State audits of the campaign finance reports filed by 2025 political candidates, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger and House Speaker Don Scott, will continue as planned. A House-Senate compromise budget released Friday evening removed language that sought to abolish a 2022 law that authorizes the Department of Elections to verify the accuracy of campaign finance disclosures. No one stepped forward to take responsibility for inserting the eight-word sentence, which appeared in a recent House of Delegates spending plan.

Since taking office in early 2025, Mayor Danny Avula has touted his administration’s work to overhaul how the city communicates. … Now, as part of a paid content deal with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the city has its own podcast hosted by Chief Administrative Officer Odie Donald II. The podcast is part of a broader sponsored content package in which the city pays the RTD for the opportunity to reach the paper’s audience directly, without being filtered through news reporters. In its sales pitch on how a paid content deal could help the city, RTD representatives said it “reduces reactive press.” “Communicate through structured storytelling instead of interviews,” the RTD pitch said. “Control the narrative before it controls you.” … The Richmonder obtained documents outlining the deal by filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the city. The RTD’s pitch to Donald was marked “CONFIDENTIAL PROPOSAL.” It was released as a public document because it involves the use of public funds.

A special prosecutor has declined to pursue criminal charges against former Patrick County Administrator Beth Simms, bringing an end to an investigation that began earlier this year after allegations surfaced that she may have violated Virginia election laws. Floyd County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Branscom, who was appointed as a special prosecutor in the matter, determined that the evidence did not support criminal prosecution. The investigation stemmed from allegations that Simms improperly voted in Patrick County elections while residing in Franklin County and may have provided inaccurate information regarding her voter registration. The complaint was filed by former Patrick County Electoral Board member Ed Poole.

An Arkansas judge on Thursday ruled the city of Fayetteville didn’t illegally withhold a secret agreement with a military drone manufacturer, saying a retired professor who made an open-records request didn’t specifically ask for the document. Washington County Circuit Judge Doug Martin ruled that University of Arkansas professor emeritus of anthropology and Middle East Studies Ted Swedenburg failed to show that Fayetteville violated the state Freedom of Information Act in response to his request for documents related to the Swarm Aero facility. The project has prompted protests from opponents who cite its manufacturing of military-grade drones, issues surrounding city approval and nondisclosure agreements signed by city officials. While officials disclosed emails from 2023 discussing plans to sign a nondisclosure agreement, the agreement itself was not handed over, Swedenburg’s lawsuit argued. But Martin ruled that the city complied because the request asked for communications regarding Swarm Aero and not the nondisclosure agreement. Martin ruled that the law doesn’t require the city to speculate on what records Swedenburg intended to request.

A $3,023.50 invoice for documents requested by a Rives Township couple fighting to keep their land amid a tax dispute will no longer need to be paid. During a special meeting Friday, June 19, the Rives Township Board unanimously passed a motion waiving the fee delivered to Jobeth Carlton and her spouse Joseph Super. The couple were engaged in a foreclosure case with the county amid a dispute over unpaid sewer bills and inaccurate assessment. The fee was result of a Freedom of Information Act request for documents that may prove the township made a mistake in its record keeping.

A federal judge ruled on Friday that the Department of Justice can hand over redacted versions of former President Joe Biden’s conversations with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, to the conservative Heritage Foundation — and then issued a temporary stay to allow a potential appeal. Biden had intervened in a lawsuit brought by the Heritage Foundation over a Freedom of Information Act request that sought records from former special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified materials after his time as vice president. Hur, at the end of his probe, did not recommend charges against Biden, despite finding evidence that Biden “willfully retained” classified materials. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, in her ruling Friday, determined that the information is of high public interest and said that after reviewing the material herself, the DOJ’s redactions to the material undercut Biden’s claims that his privacy would be violated.