After years as the only city in Hampton Roads that allowed the public to bring electronics into its courthouse, Portsmouth implemented a policy last week banning them.

The new policy prohibits the public from bringing in any portable electronic device, including but not limited to mobile phones, laptop computers, tablets, smart watches, smart glasses, “and any other electronic device capable of capturing, recording or transmitting audio or video” into a court hearing, according to the city’s website.

While courthouses from Norfolk to Williamsburg have asked visitors to keep cellphones and laptops in their cars or their lobby’s lockers, Portsmouth allowed people to bring electronics inside.

When the courthouse first moved from Old Towne to Port Centre Parkway in 2012, people couldn’t use bus routes to get there and advocated for having access to their cellphones to coordinate pickup and drop-off, said Circuit Court Clerk Cynthia Morrison.

But after a judge saw someone record proceedings in a courtroom, Morrison said, the judges ordered that policy to change.

Cases can involve sensitive information of victims, including minors, and many cases are traumatizing for the individuals seeking justice, Morrison said.

While court proceedings are open to the public, recording a proceeding requires permission from the judge, she said. Doing so without the judge’s knowledge, especially publishing a recording online, has never been allowed.

The new policy comes as the General Assembly considers legislation that would require all state courthouses to allow visitors to bring personal electronic devices inside.

Gaining momentum through the Senate, SB83 — introduced by state Sen. Saddam Salim (D-Fairfax County) — still gives local judges discretion to regulate the use of phones in courtrooms. But it also asks that they find ways for parties of a court case to have access to devices for essential purposes during proceedings.

Not everyone has access to an attorney or a printer to help present evidence, stored electronically, to a judge, said Salim.

Whether it’s photos of an intersection for a traffic infraction, medical forms in landlord and tenant disputes or pay stubs to demonstrate income for child support, “to be told you can’t bring your phone inside puts up a barrier that makes justice not equally accessible to people across the Commonwealth,” Salim said.

“When we talk about equal access to justice, this bill is a step towards doing that.”

In 2018 the Supreme Court of Virginia recommended that all courthouses allow visitors to bring and use their cellphones in the hallways, lobbies and other common areas outside of courtrooms.

With its proposal, the court noted that portable electronic devices play an increasingly essential role in people’s personal lives, and parties to court cases may have evidence stored on their phones.

But from a security standpoint, Portsmouth Sheriff Michael Moore said the new no-electronics policy will allow court proceedings to run as they should.

People can forget to silence their cellphones, he said. The vibrations end up interrupting the court’s process and can require a deputy to ask someone to step out of the courtroom or even confiscate their device.

Portsmouth has installed 18 lockers in the lobby to store devices.

The judges’ order prohibiting electronics exempts attorneys, law enforcement officers, court clerks and staff of the court. Unlike many courthouses in the region, members of the media are also exempt.

Other exemptions, including for medical purposes, must be brought to the court’s attention to be ruled on by a judge, Morrison said.

Nori Leybengrub, 757-349-3523, nori.leybengrub@virginiamedia.com

https://www.dailypress.com/2026/02/07/portsmouth-courthouse-no-electronics-2/