NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — In 2018, the Supreme Court of Virginia recommended all courthouses in the state allow visitors to bring and use their cellphones in the buildings.
Four years later, it doesn’t appear very many followed through on the suggestion.
In Hampton Roads, only Portsmouth’s courthouse allows the public to bring phones into common areas and courtrooms. And it was allowing citizens to take them in long before the state Supreme Court suggested it.
The state’s high court doesn’t keep comprehensive data on how many courthouses in Virginia’s roughly 120 cities and counties permit citizens to bring phones and other electronic devices inside.
But after the court’s recommended electronic device policy in December 2018, just a little more than a dozen courts sent copies of their rules to be posted online, according to a spokesperson. A review of the posted policies shows only a few of those courthouses implemented the one proposed by the Supreme Court.
The court noted when it issued its proposal in 2018 that the use of portable electronic devices in society had increased dramatically, and they had become an essential part of people’s personal lives and work. It also noted that parties involved in court cases often have evidence stored on their phones and need to be able to access it in court.
But while the court’s 2018 proposal suggested allowing citizens to bring the devices inside and use them in hallways, lobbies and other common areas, it said they should still be prohibited from bringing them into courtrooms without permission from judges or other court personnel.
The Virginian-Pilot reached out to several courthouses in Hampton Roads to get details about their cellphone policies but only received full responses from four: Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Newport News.
Like most courthouses in the state, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Newport News allow attorneys, law enforcement officers and court personnel to bring phones and other electronic devices in, but prohibit most everyone else. The reason, they say, is to prevent illegal recordings of court proceedings and maintain a secure and orderly courtroom.
Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Hampton all have lockers that the public can use to store their phones and other items. The lockers are free in Chesapeake, but all the other courthouses charge anywhere from 25 cents to $1.
Other states have more lenient cellphone policies. In Washington, D.C.’s Superior Court, which averaged more than 80,000 new case filings each year prior to the pandemic, cellphones have been allowed inside the courthouse and courtrooms for years. The phones must be turned off, or on silent and can’t be used to take pictures or record proceedings, said Doug Buchanan, director of media and public relations for the court system.
The Michigan Supreme Court adopted rules in 2020 to allow the public to bring cellphones into courthouses and courtrooms. The rules allow the public to send and receive text messages while in the courtroom so long as phones are silent, but prohibit anyone from recording court proceedings or taking photos without permission. The rules also allow people to photograph court records.
Portsmouth appears to be the only Hampton Roads courthouse that allows citizens to take electronic devices into courtrooms. And it has for several years.
Col. Marvin Waters, undersheriff for Portsmouth, said while there have been problems with phones ringing in court and people attempting to use them to harass witnesses by photographing or recording them, he believes allowing them is the right thing to do.
“Over the years the use of cellphones have been more helpful then a hindrance,” Waters said. “I see the value in having them now.”
Courthouses in Campbell County and New Kent County are among those deciding to change their electronic device policies in response to the Supreme Court of Virginia’s recommendation in 2018. Spokespeople for the sheriff’s offices in both counties said they support the changes and have encountered few, if any, problems.
While Campbell County still bans visitors from bringing phones into courtrooms, Sheriff’s Capt. Thomas Fairchild said lockers were installed on every floor of the courthouse so that visitors can store their phones while in court. There is no charge for the lockers, he said.
If someone has information on their phone that they need to access, court personnel are alerted and will help make arrangements for them, he said.
“It hasn’t been a problem at all,” Fairchild said of the new policy allowing cellphones in the building. “If anything, I’d say it’s been helpful.”
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