Courts

Richmond Circuit Judge Designate William N. Alexander II entered an order Oct. 15, 2018, that (1) FOIA does not apply to "the judiciary, including the Executive Secretary"; (2) enforcement of FOIA against the judiciary and the OES is "barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which has not been waived."; and (3) separation of powers bars enforcement of FOIA against the judiciary and the OES.

Fairfax Circuit Court rules GMU Foundation is not subject to FOIA, nor is the university required to respond to a FOIA request on the foundation's behalf.

Virginia Supreme Court unanimously rules that citizen's affidavit in support of an alleged closed meeting violation adequately demonstrated good cause for proceeding.

Batterson v. Voorhees, Powhatan County Judge Paul W. Cella

In a case brought against the City of Norfolk alleging violations of FOIA's response times and fee estimates, a Norfolk Circuit Court gives much deference to FOIA Council prior opinions and finds:

A Fairfax Circuit County judge's order on various pretrial motions in a case brought by a transparency group against George Mason University and the George Mason University Foundation, Inc.

A unanimous Supreme Court rules a Loudoun County parent is not entitled to student growth percentile data for certain Loudoun County Public School students under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Henrico circuit judge rules a senator can be sued for a FOIA violation in her individual capacity and that Facebook posts can be public records. But, the Facebook posts in this case are deemed not about public business and so did not need to be disclosed.

Clerks of court are the individual custodians of the court case data supplied to the Office of Executive Secretary's online database.

Virginia state senators are not individually subject to FOIA. (OVERRULED by a subsequent decision)