Motions to Close Meeting, and Motions When Coming Out of Closed Meeting
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Hart v. Town of Onley
General district judge rules town did not violate FOIA’s provisions on motions to go into closed meeting or for proper topics for closed-meeting discussion, specifically discipline of the mayor by the town council.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-20
Closed meeting motions must include a subject, purpose, and citation and must be set forth in detail in the meeting minutes. Votes taken after a closed meeting must reasonably identify the substance of the vote. Meeting minutes must include a summary of the discussion on matters proposed, deliberated or decided, and a record of any…
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Cole v. Smyth County BOS (Supreme Court)
Supreme Court of VIrginia rules unanimously, May 28, 2020, that the Smyth County Board of Supervisors used an improper motion to go into closed session and talked about matters beyond the scope of the claimed exemption.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-19
A public body engaged in dispute resolution proceedings may hold closed meetings under the exemptions for discussion of actual or probable litigation and consultation with legal counsel on specific legal matters. However, it does not appear that FOIA or the various laws concerning dispute resolution have considered or addressed situations where two or more public…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-18
A custodian may require a requester of public records to provide his legal name and address and may attempt to verify that a requester is a citizen of the Commonwealth, a representative of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, or a representative of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth.…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-18
A motion to convene a closed meeting must identify the subject of the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, and the exemption(s) which allow the meeting to be closed. A motion that fails to identify the subject, or lacks any other element, is insufficient. There is no general exemption for public bodies to discuss police…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-17
A motion to convene a closed meeting must identify the subject of the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, and the exemption(s) which allow the meeting to be closed. A motion that fails to identify the subject, or lacks any other element, is insufficient.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-16
A motion to convene a closed meeting that contains a general reference to the subject matter to be discussed does not satisfy the requirement to identify the subject. If a member feels that a closed meeting discussion strays beyond the matters identified in the motion to convene, that member shall make a statement to that…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-10
A motion to convene a closed meeting must identify the subject of the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, and cite an applicable exemption from the open meeting requirements. In order to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, the preferred practice is to make a separate motion for each topic that will come under consideration during a…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-13-09
A motion to convene a closed meeting must identify the subject of the meeting, state its purpose, and provide a reference to an applicable exemption. Quoting or paraphrasing a statutory exemption states the purpose of the meeting, but does not identify the subject. FOIA places the duty to identify the subject of a closed meeting…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-08
A public body may convene a closed meeting to discuss the formation and award of a procurement contract.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-13-07
FOIA allows public bodies to hold closed meetings to discuss the acquisition of real property if holding the discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body. Absent such jeopardy to the public body’s bargaining position or negotiating strategy, these discussions must be open.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-07
Meetings must be noticed for the time when they actually begin. A public body must approve by vote in an open meeting a motion to convene a closed meeting, and must certify the closed meeting after reconvening in open session. The motion and certification must be included in the meeting minutes, along with records of…
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White Dog Publishing v. Culpeper Board of Supervisors
In considering certain newspaper publishers’ application for a writ of mandamus, the circuit court erred in finding that a county board of supervisors did not violate the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by going into a closed session at a particular meeting and erred in failing to award reasonable costs and attorney’s fees under…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-05
School board’s motion to go into closed session complied with FOIA’s three-part test for such motions. County’s vague reference to affirm a recommendation on a personnel matter identified by number rather than by name or position did not comport with FOIA’s requirement that votes taken after reconvening after a closed meeting must describe the substance…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-24-04
A motion to go into closed meetings to discuss ‘issues relating to a specifically named individual’ is too vague to identify either the subject matter under discussion or the purpose of the discussion. Though a meeting might have been closed without the proper procedure, votes taken after the meeting, provided they were recorded in public,…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-08-02
City manager may poll council members for advvice on how to spend money in the manager’s discretionary fund. Motions to go into closed session must state the general exemption, the purpose and the subject matter of the meeting. No public discussion or vote is needed where a further action is not predicated on council action.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-45-01
A motion to go into closed session that meets the procedural requirements of FOIA must still concern a topic that is actually a proper subject for a closed meeting. Discussion of financial incentives a locality is considering offering to lure a new business to the area is a proper subject for a closed meeting.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-38-01
It is not a violation of FOIA for public body members to reach a consensus in closed session, but nothing is official until a vote in open session has been taken; a motion to close a meeting listing only the purpose and the statutory citation is inadequate because it does not also identify the purpose…
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Mannix v. Board of Supervisors
[The case was first heard in General District Court; order below.] May 3, 2001 Mr. Patrick J. Mannix, Sr. xxxxxx Bristol, VA 24201 Mr. J.D. Bowie Attorney at Law xxxxxx Bristol, VA 24203 Re: Patrick J. Mannix, Sr. v. Washington County Board of Supervisors Circuit Court of Washington County File No. 01-93 Gentlemen: This matter…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-14-01
When making a motion to go into closed session, the level of specificity required to identify the subject matter when addressing litigation greatly depends upon how its disclosure would affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body, and thus a general description may suffice.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-19-00
Parental request of school board for religious exemption (as a personal matter unrelated to the transaction of public business) is proper subject for a closed meeting if the topic has been identified with specificity in the motion to go into closed session.
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Hale v. Washington County School Board
Relief for a plaintiff under FOIA does not include compelling a government body to turn over minutes, even if there are any, of an executive/closed meeting.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1983-84 #445
Executive meetings should not be continued from one date to a subsequent date when the business before the body cannot be completed on the scheduled date.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1982-83 #717
Discussion about the desirability of creating a deferred payment plan for hooking up to the city sewer line is not proper subject for closed meeting under the legal matters exemption.Reading a prepared statement to close a meeting does not meet the FOIA requirement that a motion to go into a closed meeting must be adopted.