Circuit Court Audio Requests

How do I request audio recorded from a Circuit Court hearing or trial?

• Obtain any unknown information (case #, date, time, and courtroom) needed to fill out the Audio Request Form using the Virginia Judicial System's Circuit Court Case Information Portal.
• Submit the completed Circuit Court Civil Hearing Audio Request Form (PDF) or Circuit Court Criminal Hearing Audio Request Form (PDF) to either the Civil or Criminal Division depending on your case type.
• Payment is due at the time of your request; view information on the forms of payment we accept.

Is it possible that a hearing or trial has no audio available for request?

Yes. This could be due to technical difficulties, a closed hearing or trial (not open to the public), or many other reasons. Also, a judge may suspend recording at their discretion. Audio recordings are not considered to be the official record of the proceedings.

Requests for audio

• Trial or hearing must have occurred on or after December 5, 2001.
• Each request should contain a single trial or hearing that lasts no more than two consecutive court days.
  • Trials or hearings exceeding two days will require additional requests as needed (two consecutive days per request).
  • Any trials or hearings that are continued or that do not run consecutively must have additional requests as needed.
  • When requesting multiple trials or hearings, please complete a separate request for each.
  • Each request will be assessed the appropriate fees even if it is the same trial or hearing.

Delivery Options

Requests will be ready for pick-up or mailed within five (5) business days unless notified otherwise. Our office will contact you when your request has been completed and is ready for pick-up or mail delivery. We are unable to provide audio via email or download at this time.

Expedited Requests

Requests may be expedited for an additional fee. Unless otherwise notified, expedited requests will be available for pickup by noon the following business day. 

Available Formats

Audio recordings are available in different formats depending on when it was recorded and in which courtroom.

• FTR Gold - These will play on your computer only if you have installed TheRecordPlayer software, which is included with each request. For the Record also has the FTR Web Player as a playback option.
  • Reformatting is not available for requests recorded in FTR Gold.
• DCR (Digital Court Recorder) - These will play on your computer only if you have installed the DCR Player software.
  • Requests recorded in DCR can be reformatted to M4A for an additional fee.

Please refer to the table below to determine what file type your hearing would have been recorded in.