Former Del. Matt Fariss remains in jail following a Saturday night arrest on gun and drug charges and a twice-delayed bond hearing.
A bond hearing scheduled for Tuesday for the former Republican lawmaker from Campbell County was continued after the special prosecutor assigned to the case, Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Daniel Rutherford, was unavailable. The hearing was rescheduled for Thursday morning, defense attorney Chuck Felmlee said, and will take place either in Lynchburg or Campbell County general district court, though full details weren’t available Tuesday afternoon.
Fariss was arrested Saturday night in Campbell County on charges of drug possession, illegal possession of a firearm and violation of a protective order, arrest records show. He was also cited for improper tail lights and failure to obey highway markings.
Fariss was the only occupant in his vehicle when he was stopped by an officer of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office. The officer noted that the former state delegate had a rifle in his car and a “crystal substance that field tested positive for meth in his pocket,” the report said. It does not say how much of the substance was found.
He has been held since his arrest at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Amherst County.
The protective order violation charge stems from a March 2023 case in which Fariss was charged with felony malicious wounding and leaving the scene of an accident in an incident that injured Julie Miles, a woman he was seeing romantically. Miles obtained a protective order that stipulated that Fariss must surrender any firearms he owned.
Fariss was acquitted of the felony charges but convicted of misdemeanor reckless driving.
Fariss’ bond hearing originally was scheduled for Monday but was postponed a day due to an internet outage at the courthouse.
The 55-year-old Fariss represented the 59th House District from 2012 until January. He missed the filing deadline for the Republican nomination in the latest cycle but filed paperwork to run as an independent in June. Republican nominee Eric Zehr defeated him and Democrat Kimberly Moran in the November general election.