Virginia court deadline calculator

Virginia counts time under Va. Code § 1-210, which Rule 1:7 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia supplements for papers served after the case begins. The statute is short. For a period after an event, the day of the event is not counted; for a period before a motion or proceeding, the day of the hearing is not counted but the act may be done on the last counted day; and when the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, “or any day or part of a day on which the clerk’s office is closed”, the act may be done on the next day that is none of those. What the statute does not say matters as much: there is no sentence excluding weekends from short periods, so a seven-day notice is seven calendar days, and no sentence about months or years, so the calculator here works in days.

Thirteen statutory holidays and the Governor’s extra hours

Va. Code § 2.2-3300 designates the legal holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, George Washington Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day, Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day with “the Friday next following”, and Christmas Day. Lee-Jackson Day was repealed and Election Day added in 2020. A holiday on a Saturday is observed on the Friday before and one on a Sunday on the Monday after, by the statute’s own words, which is why New Year’s Day 2028 closes the courts on Friday, December 31, 2027. The same paragraph makes “any day so appointed by the Governor” a legal holiday, and § 1-210(F) adds any day the Governor closes state government. In practice the Governor grants a few hours each year: in 2026 the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and all of December 24; in 2027 half days on November 24 and December 23. Because § 1-210(B) moves a deadline off a part of a day the clerk’s office is closed, those hours can matter, and the calculator shows the later date they produce as an alternative rather than assuming it.

One day, three days or none: how Rule 1:7 grades service

Rule 1:7 applies when a party must act within a period “after service of a paper upon counsel of record”. Manual delivery, fax or e-mail completed by 5:00 p.m. adds nothing. The same methods completed after 5:00 p.m. but before midnight add one day, as does handing the paper to a commercial carrier for next-day delivery. Mail adds three days. The rule reaches the 21-day responses to counterclaims and cross-claims, discovery responses, the jury demand and the briefs in opposition in the appellate courts, but not the response to a summons, which is served on the party rather than on counsel, and not periods that run from entry of an order or filing of a paper. In the appellate parts of the rules it applies only to the brief in opposition. Filing itself has no clock: an e-filed document is filed when the E-Filing Portal receives it “without regard to whether the filing occurred within or outside of standard business hours”, and one received on a closed day is filed the next open day (Rule 1:17(d)(5)).

Rule 1:1’s twenty-one days and the appeal that follows

Virginia’s distinctive post-trial rule is not a motion deadline but a jurisdictional one. Under Rule 1:1(a) a final judgment “may be modified, vacated, or suspended for twenty-one days after the date of entry, and no longer”. A motion for a new trial or to reconsider must be ruled on within that time, or the judge must enter an order suspending the judgment before the 21 days run; filing alone changes nothing, and Rule 5A:3(a) says so for the appeal clock too. The notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals, which has heard civil appeals of right since 2022, is due 30 days after entry (Rule 5A:6(a)); the transcript 60 days after entry (Rule 5A:8(a)); the opening brief 40 days after the record is filed, the appellee’s brief 30 days later and the reply 14 days after that (Rule 5A:19(b)). In the Supreme Court the notice of appeal is 30 days from entry and the petition for appeal 90 days from a trial court or 30 days from the Court of Appeals (Rules 5:9, 5:17). The appellee’s brief in opposition is due 21 days after the petition is served, and it is the one appellate deadline Rule 1:7 extends for mail.

General district court, unlawful detainer and tenant notices

An appeal from a general district court judgment is noted within 10 days (Va. Code § 16.1-106), with the bond and writ tax due within 30 days (§ 16.1-107), or within 10 days in an unlawful detainer (§ 8.01-129). The summons for unlawful detainer must be served at least 10 days before the return day and heard within 21 days of filing (§ 8.01-126). On the landlord-tenant side, a nonpayment notice gives the tenant 14 days to pay (§ 55.1-1245(F)); the five-day notice many forms still carry is gone from the text in force. A breach notice gives 21 days to cure and terminates no sooner than 30 days after receipt. Notices ending a week-to-week or month-to-month tenancy run 7 or 30 days before the next rent due date (§ 55.1-1253), and the security deposit is due back 45 days after the tenancy ends (§ 55.1-1226). Whether § 1-210, which speaks of judicial proceedings and government offices, governs a notice between private parties is an open question; the calculator applies it and says so.

Working days under the Freedom of Information Act

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act counts in a unit the court rules never use: a public body must respond “promptly, but in all cases within five working days” of receiving a request, and may take seven more work days after saying within the first five that it needs them (§ 2.2-3704(B)). The Act does not define a working day. The third calculator on this page counts Monday to Friday other than a § 2.2-3300 holiday, and flags the Governor’s half days separately.

Limits of the Virginia calculator

The counting statute, the holiday statute, Rules 1:1, 1:7, 1:12 and 1:17, the Part Three, Four, Five and Five A rules behind the named deadlines, the Part Two A and Seven A rules, and every statute cited were read on law.lis.virginia.gov and in the Supreme Court of Virginia’s consolidated rules PDF on November 9, 2026. The 2026 holiday list was read on the Court’s own pay and holiday calendar, the 2027 list on the Department of Human Resource Management’s calendar, and 2028 is projected from the statute. The counting rules and every named deadline were reviewed by an attorney. The calculator does not know a circuit’s local rules or clerk’s hours, a court’s weather closing (the Office of the Executive Secretary posts those day by day), periods stated in months or years such as the six months to refile after a nonsuit, or the criminal and juvenile rules.

Questions about Virginia deadlines

How many days do you have to respond to a complaint in Virginia?

Twenty-one days after service of the summons and complaint, by answer, demurrer, plea, motion to dismiss, bill of particulars or motion craving oyer (Rule 3:8(a)). A defendant who waived service has 60 days from the date the request was sent, or 90 if addressed outside Virginia. Nothing is added for the manner of service, because Rule 1:7 reaches only papers served on counsel of record.

Does Virginia skip weekends in short deadlines?

No. Va. Code § 1-210 counts every day after the triggering day whatever the length of the period, so a seven-day notice of a motion hearing is seven calendar days. Only a last day that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or a day the clerk’s office is closed moves, and it moves to the next open day.

Does e-mail service add three days in Virginia?

Not by itself. Rule 1:7 adds nothing when the e-mail, fax or hand delivery is completed by 5:00 p.m., one day when it is completed after 5:00 p.m. or the paper goes by next-day commercial delivery, and three days only for mail. In the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals the rule applies to the brief in opposition alone.

Is the day after Thanksgiving a court holiday in Virginia?

Yes. Va. Code § 2.2-3300 names the fourth Thursday in November and the Friday next following as Thanksgiving Day, so both are legal holidays, as are Election Day, Juneteenth and Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day. The Wednesday half day and Christmas Eve are extra time granted by the Governor each year; the calculator shows them as an alternative date.

What is the deadline to appeal a circuit court judgment in Virginia?

Thirty days after entry of the final judgment, by notice of appeal filed in the trial court (Rule 5A:6(a); Va. Code § 8.01-675.3). A motion for new trial does not extend it unless the court modifies, vacates or suspends the judgment within its 21 days under Rule 1:1. The transcript is due 60 days after entry and the opening brief 40 days after the record is filed in the Court of Appeals.

How long does a Virginia trial court keep control of a final judgment?

Twenty-one days after the date of entry, and no longer (Rule 1:1(a)). A motion to reconsider, for a new trial or to set aside a default judgment must be decided, not just filed, within those 21 days, or the court must suspend the judgment by written order before they run. After that only Va. Code §§ 8.01-428 and 8.01-623 reach the judgment.