Attorney General

A local Board of Zoning Appeals cannot discreetly disclose the existence of reconsideration options to only a limited and subjective group of denied applicants because the existence of any reconsideration options would be considered open to the public under FOIA.

"The Virginia Freedom of Information Act requires local police departments to release footage from body-worn and/or dashboard cameras related to officer-involved shootings unless an exception applies." This opinion isn't novel, but it does review the issue in part under the new §2.2-3706.1.
 

An assistant AG offered an informal opinion to the Prince William Circut Court clerk that nothing in the statutes governing remote access to non-confidential court files barred clerks from granting such access to the press.

Local governments do not have authority under §15.2-1413, which allows the adoption of modifications to essential functions during an  emergency, to relax the deadlines by which to respond to FOIA requests.

The Suffolk City School Board policy, which limits board members' abilitty to seek records under FOIA, "should not impede access to public records by citizens of the Commonwelath."

On May 6, 2020, the Attorney General said that the amendments to the budget adopted by the General Assembly and signed by the governor in April 2020 would allow the General Assembly to meet remotely during a time of declared emergency, provided the bodies can meet the conditions offered in the amendments, including that the emergency makes meeting in person "impracticable or unsafe," and (among other things) providing minutes and making sure the public has electronic acess to the proceedings

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Attorney General issued this opinion on the meetings of local and state government boards and whether/when they can meet electronically, without a quorum physically present at one site.

The Tourism Council of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance is a public body subject to FOIA.

Section 24.2-107 of the Code of Virginia requires local electoral boards to post on an official website whatever kinds of minutes they keep, including both draft and final minutes.

Informal opinion from the AG's office (authored by Opinions Counsel Tim Oksman) says that locally filed conflicts of interest forms cannot be redacted in response to a FOIA request.