I’m not a fan of litigation. And yet, litigation is the ONLY way to compel compliance with FOIA in Virginia and most every other state in the country. You have to go to court to assert your rights. Thirty years ago, we could count on the news media to push back. But as the industry shrunk, particularly for print media, fewer and fewer outlets had the resources to keep up a steady stream of compliance lawsuits. FOIA was never meant to be a game of “how far can I go before someone notices?” It was written to give citizens the tools to hold their government accountable. If public officials are going to keep stretching their toes toward the pole, then citizens — armed with knowledge, persistence, and, yes, sometimes a lawsuit — need to be ready to stop them.

Craig Johnson — City Hall’s former deputy inspector general — no longer works for the city of Richmond, according to sources familiar with the situation. The circumstances surrounding his departure are not clear. Interim Inspector General Foster Curtiss referred questions to City Council, which oversees the watchdog office. Neither City Council President Cynthia Newbille nor Vice President Katherine Jordan responded to requests for comment. City Council spokesperson Steve Skinner said “Council has no comment to provide.” In May, City Council dismissed Osuna — but wouldn’t say why. Councilwoman Reva Trammell told The Times-Dispatch that a human resources investigation had preceded the dismissal, and questioned the legitimacy of the process, but said she couldn’t elaborate at the time.

A Loudoun County Circuit Court judge denied Purcellville Vice Mayor Ben Nett’s motion to acquire copies of transcripts from a grand jury that handed down six felony indictments against him and two against Town Manager Kwasi Fraser. Nett and Fraser attended a pre-trial motion hearing, the most recent step in their case since being arrested in July. Nett sought the release of the grand jury transcripts as well as an amendment to his bond conditions, seeking permission for travel outside of Virginia. Fraser also sought amendments to his bond conditions to allow travel. Judge James E. Plowman imposed conditions on the requests. The conditions stipulate that the defense and prosecution attorneys may access the grand jury transcripts in the Clerk’s Office, but they may not provide those copies physically to the vice mayor or anyone else.

An employee of the foundation supporting the University of Virginia’s undergraduate business school has left her job in disgrace and plans to plead guilty to embezzling more than $20,000, according to public filings. “Yvonne Elizabeth Hillman was terminated on September 13, 2024, when numerous incidents of Foundation-issued credit card fraud were discovered,” according to the complaint filed by investigating officer Eric Pluta of the UVa Police Department. Pluta alleges that Hillman would routinely make personal purchases on her foundation-issued credit card and then submit deceptive monthly expense reports, many with electronically altered receipts.
NOTE: University foundations are not subject to FOIA.

Chatham Town Manager Nick Morris announced his resignation earlier this week, citing that a majority of the council shows no desire to work with him as “silly games are being played.” It came at the conclusion of Monday evening’s council meeting. Just before Mayor Alisa Davis was set to adjourn, Morris got up from his designated seat and handed Davis and William Riddle, a council member who leads the personnel committee, his resignation letter. While the town of about 1,200 residents does not record meetings for the public, a private citizen does. The meeting videos are uploaded to YouTube. This particular one had 34 views as of Wednesday afternoon. “The current environment of back-room deals, secret discussions, challenges to even the most commonsense and professional system improvements, purposeful siloed organizational design, and favoritism are something I have neither the desire, nor the time to be a part of,” he read to council.

All I want to know is this: How much are VCU student-athletes getting paid each year? The records exist, but VCU says the public isn’t allowed to see them – leaning on what I believe to be a misinterpretation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). “VCU takes very seriously our commitment to compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act,” Howell said in an email to the RTD. “Certain records are exempt from disclosure under FOIA, including those protected by relevant state and federal laws. As I have explained, scholastic records are one of those exemptions.” I do believe Howell and VCU take their commitment seriously. I also believe that this is an overly broad interpretation of the exemption. I understand Va. Code § 2.2-3705.4(A)(1) as an exemption which exists to shield FERPA-type records (grades, transcripts or disciplinary files), not financial, contractual or other records that are assumed to be public. I am not asking for names or anything that would reveal the identity of student-athletes. I just want to see dollar amounts.

Exposing government wrongdoing almost always starts with a whistleblower. In some cases, it’s the only way a problem can be exposed: for someone on the inside to speak up. God bless first-year Smithfield Town Councilman Darren Cutler for making citizens aware of potential violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act when the Town Council retreated to secrecy last month under the guise of one of the sunshine law’s most abused exemptions: “legal advice.” More important, as our Stephen Faleski details elsewhere in today’s edition, Cutler offered common-sense reforms for future closed sessions to reduce the council’s risk of violating the law.

The Connecticut Department of Economic Community and Development (DECD) violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) when it quoted Adam Osmond over $40,000 for copies of electronic records. The agency attempted to charge Osmond a per-page copying fee, which does not apply to electronic records, and for time employees spent reviewing records. The Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) has previously found that state agencies cannot charge for time spent reviewing records because it is part of their duty to disclose records under FOIA. In its ruling on Osmond’s complaint, the FOIC found this portion of the law applied to Osmond’s request for electronic records and that DECD violated FOIA by “conditioning receipt of the requested records on the prepayment of the complainant’s prepayment of exorbitant fees” for a copying fee that does not apply to electronic documents. The FOIC also ruled against DECD officials’ claim that FOIA’s restrictions on how agencies can structure fees for requests are not exhaustive and allow them to charge for the time employees spend reviewing records.