Courts
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In Re: Honorable Adrianne L. Bennett (SCOVA)
In Re: Honorable Adrianne L. Bennett The Virginia Supreme Court rules, 4-2, that the exhibits a judge filed in the Supreme Court along with a petition for mandamus should remain under seal, though the rest of the papers filed in the case, and the order sealing all the files should be unsealed. (The dissent reveals…
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Kessler v. Charlottesville (Cir. Ct.)
The Public Records Act “clearly has an administrative purpose — and seems, in fact, totally administrative and procedural — for the benefit of the good operation of the state government and its agencies and (unlike FOIA) not for the benefit of individual citizens themselves.” The court confirms that text messages are public records, however: “If the documents…
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CNS v. Schaefer (4th Circuit)
In ruling in favor of Courthouse News Service, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled June 24, 2021, that the clerks of the Norfolk and Prince William County circuit courts violated the press’ First Amendment rights by delaying access to newly filed civil complaints.
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Schilling v. JAUNT (general district court)
Albermarle General District Court Judge Matthew J. Quatrara ruled that the Jefferson Area United Transportation (JAUNT) service meets the definition of a public body and is thus subject to FOIA. Including money it gets from federal sourcces, JAUNT is “wholly or principally” supported by taxpayer funds. The judge said their was no statutory authority or court…
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Hawkins v. Town of South Hill (circuit court)
Mecklenburg County Circuit Court Judge J. William Watson Jr. reviewed seven sets of documents South Hill said were exempt from release as personnel records and concluded that some were and some weren’t. In the process, the judge reviewed past cases and FOIA’s legislative history to determine that “personnel information” should be defined as “all information…
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Webster v. Filler-Corn
District court judge imposes civil penalties on Speaker of the House for her inaccurate response to a FOIA request that a requested record did not exist.
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Gent v. Adams
Wise County general district court judge rules Town of Pound gave adequate notice of its meeting. Notice in the newspaper isn’t required, and notice on the website wasn’t required because a .com website isn’t an “official government website.” Judge says a .gov domain is required.
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Sawyers v. Prince William County School Board
Direct messages sent by school superintendent through Twitter’s direct message platform are “correspondence” that can be withheld under the “working papers and correspondence” exemption of FOIA, 2.2-3705.7(2).
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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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Townes v. State Board of Elections
The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled June 18, 2020, (among other issues) that a circuit court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the State Board of Elections to introduce multiple instances where two members of the Hopewell Electoral Board violated FOIA’s meeting provisions. The petition SBE filed alleged violations on “at least three occasions,” meaning that…
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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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Harki v. Department of Corrections (2020)
A Norfolk Circuit Court Judge ruled April 15, 2020, that the Virginia Department of Corrections willfully and knowingly failed to provide a Virginian-Pilot reporter with documents he requested within the 5-day response time mandated by FOIA, nor did the VDOC ask for a 7-day extension. After repeated back and forth conversations between the reporter and…
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Brown v. Tashman
Fairfax Circuit Court Judge David Oblon ruled April 21, 2020, that settlements under the infant settlement statute (§8.01-424(A)) cannot be sealed. The court left open the door for sealing when there is “credible, particularized evidence of the child’s medical condition necessary to justify a complete sealing of the settlement terms.”
Opinions -
Bragg v. BOS (Rappahannock County)
A Rappahannock County circuit judge ruled the board of supervisors there improperly closed a meeting to talk about an advertisement seeking a replacement for an outgoing county attorney as well as alternatives to the county attorney set-up. The topic was not “legal advice,” nor did it fall under the personnel exemption for “prospective candidates for employment.”
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Transparent GMU v. George Mason, Supreme Court opinion
GMU Foundation not subject to Virginia FOIA and not a university agent, therefore university not responsible for accessing foundation’s records, either.
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Minke v. Page County district court
Minke v. Page County Feb. 25, 2019 U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Harrisonburg Division Chief U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski
Opinions -
Bergano v. City of Virginia Beach
The Virginia Supreme Court unanimously ruled the City of Virginia Beach erred by redacting all entries on its bill from an outside law firm that was representing the city in an eminent domain case against a city dentist.
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VITA v. Turner
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…
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Transparent GMU v. GMU order: July 5, 2018
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.
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Bragg v. Board of Supervisors (SCOVA)
Virginia Supreme Court unanimously rules that citizen’s affidavit in support of an alleged closed meeting violation adequately demonstrated good cause for proceeding.
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Batterson v. Voorhees
Batterson v. Voorhees, Powhatan County Judge Paul W. Cella
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Hurst v. City of Norfolk (circuit court)
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: the city waived its objection to the plaintiff’s failure to file an affidavit of good cause by not bringing it up within 7…
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Transparent GMU v. George Mason University order
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.
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Virginia Education Association v Davison
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.
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Davison v. Dunnavant (circuit court)
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.