Virginia Court Fees: What a District Court Charges on a Case

Virginia court fees are fixed by statute, not set by the judge. Va. Code § 16.1-69.48:1 assesses a flat $61 as court costs in any misdemeanor tried in a district court and $51 in a traffic infraction, added to whatever fine is imposed. Drug offenses under Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2 carry $136, and failing to appear adds $35.

How much are court fees in Virginia?

For a case in a general district court, the answer is a single number per case, and the statute sets it:

Case type	Fixed fee	Statute
Misdemeanor tried in district court	$61	§ 16.1-69.48:1(B)
Traffic infraction tried in district court	$51	§ 16.1-69.48:1(D)
Drug offenses under Article 1 of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2	$136	§ 16.1-69.48:1(C)
Surcharge for failing to appear	$35	§ 16.1-69.48:1(A)

The section then divides each fee among named funds — a processing fee to the General Fund, the Virginia Crime Victim-Witness Fund, the Courthouse Construction/Maintenance Fund, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund and others — in fixed fractions. That breakdown is why the amount is not negotiable: it is not a charge the court sets for its own use, it is a statutory assessment with a distribution written into the Code.

The figures are statutory, so they change only when the General Assembly changes them. Anything else a clerk adds is charged under a different section: § 16.1-69.48:1 provides that “in addition to the fixed fees assessed pursuant to this section, in the appropriate cases, the clerk shall also assess any costs otherwise specifically provided by statute.” A case set for trial with subpoenaed witnesses, for instance, can carry costs beyond the fixed fee, and the clerk’s office of the court hearing the case is the only place that can total a particular bill.

When the fee is charged

The fee is not triggered only by a guilty verdict after a fight. Subsection A lists six situations, and any of them assesses it:

1. An appearance for a court hearing in which there has been a finding of guilty.
2. A written appearance with a waiver of the court hearing and entry of a guilty plea — in other words, paying by mail.
3. A trial in the defendant’s absence resulting in a finding of guilty, where the defendant failed to appear.
4. An appearance in which the court requires successful completion of traffic school, a mature driver crash prevention course or a driver improvement clinic in lieu of a finding of guilty.
5. A deferral of proceedings under one of the sections the statute lists.
6. Proof of compliance with the law under one of the listed motor-vehicle sections.

Number four is worth noticing, because it is the closest thing to a good outcome on the list: even where the court substitutes a clinic for a finding of guilt, the fee is still assessed.

Multiple charges from one incident

This is the rule most people have not heard, and it can be worth real money. Subsection A provides that “no defendant with multiple charges arising from a single incident shall be taxed the applicable fixed fee provided in subsection B, C, or D more than once for a single appearance or trial in absence related to that incident.”

Two qualifications come with it. Where a defendant assessed the fee on one charge from an incident is later convicted of another charge from the same incident carrying a higher fixed fee, they pay “the difference between the fixed fee earlier assessed and the higher fixed fee” — so an infraction later joined by a misdemeanor from the same stop costs the $10 difference, not a second $51. And charges arising from separate incidents are each taxed a fee, “even if the charges from the multiple incidents are disposed of in a single appearance.”

Prepaying: fine and costs without a court appearance

Many Virginia traffic infractions can be closed without going to court, which is where “court fees” and “the amount on the ticket” get conflated. Va. Code § 16.1-69.40:1 gives the Supreme Court of Virginia the job of designating, by uniform rule, the infractions for which “a pretrial waiver of appearance, plea of guilty and fine payment may be accepted,” and of setting the schedule of amounts. An appearance may be made in person or in writing by mail to the clerk.

The statute is explicit that prepaying is pleading guilty. Before the plea and payment, the person must be told that they have a right to stand trial, “that his signature to a plea of guilty will have the same force and effect as a judgment of court, and that the record of conviction will be sent to the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles.” Prepayment is a conviction, it carries the same DMV demerit points, and it gives up any chance of a reduction.

Six kinds of charge may not be put on the prepayable list at all, and subsection A names them:

• Indictable offenses
• Driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or a narcotic or habit-producing drug, or permitting an intoxicated person to drive your vehicle
• Reckless driving
• Leaving the scene of an accident
• Driving while under suspension or revocation of driving privileges
• Driving without being licensed to drive

Those charges require an appearance. Reckless driving is a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 46.2-868 A, so there is nothing to prepay — the fine is set by the judge at the hearing, and a driver waiting for a bill that never comes simply misses a court date.

Court fees versus the fine

They are separate numbers with separate rules, and only one of them is discretionary.

	The fine	The court fee
Who sets it	The judge, within the statutory range for the offense	The Code, per case type
Range	Up to $2,500 for a Class 1 misdemeanor (§ 18.2-11); up to $500 for improper driving (§ 46.2-869)	$61 misdemeanor, $51 infraction
Negotiable?	The charge and the sentence can be argued	No

The consequence is that a small fine is never a small bill. A $50 infraction fine is a $101 total; a reduction from reckless driving to improper driving under § 46.2-869 changes the fine, the offense category and the DMV points, and moves the fee from $61 to $51. That reduction, not the fee, is where the money actually is on a criminal traffic charge, and it is what a Virginia traffic attorney who appears in that courthouse can advise on before the hearing. The misdemeanor class a charge sits in tells you the fine ceiling; the section above tells you the fee.

If you cannot pay

Va. Code § 19.2-354 applies to any defendant convicted of a traffic infraction or a criminal offense who is sentenced to pay a fine, and it gives the court two tools.

Time. The court “shall authorize the clerk to establish and approve individual deferred or installment payment agreements,” so the total can be paid over months. Where restitution is owed, payments go to it first. If the defendant cannot pay in full within 90 days of sentencing, the court may assess a one-time fee of up to $10 for managing the account, and a defendant on an agreement must tell the court promptly about any change of mailing address. The requirements for these agreements have to be posted in the clerk’s office and on the court’s website where there is one.

Work. Subsection C requires every court to establish a program allowing a defendant “to discharge all or part of the fine or costs by earning credits for the performance of community service work,” with the program setting the rate at which credits are earned.

Virginia has also repealed the statute that required the DMV to suspend a licence for unpaid court fines and costs, so non-payment alone is no longer a ground for suspension. The debt is still enforceable and the court can still act on it; it just no longer costs a licence by itself. Anything more specific than that — whether a particular court’s program fits a particular situation — is a question for the clerk of that court.

Fees if the case is appealed or heard in your absence

Two situations change the arithmetic. If a person charged with a traffic infraction does not appear or enter a written appearance, § 19.2-258.1 deems the court hearing waived, allows the case to be heard in their absence, and requires notice of the finding afterwards — and for an infraction, no warrant issues for the failure to appear. The fixed fee is still assessed on a finding of guilt, and § 16.1-69.48:1 adds the $35 surcharge unless good cause for the absence is shown at a hearing.

If the case is appealed to the circuit court within ten days under § 16.1-132, the new trial is in a different court with its own cost provisions; the $61 and $51 figures in § 16.1-69.48:1 are district court fees. The clerk of the circuit court is the right place to ask what an appeal will add before noting one.

Plea options at the hearing itself are not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere, and under § 19.2-254 a court may not refuse a plea of nolo contendere in a misdemeanor case. None of that changes the fee.