 8.01-386. We note too that the trial judge acted properly in refusing to allow Bouldin himself, a lay witness, to testify as to the conformity of the Chesterfield County ordinance.”
Griswold v. Commonwealth, 453 S.E.2d 287 (Va. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “The trial court is required by statute to take judicial notice of (1) “the law, statutory or otherwise, of this Commonwealth ... or of any political subdivision or agency [thereof]” or (2) of any official state or agency publication which is required by law to be published.”
Commonwealth v. Woodward, 452 S.E.2d 656 (Va. 1995). · cites it 2× “Equating the rules set forth in the addendum to the “law of this Commonwealth” and relying on Code § 8.01-386 (in any civil action, court shall take judicial notice of the law), the Attorney General argues that we must take notice of the rules.”
Cpm Va., LLC v. Mjm Golf, LLC., 780 S.E.2d 282 (Va. 2015). · cites it 2× “1 (1999) (taking "judicial notice of the contents" of certain zoning ordinances as the law of a political subdivision, pursuant to Code § 8.01-386 ); see also Va. R. Evid. 2:202; Vaughan v.”
Hardy v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 508 S.E.2d 886 (Va. 1999). · cites it 2× “Nevertheless, as authorized by Code § 8.01-386, we take judicial notice of the contents of both zoning ordinances.”
Hinkell v. Adams, 378 S.E.2d 621 (Va. 1989). · cites it 2× “We judicially notice these ordinances pursuant to the provisions of Code § 8.01-386(A).”
Pettit v. Chesapeake & Potomac Tel. Co., 28 Va. Cir. 112 (Stafford Cir. Ct. 1992). · cites it 3× “The court takes judicial notice of these tariffs pursuant to Code § 8.01-386. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Department.”
Griswold v. Com., 453 S.E.2d 287 (Va. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “The trial court is required by statute to take judicial notice of (1) "the law, statutory or *291 otherwise, of this Commonwealth .”
Jennifer Suzanne Scheer v. David Clark Scheer (Va. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “” Code § 8.01-386; see also Hardy v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 257 Va.”
Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. South Carolina, 827 S.E.2d 592 (Va. 2019). · cites it 2× “We also may take judicial notice of "any book, record, register, journal, or other official document or publication purporting to contain, state, or explain [the] law" of the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions or agencies, Code § 8.01-386 ; Rule 2:202, as well as "all…”
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— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-386(A) — 1 case
Hinkell v. Adams, 378 S.E.2d 621 (Va. 1989). “We judicially notice these ordinances pursuant to the provisions of Code § 8.01-386(A).”
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