What are the case outcomes for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

Of 1292 cases filed in Fairfax County in 2025 (public records), 917 reached a dismissal, plea, verdict, or acquittal. Of those, 71.4% are dismissed, 28.2% result in conviction, and 0.3% end in acquittal. The median case takes 6.2 months. Individual outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case.

What is the dismissal rate for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

The dismissal rate is 71.4% of the 917 cases that reached an outcome, out of 1292 filed in 2025 (public court records). This includes judicial dismissals and nolle prosequi (cases dropped by the prosecutor).

How long does a Drug Possession case take in Fairfax County?

The median case takes 6.2 months. The fastest 25% resolve in 3.2 months, while the slowest 25% take 10.8 months or longer. Duration depends on factors specific to each case.

What is the conviction rate for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

The conviction rate for Drug Possession in Fairfax County is 28.2% of the 917 cases that reached an outcome, out of 1292 filed in 2025 (public court records). This includes guilty pleas and findings of guilt at trial.

What does the data show about charge reductions for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

25.2% of Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County are amended to a lesser charge based on 2025 court records. The most common reduction is to Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii.

What's the difference between General District Court and Circuit Court for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County are heard in General District Court (1292 cases in 2025).

How does Fairfax County compare to other courts for Drug Possession?

Fairfax County has a 71.4% dismissal rate for Drug Possession. Visit the Drug Possession overview page to compare dismissal rates, conviction rates, and case timelines across all Virginia jurisdictions.

What does the sentencing data show for Drug Possession in Fairfax County?

For those convicted of Drug Possession in Fairfax County, the average sentence recorded is 3.2 months (including suspended time). Actual sentences depend on the specifics of each case. Consult a licensed attorney for guidance on your situation.

Drug Possession in Fairfax County, VA

Statistics here cover General District Court cases only. The Fairfax County Circuit Court (19th Judicial Circuit) operates an independent case management system; felony cases that begin or are appealed there are not included in this dataset. See methodology →

Based on 1,292 public court records from 2025, Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County General District Court have a 71.4% dismissal rate (statewide avg: 41.4%), a 28.2% conviction rate, and a median case duration of 6.2 months.

Key takeaways

71.4% of Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County were dismissed or dropped in 2025, across 1,292 public court records (Virginia average: 41.4%).
28.2% resulted in conviction; 0.3% ended in acquittal.
25.2% were amended to a lesser charge, most often Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii.
The median case resolved in 6.2 months; the slowest quarter took 10.8 months or more.

71.4%

Dismissal Rate

▲ vs 41.4% statewide

28.2%

Conviction Rate

▼ vs 58.2% statewide

6.2 months

Median Duration

I Outcomes

Case Outcomes — General District Court

Of 1,292 General District Court cases in Fairfax County filed in 2025, 917 ended in a dismissal, plea, verdict, or acquittal — the basis for the rates below. This is where most Drug Possession cases start.

Exhibit · Case-outcome distribution

66.8%

28.2%

Dismissed by judge 4.6% (n=42) Dropped by prosecutor (nolle prosequi) 66.8% (n=613) Convicted 28.2% (n=259) Acquitted 0.3%

Largest outcomeDropped by prosecutor — 66.8% of 917 resolved cases.

Source: 1,292 General District Court records, Fairfax County, 2025. See the 2025 Virginia Criminal Court Outcomes report for statewide context. — VirginiaCourtFile.com

Exhibit · How Fairfax County compares

Dismissal rates for Drug Possession in this and peer jurisdictions, 2025. Peers are the highest-volume neighboring jurisdictions in the same region.

Fairfax CountyThis page 71.4% 1,292 cases

Prince William County 42.3% 1,453 cases Stafford County 49.3% 554 cases Spotsylvania County 56.3% 420 cases Fredericksburg 37.0% 400 cases

Statewide average 41.4% all Virginia

Click any peer for its full record. Bar lengths are scaled to the highest rate shown.

Filed in Fairfax County General District Court? See the full General District Court record — charge mix, judges, and officer activity.

January to June 2026 · read at June 30 · General District Court

741 drug possession cases in Fairfax County General District Court were filed January to June 2026, and 130 had resolved by June 30.

Of the 130 resolved, 65.4% were dismissed or dropped and 34.6% ended in a conviction. 611 were still open at June 30. The same read of January to June 2025 is beside it, so the two half-years are compared at the same age.

Measure	Jan–Jun 2026	Jan–Jun 2025, same read
Filed	741	600
Resolved by June 30	130	122
Still open at June 30	611	478
Dismissed or dropped, of resolved	65.4%	66.4%
Convicted, of resolved	34.6%	32.8%
Convicted on a reduced charge, of resolved	27.7%	30.3%

A case counts as resolved only if its final hearing was held on or before June 30 of its filing year; rates divide by those cases. General District Court only — 2026 Circuit Court figures are not yet published (feed paused 2026-07-09). Filed counts carry a recording caveat and no year-over-year change is claimed. Source read 2026-09-14; the 2025 benchmark elsewhere on this page is the full calendar year. Method.

VCF Sentencing Outcome Index

Outcomes for 323 convicted cases in Fairfax County General District Court (2025-2026).

Exhibit · Sentencing when convicted

14.9%

Received Active Jail

Median 1.0 months when imposed

▼ vs 29.6% statewide

37.8%

Received Probation

Median 1.0 years when imposed

● vs 38.0% statewide

These figures describe outcomes for cases that ended in conviction in Fairfax County General District Court. They do not predict any individual case outcome. See methodology for definitions and suppression rules.

Charge Reductions

When the original charge is amended to a lesser offense, usually through negotiation between the attorney and prosecutor.

Exhibit · Charge-reduction patterns

25.2% of Drug Possession cases
in Fairfax County are reduced

325 cases had their charge amended to a lesser offense.

Most common reductions

Drug Possession Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii

174 cases · 53.5% of reductions

Drug Possession Unauthorized Possession of Paraphernalia

77 cases · 23.7% of reductions

Drug Possession Unauthorized Distribution of Paraphernalia

20 cases · 6.2% of reductions

Case Duration

Time from filing to final disposition — half of cases resolve faster than the median.

Exhibit · Case duration

Fastest 25% 3.2 months

Median 6.2 months

Slowest 25% 10.8 months

II Getting Help

Getting Help With a Drug Possession Charge

Representation options in Fairfax County.

If you cannot afford an attorney for a drug possession charge, you may qualify for court-appointed counsel or a public defender. How Virginia's indigent-defense system works explains who qualifies and how representation is assigned in Fairfax County. Defense attorneys who have appeared on drug possession cases in Fairfax County are listed below.

Defense Attorneys with Drug Possession Cases in Fairfax County

Attorneys whose primary jurisdiction is Fairfax County and who appeared as defense counsel of record on Drug Possession cases in 2025. Listed by case count.

William P Robinson 46 of 633 total Brandon R Sloane 46 of 457 total David W Deane 39 of 561 total Anthony M Nicewicz 32 of 221 total Erin Smith 31 of 800 total Andrew M Stewart 28 of 413 total Toni S Fay 27 of 220 total Keith P Corley 26 of 343 total Martin M Mooradian 26 of 294 total John Pickett 25 of 250 total

Counts are each attorney's full 2025 caseload statewide. Click any name for their jurisdiction + outcome breakdown.

All Virginia defense attorneys

III Background

Arresting Officers — Dismissal Rates

Officers whose Drug Possession arrests in Fairfax County are dismissed most frequently. Minimum 10 cases.

A M Zelms 100.0% 10 cases B D Nichols 100.0% 15 cases D A Bragg 88.9% 12 cases J E Russell 87.5% 14 cases J Shipman 87.5% 15 cases

Ranking shows officers in this jurisdiction with the highest Drug Possession dismissal rates (minimum 10 cases). Click any name for their full record.

All arresting officers in Fairfax County

Common Questions

Statistics from public court records for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. Past outcomes do not predict future results. Consult a licensed attorney for guidance on your case.

Can a Drug Possession charge be reduced to something lesser?

25.2% of Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County were amended to a lesser charge in 2025. The most common reduction was to Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii (174 cases), followed by Unauthorized Possession of Paraphernalia (77 cases). Whether a reduction is available depends on the specifics of the case and is typically negotiated between the defense attorney and the prosecutor.

How does Fairfax County compare to other Virginia courts?

Fairfax County has a 71.4% dismissal rate for Drug Possession cases. Outcomes vary significantly across Virginia courts. View the Drug Possession overview to compare dismissal rates, conviction rates, and case timelines across every jurisdiction.

Where does this data come from and how often is it updated?

All figures on this page come from Virginia's public Case Information System (CIS) and District Court system, calendar year 2025 onward. See methodology for definitions, denominators, and known coverage gaps.

Read this before you quote a number

What this record cannot show

This page is built from what court clerks recorded for Drug Possession cases in Fairfax County. Some of what you may want to know is not in that record.

The judge. Virginia’s court records do not carry the judge’s name, so nothing on this page describes any judge.
The prosecutor. The record names the office — the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney — not the individual prosecutor who handled a case.
Why a case ended the way it did. A dismissal can mean a witness did not appear, a motion was won, a plea was reached on another charge, or evidence never arrived. The record shows the outcome, not the reason.
Cases still open. Rates here count only the 917 cases that reached a dismissal, plea, verdict, or acquittal. The other 375 cases filed in 2025 were still pending or otherwise unresolved when the record was read, and they are in none of the rates.
Cases filed before 2025. This page covers cases filed in 2025. A case filed in 2024 and decided in 2025 is not here.
Whether the person had a lawyer. The court’s counsel field is not reliable enough to publish, so this page does not say who was represented, or whether counsel was hired or appointed.
Guilty plea or trial in General District Court. District court records do not say whether a conviction came by plea or after a trial. Only Circuit Court records do, so no plea or trial rate appears here.
What the 2026 half-year can show. The January to June 2026 figures are General District Court only, read at June 30, and count a case as resolved only if its final hearing was held by that date. 611 of the 741 cases filed were still open at the read. Circuit Court 2026 is not yet published; no year-over-year change is claimed.
Time actually served. Sentences here are what the court imposed. Suspended time is included unless a figure says <em>active</em>. Time served, credit for time already spent in jail, and early release are not in the record.
Circuit Court cases in Fairfax County. The 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church) keeps its own case system outside the statewide record. Felony cases that begin or are appealed there are not counted on this page.

Every figure on this page comes from Virginia’s public court records as read on August 24, 2026. Coverage notes and definitions are in the methodology. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will check the record.

Cite this page

VirginiaCourtFile.com (2026). Drug Possession Outcomes — Fairfax County, Virginia. Based on 1,292 public court records, 2025; last updated August 24, 2026. https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/charges/drug-possession/fairfax-county

Other Charges in Fairfax County

Reckless Driving

7,442 cases · 9.3% dismissed

Larceny / Theft

5,549 cases · 70.9% dismissed

Public Intoxication

2,136 cases · 42.0% dismissed

DUI / DWI

2,106 cases · 16.0% dismissed