A detailed review of 400 state government websites across the country found that nearly all of them are deficient in some foundational functionalities, including load speeds, mobile readiness, security and accessibility. But one website scored a perfect grade: The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries'
website for licenses and access permits. Virginia topped the rankings overall, with Virginia's
business registrations and
vital statistics receiving special mention, too.
The town of Dumfries
met in closed session to strip the vice mayor of his title. When the council returned to open session, the mayor said he could not comment on the matter since it was discussed in closed session, but he did say the action was unanimous. He went on to praise the council for its public agreement.
A Virginia Board of Pharmacy committee met behind closed doors for nearly 30 minutes to decide that review of the 51 applications to receive one of the first five medical marijuana licenses
would be kept confidential.
The town of Leesburg
refused to go into closed session, as requested by the Virginia Department of Transportation, to discuss an alternate design for a local traffic interchange. Council members noted the months-long process to achieve agreement on the existing plan versus learning about a new plan in closed session and not being able to talk about it publicly.
Attorney General Mark Herring recently updated the lawsuit his office has filed against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. The original complaint was filed under seal because of a preexisting confidentiality agreement, but the parties have since
agreed to unseal the complaint.
The Roanoke City Council is considering once again asking the General Assembly to pass legislation to permit localities to
ban guns from city hall during city council meetings.
The Henrico School Board chose to discuss and weed out eight of the 11 applicants for a vacant seat on the board in closed session. The three were to be interviewed in closed session before the board decided how many of the three would advance to a final public hearing.
The names were not released.
The recently ousted director of the Pittsylvania County Department of Social Services petitioned a circuit court for an injunction against the county board of supervisors, the county administrator and the county attorney over
alleged violations of FOIA's meetings and records provisions.
Prompted in part by the above petition, the
Register & Bee did a story on when and why governments file FOIA requests against each other. Michelle Gowdy of the Virginia Municipal League and VCOG's Megan Rhyne agreed that
such requests are not inherently adversarial but can alter the tone of the interactions.
A registered sex offender recently settled his lawsuit over a no-trespassing notice that
effectively prohibited him from attending Stafford County School Board meetings.
Charlottesville met in closed session to discuss
how it would pick a search firm to find a permanent city manager. The city sai it chose a closed session because an open discussion would adversely affect its bargaining position or negotiating strategy.
The minutes of several July meetings of the Charlottesville City Council appeared to indicate that members were phoning into meetings and voting on closed meeting motions even though the city
had not yet adopted a policy allowing remote participation.
The Charlottesville Police Civilian Review Board continues to flesh out the its bylaws and operating procedures, including
whether complaints made to the board could be kept confidential.
The Amherst County School Board elected to
hold public interviews of the applicants to fill a vacant seat on the board.
For the second time, a Christiansburg man's FOIA lawsuit against the town and its mayor was
dismissed as deficient. Months ago, a judge said Chris Waltz's claim that notice of a meeting was defective should be dismissed because he attended the meeting. In September, the judge threw the case out again because Waltz's petition did not indicate it was suing Mayor Mike Barber in his official capacity. Barber was represented at trial by the town attorney.
The
Daily Press filed a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit brought by the former director of the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport who claimed a story about his shredding of documents falsely implied that he was illegally destroying evidence. The newspaper argued i
ts reporting was based on a public record: An audit conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Virginia's State Board of Elections voted unanimously Thursday to seek the removal of two court-appointed Hopewell elections officials. After one official denied having seen a proposed ballot that later came under fire, the board
played a video of a meeting shot by a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter that showed the Hopewell board discussing the ballot.
The Intercept online news magazine discovered that despite using George Mason University in its names and having gmu.edu email addresses, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University is
not a public body subject to Virginia's FOIA. The research center, which has some GMU professors on staff, says it is entirely funded by private donations and does not perform a government function.
The Lynchburg City Council held interviews for the two finalists for the chief of police position
in a public meeting.
The Bristol City Council's attempt to remove a council member from his seat continued last month. Doug Fleenor's attorney said in a court filing that the
city had no authority to remove him, while the
city says the charter allows the action. Neither side will disclose the letter served on Fleenor advising him of the removal attempt and allegedly accusing him of malfeasance in office.
