Current Headlines

Attorney says school board didn’t follow 10-day public notice rule, then school board won’t hand over the attorney’s opinion in response to a FOIA request.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly reports this week that a reporter seeking evidence used in the York County capital murder trial of Daryl Atkins has been effectively denied access. A clerk said she could not release the material — even though it is not under seal and even though there’s a presumption that non-sealed evidence used at…

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that the Washington State Patrol must hand over accident records requested by a cyclist severely injured on Seattle’s Montlake Bridge, the state Supreme Court ruled April 12. Cyclist Michael Gendler suffered catastrophic spinal injuries when his front wheel was caught in the draw bridge grating. The crash left Gendler quadriplegic, unable…

VCOG Blog: When a local government is faced with an issue — how to repurpose an old building, whether to implement block scheduling in the high schools, how satisfied the workforce is, where to locate a new government building — they often hire an outside consultant. The consultant comes in, asks a lot of questions,…

The Maryland General Assembly is considering two bills that would put certain university professors’ records out of reach of the state public information law. Inspired by the cases in Virginia, Wisconsin and Michigan, most access advocates think the bills are a bad idea. As the head of New York’s FOI office (a state agency) says,…

Two bills have been introduced in the General Assembly this year that would alter the rules governing when state or local governments can meet by electronic means. One would change the rules related to where a quorum of the public body's members must be, another would allow local and regional governments to take advantage of…

“Technology has certainly made putting arcane data online easier in recent years. But the real push for transparency has come from the scandals that often breed in opaque government…..Yes, most of the data are boring,… [b]ut journalists and think-tanks should have them, to browse and crunch and snoop. Freedom of information laws already do allow…

Onancock town manager/town attorney refuses to release unredacted copy of his employment contract, and says that the redaction of his signature and the date were done for obvious reasons. (Still trying to figure THAT one out!)

Amicus brief of the U.S. government urging the 4th Circuit to affirm the Norfolk district court ruling that rejected voter application records are open to public inspection. VCOG has signed on to a different amicus brief that will be filed today (also urging the court to affirm). Click here for the U.S. brief.

VCOG is pleased to announce this year’s winners for their contributions towards open government in Virginia: Jill Hill, The Roanoke Times and Dels. Jim LeMunyon and Mark Keam. Read about them here, and plan to attend VCOG’s annual conference, where the awards will be presented. Learn more about the conference here.

An editorial in The Times of Smithfield says the Governor’s proposal to change the way meetings can be conducted over phone lines is a bad idea because it compromises the honesty of face-to-face encounters.

Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice and Richmond Free Press publisher agree to meet Sept. 19 to discuss the court’s longstanding policy of allowing only one press photographer (from the Times-Dispatch) to take pictures at Supreme Court justice investitures.

Arkansas county votes to prohibit video recordings of public meetings. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act does not address the issue of video cameras, but does say people should be provided access to public meetings. Banning video is not listed as an exemption of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Arkansas Attorney General Opinion 83-213…

Thanks to VCOG’s Laurence Richardson Intern, here’s a quick-hit chart of how states across the country handle access to records in open and closed investigations.

A federal judge has ruled that Virginia must make its voter registration applications available for public inspection. The opinion, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, stems from a lawsuit filed by the national voting rights group, Project Vote, which sought access to voter applications of Norfolk State University students in the 2008 presidential…

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra identified 10 principles for improving federal transparency in his testimony before a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. The bullet-list is below. Click here for a fuller explanation of each. Build end-to-end digital processes Build once, use often Tap into golden sources of data Release machine-readable data and encourage 3rd…

FOIA Council says meeting of 4 board members with attorney should have followed FOIA. The members' attorney says the meeting wasn't public business. YOU DECIDE: they were meeting to discuss suing other school board members over a proposed redistricting plan.

Four members of Wise school board meet with an attorney to talk about suing the other half of the board. Attorney says it’s OK; citizen says the meeting should have followed FOIA. (From the Coalfield Progress)

Smithfield Times editorial, April 13, 2011 Voters do the evaluating A facilitator, hired by the Board of Supervisors to work with them on their manners during an annual retreat, has proposed a “Code of Conduct” to be signed by each of the five. The document, written by facilitator Dr. Michael Chandler, contains some good sugges-tions…

Back by popular demand! VCOG is hosting two seminars, Wednesday, April 27, in Roanoke. The first is a 2.5-hour workshop on how to gain access to records using FOIA. Learn tips/strategies from citizens, journalists and government employees. The second is a 2.5-hour seminar for government employees about how good records management can make filling FOIA…