Rule 3:14A.Intervention by the Commonwealth where constitutionality of law challenged.

When a lawsuit puts the constitutionality of Virginia law itself in question, the Commonwealth gets a seat at the table even if it isn’t a named party. In any civil action in a circuit court, the Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court, where a party challenges the constitutionality of a Commonwealth statute or regulation, or of a provision of the Virginia Constitution, and no party is already represented by the Office of the Attorney General, the Attorney General is entitled to intervene on the Commonwealth’s behalf.

That right only works if the Attorney General learns about the challenge. A party who files a pleading or written motion raising a constitutional challenge must promptly file a notice with the court describing the nature of the challenge and identifying where it was raised, and must serve a copy of that notice and the underlying filing on the Attorney General — by certified or registered mail to a specified Richmond address, or by email to the office’s constitutional-challenge notice address.

From there, the Attorney General has 30 days after being served with the notice to intervene by filing a motion to do so, unless the court extends that time. And the rule protects the process itself: before the time to intervene runs out, or, if the challenging party failed to give the required notice, within 10 days after that party receives written notice of the failure, the court may reject the constitutional challenge outright — but it may not enter a final judgment holding the statute, regulation, or constitutional provision unconstitutional until that window has closed.