No Swearing in Via Telephone in Virginia

Thanks to Joseph Spontarelli for letting us know that Virginia passed a law on January 1, 2001, that reporters are not permitted to swear in a witness located in another jurisdiction over the telephone. He adds, “According to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office, Notary Division, you are subject to losing your notary if you do this.”

This follows up on the article “Can You Swear in a Witness Over the Telephone?” published in the April 2000 issue of the JCR. Not much has changed since that article, which stated, “Generally ..., the reporter must be in the presence of the witness in order to swear in the witness. If the reporter is not with the witness, a notary must be in his or her presence to administer the oath.”