Last month brought us a novel lawsuit that pits the Americans with Disabilities Act against Virginia FOIA, and court rulings on bribery, secret recordings from a closed meeting and police departments who can't be named as defendants. June also marked the end of our fiscal year, and a good year it was; you can help us keep the momentum going by scrolling to the bottom of this newsletter and becoming a sustaining donor. Finally, it was one year ago that we took the reins as administrator of the NFOIC, supporting the production of the annual nationwide FOI Summit and expediting applications to the Knight Litigation Fund, which fronts funds to offset the cost of lawsuits to enforce open records and open meetings laws.

A member of the Loudoun County School Board has sued her colleagues in federal district court over their refusal to honor her request to attend every meeting of the school board virtually.

Denise Corbo says the board is not accommodating her disability. FOIA allows board members with a temporary or permanent disability to call or Zoom into meetings. A public body is supposed to have a policy in place that spells out when requests to participate remotely will be honored and boards are supposed to apply those policies consistently.

Corbo says that the board chair stopped honoring her request to participate remotely -- which she said was over health concerns -- when he saw pictures of Corbo traveling to North Dakota and visiting local schools soon after saying she couldn't come to the meeting.

Corbo's lawsuit said she's being discriminated against because of her disability and that it's cost her "severe physical, emotional, and mental distress, as well as financial harm."

Virginia FOIA's interplay with the Americans with Disabilities Act has not been tested in court.

A Chesterfield judge agreed with the police department that it couldn't be named as a defendant in a FOIA case.

The Virginia State Police said it would cost $7,180 to provide copies of the agency’s FOIA logs for a 3-year period.

Prince William County Adult Detention Center refused to disclose the mug shot of a man running for the House of Delegates.

When the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled in October that the personnel exemption was not the catch-all exemption many public bodies assumed it was, it sent the case back to the Mecklenburg County Circuit Court where it was originally heard to review the records the Town of South Hill withheld from a FOIA requester. Looking at the records through the lens of the guidance provided by the high court, the circuit court ruled that redacted versions of five personnel-related records had to be disclosed. “While these emails may contain some unflattering comments concerning job performance and a rebuttal to those allegations, that performance is solely in relation to the function of public duties by a public employee being compensated by public funds,” the judge wrote.

The Fairfax County Police Chief decided that from now on, the county's eight community advisory committees, which serve as liaisons between police and the community, would meet without live-streaming and would not allow recording. The chief said the change was meant to encourage a conflict-free and welcoming environment. If the committees are established by the chief (i.e., not by the county board of supervisors), then they do not have to follow the same FOIA rules for meetings.

The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the bribery conviction of a La Crosse man who offered to pay the town $500 each month if they'd support gaming machines at the convenience store he ran. The appeals court ruled that the offer did not have to be made secretly in order to be a bribe. In other words, bribes are bribes, whether they are made surreptitiously or in full view of others.

Though Virginia ABC told the Virginia Mercury it could not provide a breakdown detailing inventory losses by those at retail stores versus those at distribution centers, emails obtained by the Mercury through FOIA show that the primary source of losses was the distribution centers.
(NOTE: Maria Everett is the vice chair of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority Board. She is also a member of VCOG's board of directors.)

The Loudoun County School Board made it clear that just because it was going to turn over a copy of the independent investigation into the district's handling of multiple sexual assaults by a student to the attorney general, as ordered by a judge, it was still not going to release the report to the public.  The board said in a press release that it would "continue to assert attorney-client privilege and attorney work product exemptions." In late June, the school district's former spokesperson was acquitted of perjury charges; he was accused of lying under oath to a grand jury looking into the same sexual assaults.
 

Fairfax County schools said it would not share its investigation into delays in notifying students of their National Merit Scholarship recognition with the attorney general, who is trying to subpoena a copy of the report. The school district is citing the attorney-client privilege.
 

A judge in Gloucester ordered the county school board to disclose the recordings of a closed meeting made by one of the board members and requested by that member's girlfriend via FOIA. The district court judge said that the reason cited for going into closed session was "personnel," but the personal attacks and acrimony in the meeting "is so far outside the realm of what a reasonable person could possibly consider a professional discussion of a public officer or employee's performance." 

A member of the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors dismissed his FOIA lawsuit against the county electoral board after saying he got most of what he was asking for and much of the rest did not exist.

The attorney for the Town of Boyce reminded the town council that it has to vote as a board in public to hire the town's new administrator. The mayor said made a formal offer of employment to the manager without a public vote. Meanwhile, in records obtained by The Free Lance-Star, it came to light that the Spotsylvania School Board amended its policies to allow the board chair to unilaterally hire contracted employees (teachers, principals, etc.) without board approval.

According to reporting by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, members of the VCU Health System Board were told to keep quiet about a failing development deal that eventually cost the system $73 million. That included not sharing information with the university's board of visitors.

In response to a FOIA request from The Virginian-Pilot, Virginia Beach redacted the names of some of the people given complimentary VIP tickets to the Something in the Water festival at the beach in April. The city said the names were proprietary information because the individuals represented companies the economic development team is trying to lure to locate in the city. The city said the same will be true with some of the names of people given tickets to Beach It! held in June.

Police and police reform advocates agree on one thing: the use of body-worn cameras by police officers has not lived up to expectations. Police said footage from the cameras would show how police officers act appropriately, thereby countering public criticism. Reformers said the footage would restore confidence in law enforcement. Footage is often withheld when requested, and some departments, including the Virginia State Police, do not use body-worn cameras.

Though some states have publicly posted the specifics about how money they have received through the nationwide opioid settlement, other states (like Virginia) do not, meaning the public and press must ask each locality individually for that information.

Reports obtained by Loudoun Now revealed Purcellville's newly installed interim town manager venting his increased frustration with the dynamics of the town council. The town was not the shining star it could be, he said, but a "punchline." He resigned after just over a month on the job.

Set it and forget it!

Not only does a recurring donation save you the hassle of remembering to donate each month, but it also maximizes your impact. Even a small monthly contribution adds up over time. And at VCOG, we can rest a bit easier knowing that you have our back.

Scan the QR code below or click on this link to get started.

P.O. Box 2576
Williamsburg VA  23187
540-353-8264
vcog@opengovva.org