The Office of the Executive Secretary, Supreme Court of Virginia recently released a new Online Case Information System (OCIS 2.0). The site allows users to perform *statewide searches for Criminal and Traffic case information found in both the Circuit & General District courts. *Note, there are two courts whose records are not provided on this system – Alexandria Circuit Court and Fairfax Circuit Court. The site is displayed as being statewide on the court’s website; however, due to the exception of these courts the site doesn’t completely qualify as being statewide. Access to the records from the two courts of exception (Alexandria Circuit & Fairfax Circuit) is provided on an individual basis through a web platform that these courts offer on an individual basis.
The possibility of this type of case management system was first mentioned in 2018 with the passing of House Bill No. 780. Now, just over a year later, it has been released to the public. OCIS 2.0 is found at https://eapps.courts.state.va.us/ocis/landing/false. Searches can be conducted by name or case number. The contents of the cases found on this system will match what’s found when searching the legacy case management system, OCIS. Depending on the user’s needs, the new system OCIS 2.0 will save a great deal of time when performing research.
As with any new remotely accessible court data system, conducting due diligence to determine usability is highly recommended.