FOIA Friday: What is a Public Works? Loudoun Settlement Disclosure

One of the lesser-noted features of the Virginia Way is the longstanding tendency of federal leaders to make decisions behind closed doors. on the other hand, Virginia Freedom of Information Act Although we assume all government business is public by default and require officials to justify why they should make exceptions, many Virginia leaders have actually taken the opposite position. and act as if records are private by default and the public must prove that they should be treated as such.

This feature highlights how often officials around Virginia resist public access to records on issues large and small, and how FOIA releases have given the public insight into how government agencies operate. The purpose is to draw attention to examples.

A bill making it clear that three or more members of a public body can attend a meeting together without the event being legally considered a public meeting as long as they do not “discuss or transact any public business” has been moved to the Senate. It passed the General Law Technical Committee. this week.

Senate Bill 36 The proposal, from Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, was proposed in response to last year’s Virginia Supreme Court decision in Gross v. Wheeler. In this case, the court ruled that five members of Prince William’s oversight committee failed to comply with state law’s public meeting requirements and attended a meeting of the Police Citizens’ Advisory Committee regarding local protests over the killing of George Floyd. It was determined that there was a violation of FOIA.

At a meeting of the FOIA Advisory Committee in December, Rep. Mike Cherry, R-Colonial Heights, said the ruling “forces a lot of people in local government to change what they can and cannot do in terms of literally just going.” “It had a chilling effect on people,” he said. For a Christmas party. ”

But while transparency groups say they support clarifying the definition of public meetings, adding language to define public business would impede access to public records and have far-reaching implications. They have expressed concern that it may cause harm.

The latest version of Locke’s bill would define public business as “an activity carried out or proposed to be carried out by a public entity on behalf of the people it represents.”

Megan Lyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said state law defines public records as any document or record created, owned or retained by a public entity or agent “in the course of the transaction of public business.” He pointed out that there was. This could lead to a narrow interpretation of the records that government officials must release under FOIA, potentially preventing the public from releasing reports or information that the agency has not yet specifically raised. she stated.

“We really think this is actually a pretty big change,” Amy Perron Seibert, a lobbyist for the Virginia Press Association, said during the Jan. 24 hearing. “Defining public services is a difficult task, and we would like to take a little more time to do that.”

Nevertheless, the committee passed the bill on a 15-0 vote.Another one passed invoice Sen. Richard Stewart (R-Westmoreland) clarified that the definition of a public meeting does not apply to local political party meetings.

“This is an effort to ensure that people of any political party can participate in a political rally without it being considered an unlawful assembly,” Stewart said Wednesday.

a invoice A bill by Sen. Danica Rome, D-Manassas, that would cap the fees public agencies can charge to fulfill FOIA requests also remains, albeit in watered-down form.

“I have made every compromise and concession on this matter,” Rome told the General Law Committee Wednesday.

Roem’s original legislation would require public agencies to charge people for the first two hours of records searches in response to FOIA requests, unless the requester had filed more than four records requests in the past 31 days. It was prohibited. Additionally, hourly rates for FOIA responses would have been capped at $33 per hour had public agencies not argued in court that they needed to charge more.

In response to backlash from local government groups, Rohm banned agencies from charging a fee to respond to the first hour of an individual’s first FOIA request each year, with exceptions and capped at $1. He proposed an alternative plan to increase the rate to $40 per hour. It also orders public agencies to document all requests they receive that take more than 30 minutes to fulfill, and changes part of the fee law to “make it easier for requesters to access public records.” We plan to ask the FOIA Council to consider whether the changes should be made permanent. ”

The bill has a July 1, 2025 deadline, and this period is intended to allow for the completion of the study.

right wing media The Daily Wire sues Loudoun County Public Schools over the department’s refusal to disclose how much it paid to settle a lawsuit brought against it by a sexual assault victim at Broad Run High School.

In October, reporter Luke Rosiak filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint against the Loudoun school seeking a copy of the contract that settled the victims’ claims.according to Daily Wire LawsuitThe department declined to turn over the records, which it said are “identifiable student academic records,” contain information directly related to a particular student, and “compiled specifically for use in litigation.” It said that it was exempt from FOIA because it was a “legal memo/work product that was created.” ”

Mr. Rosiak later filed another FOIA request seeking “financial records” related to a legal settlement entered into in 2023 by Loudoun schools. The department said it had “no record to respond” to the request.

According to the Augusta Free Pressthe Augusta County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 to appeal a local judge’s recent ruling ordering the board to turn over records of closed meetings.

Judge Thomas Wilson IV found previously The board was not specific enough about its reasons for going into a closed meeting on March 20, 2023. Wilson said the personnel exemption cited by the board “doesn’t include any particularity that I think exists.” [FOIA] Required by law. ”

The Free Press is one of the news organizations seeking the recordings.

The Free Lance Star reported. The Spotsylvania County School Board voted during its recess to place controversial Superintendent Mark Taylor on administrative leave.

The vote was taken despite the fact that the Virginia Freedom of Information Act states that public agencies can take action on issues discussed in closed sessions only if they reconvene in public. I was disappointed.

One board member refused to certify the closed session, saying it violated FOIA.

Have you ever had a local or state authority deny or delay your FOIA request? Tell us about it: [email protected]