Find Fairfax County Court Dockets

How to Find Fairfax County Court Dockets

The path depends on the court. For Circuit Court cases, hearing dates and times appear in the case detail on Fairfax eCaseSearch once you open a case. For General District Court matters, the Virginia General District Court Online Case Information system shows hearing dates after you select the right court. Juvenile and domestic matters in the JDR Court are mostly confidential, so their calendars are not posted for open public search.

Start with the case, not the calendar. If you have a case number, you can pull the next hearing date directly. If you only have a name, search the court index first, then read the docket activity. The full case-record steps are on the Fairfax County court records page.

The General District Court also publishes a fixed weekly docket schedule. That schedule sets when each type of case is heard, which helps if you need to be at the courthouse on time.

What a Fairfax County Court Docket Shows

A docket entry is a dated note of an event in the case. Read top to bottom, the docket tells the story of the case. Common entries include a motion filed, a hearing set, an order entered, a continuance, service returned, a judgment, or an appeal noted. In criminal cases you may also see bond hearings, capias actions, and sentencing.

Each scheduled item lists a date, a time, and a docket type, and sometimes the judge. The docket type matters because Fairfax sorts hearings into many separate dockets, from civil first returns to traffic motions. The same case can move from one docket to another as it moves along.

General District Court Daily Docket Schedule

The Fairfax County General District Court runs a detailed weekly schedule. The state court-system page lists set times for each docket. The table below shows the main blocks so you can plan a courthouse visit. Times can change, so confirm before you go.

Bond reduction motions for criminal and traffic cases are heard Monday through Friday at 8:30 a.m., and attorney or pro se motions follow at 9:00 a.m. Felony information on attorney or IAD matters is set Monday through Friday at 10:20 a.m.

The official schedule and judge list are on the state court system's Fairfax General District Court page.

Civil and Protective Order Dockets in Fairfax County

Civil cases fill a large part of the Fairfax County court docket. Civil trials in the General District Court are set Monday through Thursday at 9:30 a.m. and again at 1:00 p.m., except the second Tuesday of each month. Civil first returns, the first court date on a claim, run Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Eviction matters, called unlawful detainers, have first returns on Friday at 9:30 a.m. and trials on Friday and Wednesday.

Protective orders have a separate track. Fifteen-day protective-order hearings are heard Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:30 p.m. Family-abuse protective orders that involve household relationships usually move to the JDR Court instead of the General District Court. Because these dockets carry sensitive matters, some details are limited even when the hearing date itself is set.

Specialty and Traffic Dockets in Fairfax County

Fairfax runs several special dockets on set days. The Mental Health Docket meets the first, third, and fifth Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. The Veterans Treatment Docket meets the second and fourth Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. A Compliance and Competency Docket meets the first and third Thursday at 2:00 p.m. These tie into the county's Diversion First work and the treatment programs run with the Commonwealth's Attorney.

Traffic has its own locally specific dockets. VDOT cases are heard Monday at 2:05 p.m., toll road cases Tuesday at 2:05 p.m., and HOT lane cases Wednesday at 2:05 p.m. I-66 cases are set Monday at 10:02 a.m. The traffic noncompliance and sentencing docket meets the first and fourth Thursday at 2:00 p.m.

• Mental Health Docket: first, third, fifth Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
• Veterans Treatment Docket: second and fourth Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
• VDOT cases: Monday at 2:05 p.m.
• Toll road cases: Tuesday at 2:05 p.m.
• HOT lane cases: Wednesday at 2:05 p.m.

More on these programs sits on the Fairfax County arrest records page and the home page specialty courts section.

JDR Court Calendar Limits

The Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court works through three parts: a Court Services Unit, a Clerk's Office, and the judges. Many cases start with intake officers in the Court Services Unit, who help prepare papers for filing. Clerks then assign case numbers and set hearing dates.

Because juvenile and family records are confidential under state law, JDR hearing calendars are not open for general public search the way Circuit and General District dockets are. To confirm a JDR date, a party or an attorney usually contacts the JDR Clerk's Office directly. The custody, support, and protective-order tracks each have their own intake and scheduling steps.

Fairfax County Docket Terms Glossary

Dockets use shorthand. A few common terms make the schedule easier to read.

Docket

The court's schedule or the chronological list of case events.

Continuance

A postponement of a hearing or trial to a later date.

First return

The first scheduled court date on a civil claim.

Advisement

An early appearance where the court advises a person of the charge and rights.

Capias

A court-issued arrest process, often after a failure to appear.

Disposition

The final outcome of a case or a charge.

How Continuances and Appeals Appear

When a case is delayed, the docket shows a continuance and usually a new date. A continued case keeps its number, so you can follow it forward. If a party misses a date, the docket may show a capias or a default, depending on the case type.

Appeals change the court. A General District Court case appealed to Circuit Court gets a new trial, called a trial de novo. The docket in the lower court closes with an appeal note, and a new Circuit Court case begins. Traffic and small claims appeals follow the same path. For traffic dockets and payment deadlines, see the Fairfax County traffic court records page, and for the courts themselves see the district court page.

Related Fairfax County Court Resources

For full case files, use Fairfax County court records. For office hours and copy fees, see the Clerk of Court page. For broader access rules, visit public records.