A. Whenever any person fails to comply with any civil investigative demand issued under this article, or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material requested in such demand cannot be done and such person refuses to surrender the material, the Attorney General may file in the appropriate circuit court for the county or city in which such person resides, is found, or transacts business, and serve upon such person a petition for a court order for the enforcement of the civil investigative demand.
§ 8.01-216.18.Civil investigative demands; judicial proceedings for noncompliance.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 19.1. Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act · Last amended 2002 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-216.18 lets the Attorney General petition the circuit court to enforce a civil investigative demand a recipient ignores, lets a recipient petition to modify or set aside a demand within set deadlines, makes disobedience of a resulting order punishable as contempt, and exempts material produced under a demand from disclosure.
Full Text of § 8.01-216.18
B. Any person who has received a civil investigative demand issued under this article may file, in the circuit court of any county or city within which such person resides, is found, or transacts business, and serve upon the investigator identified in such demand a petition for an order of the court to modify or set aside the demand. In the case of a petition addressed to an express demand for any product of discovery, a petition to modify or set aside such demand may be brought only in the circuit court of the county or city in which the proceeding in which such discovery was obtained is or was last pending. Any petition under this section shall be filed (i) within twenty-one days after the date of service of the civil investigative demand, or at any time before the return date specified in the demand, whichever date is earlier, or (ii) within such longer period as may be prescribed in writing by any investigator identified in the demand.
C. The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief, and may be based upon any failure of the demand to comply with the provisions of this article or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of such person. During the pendency of the petition in the court, the court may stay, as it deems proper, the running of the time allowed for compliance with the demand, in whole or in part, except that the person filing the petition shall comply with any portions of the demand not sought to be modified or set aside.
D. In the case of any civil investigative demand issued under this article that is an express demand for any product of discovery, the person from whom such discovery was obtained may file, in the circuit court of the county or city in which the proceeding in which such discovery was obtained is or was last pending, and serve upon any investigator identified in the demand and upon the recipient of the demand a petition for a court order to modify or set aside those portions of the demand requiring production of any such product of discovery. Any petition under this subsection shall be filed (i) within twenty-one days after the date of service of the civil investigative demand or at any time before the return date specified in the demand, whichever date is earlier, or (ii) within such longer period as may be prescribed in writing by any investigator identified in the demand.
E. The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief and may be based upon any failure of the demand from which relief is sought to comply with the provisions of this article, or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of the petitioner. During the pendency of the petition, the court may stay, as it deems proper, compliance with the demand and the running of the time allowed for compliance with the demand.
F. At any time during which any custodian is in custody or control of any documentary material or answers to interrogatories produced, or transcripts of oral testimony given by any person in compliance with any civil investigative demand issued under this article, such person, and in the case of an express demand for any product of discovery, the person from whom such discovery was obtained, may file, in the circuit court of the county or city within which the office of such custodian is situated, and serve upon such custodian a petition for a court order to require the performance by the custodian of any duty imposed upon the custodian by this section. Whenever any petition is filed in any circuit court under this section, the court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter so presented, and to enter such order or orders as may be required to carry out the provisions of this section. Any final order so entered shall be subject to appeal in the same manner as appeals of other final orders in civil matters. Any disobedience of any final order entered under this section by any court shall be punished as contempt of the court.
G. Any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony provided under any civil investigative demand issued under this article shall be exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).
Plain-English Summary
Section 8.01-216.18 supplies the enforcement mechanism behind a civil investigative demand. If a person fails to comply, or refuses to surrender material that cannot be satisfactorily copied, the Attorney General may petition the circuit court for the county or city where the person resides, is found, or transacts business, seeking an order enforcing the demand.
A recipient can push back the other way. Anyone served with a demand may petition the circuit court where the recipient resides, is found, or transacts business to modify or set it aside, generally within 21 days of service or before the return date specified, whichever comes first, or within any longer period the investigator prescribes in writing. Where the demand targets a product of discovery, that petition must instead go to the circuit court where the underlying proceeding that produced the discovery is or was last pending. The petition must specify each ground for relief, whether based on the demand’s noncompliance with the article or on a constitutional or other legal right or privilege, and the court may stay the compliance deadline while the petition is pending, except for portions of the demand not being challenged.
A separate track lets the person from whom a product of discovery was originally obtained petition — in the court where the underlying proceeding is or was last pending — to modify or set aside the portions of a demand that reach that material, under the same filing deadlines and stay authority. And at any point while a custodian holds material, answers, or transcripts produced under a demand, the producer, or the original source of a product of discovery, may petition the circuit court where the custodian’s office sits for an order compelling the custodian to perform a duty imposed by the article; final orders in these proceedings are appealable like other civil final orders, and disobeying one is punished as contempt of court.
Material, answers, and testimony produced under a civil investigative demand carry one more protection: they are exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Administrative Process Act.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can the Attorney General do if someone ignores a civil investigative demand?
Petition the circuit court for the county or city where the person resides, is found, or transacts business, seeking an order enforcing the demand.
Can a recipient challenge a civil investigative demand issued to them?
Yes, by petitioning the circuit court to modify or set it aside, generally within 21 days of service or before the demand’s return date, whichever is earlier, or within a longer period the investigator allows in writing.
What if the demand targets a product of discovery from another case?
The person from whom that discovery was originally obtained can separately petition to modify or set aside those portions of the demand, but the petition must go to the circuit court where the original proceeding is or was last pending.
What happens if someone disobeys a court order issued under this section?
It is punished as contempt of court, and any final order the court enters is appealable in the same manner as other final orders in civil matters.
Is material produced under a civil investigative demand subject to public disclosure?
No. Documentary material, interrogatory answers, and oral testimony provided under a civil investigative demand are exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Administrative Process Act.
Amendment History
2002, c. 842.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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