Guide to Sheriff Executions, Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.
Acquisition Information
Permanent Record of The Fairfax Circuit Court Historic Records Center.
Processing Information
All documents have been unfolded and flattened. All nails, fasteners, and deteriorated rubber bands have been removed except
for metal rivets (to remove these would cause considerable tearing and damage to the documents).
All documents have been organized in chronological order, then alphabetized.
Minimum amount of folding has been utilized to fit longer documents into the archive folders and linear boxes.
What is a Court Execution?
A court execution is a writ of execution court order granted to put a judgement into force. A case has already gone to trial
and a judgement has been granted. The court order will be carried out by a sheriff, sergeant, coroner or constable.
A judge will command a sheriff or someone of similar authority to collect the "goods and chattles" of the convicted defendant
to settle the debt owed to the plaintiff.
An execution will contain the following information: the names of the sheriff, plaintiff, defendant; amount of debt owed;
date of when the debt originated, and the court date.
Types of Executions
Fieri Facias (Fi.fa.)- A writ to a sheriff for executing a judgement.
Chancery - Plaintiff seeks equal distribution of assets.
Writ of elegit - A judgement against a debtor's goods and chattel held by the creditor until debt is paid.
Execution Returned/Not Satisfied
When an execution was not able to be served and debt unable to be satisfied; or, an execution had been served but the defendant
had no property or monies to settle the debt.
Superior Court
Any higher court than county court, i.e. Court of Appeals, Virginia Supreme Court, the Federal Supreme Court.
Waiver of the Homestead Act
Several of the executions indicate that the defendant waived their homestead right. Below is an explanation of the Homestead
Act of 1862 and what it meant to waive this right.
Homestead Act of 1862
An agreement between borrow and lender to waive the homeowner's statutory homestead rights under state law. Homestead rights
protect a homeowner's equity from creditors in cases of default.
What does that mean?
The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed an adult citizen to claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. They were required to
"improve" the land , meaning cultivate and establish homes. After five consecutive years, the citizen would be entitled to free and clear ownership of the land.
If the land was not developed within five years, then the owner waived their homestead right and was subject to the financial obligation and susceptible
to collection of debt.
The collection includes documents from 1840 to 1905 and is arranged chronologically, then alphabetically by surname. Along
with the executions are receipts from purchases, IOUs, and bank checks to prove that the debt had either been satisfied or
not satisfied.
Ledgers: The Fairfax County Historical Records also houses several ledgers that correspond with the executions. The ledgers
record the names of the plaintiff, defendant, debt owed, court costs, location of the trial, what kind of warrant was executed,
the return date of the warrant, counsel, warrant issue date, and outcome of the execution (whether the debt was settled, partially
settled, or not satisfied).
Execution Book 1: 22 April 1870 - 1 Jan 1904
Execution Book 2: 25 November 1878 - 27 March 1907
Execution Book [3]: 4 January 1858 - 1 April 1870
Executions: 1838-1842
Execution Book: 1839-1844
Execution Book: 1842-1846
Execution Book: 1844-1855
Execution Book: 1846-1852
Execution Book: 1853-1858
Execution Book: 1855-1878/Executions Returned by Constable 1838-1848
Execution Book: 1807-1811/Executions Returned by Constable 1849-1861
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