The chair of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors insisted that it is perfectly fine for him to meet with two other supervisors and the county administrator over dinner at Rack ’em Smack ’em Ribs in Verona immediately after board members. Only meetings discussing public business are prohibited, he said, and the four men were only talking about “the price of cattle and wherever and whatever.” He said after the official meetings, they don’t want to talk about public business anymore, and they meet in a public restaurant, not a backroom. As VCOG’s Megan Rhyne noted, “Even if they really are talking only about baseball or movies or the weather, the public is going to be suspicious and skeptical.”
The Department of Criminal Justice Services agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Invisible Institute over access to police rosters, certification and other professional information. DCJS said it did not have to release officer names because the officers might be called on to perform undercover work in the future. A Court of Appeals ruling (which the Supreme Court declined to second-guess) said last year that the exemptions for undercover work do not apply.
The developer behind a Stafford County sports center sent a letter to a supervisor who spoke out against the project, telling her to “cease and desist” further comments about the developer or the developer’s business: “We request that you immediately refrain from any further actions that could negatively impact our business, including but not limited to public statements, communications, or any activities that misrepresent The Colosseum Sports Resort LLC.”
Following the Virginia Court of Appeals’ ruling that Prince William County gave improper public notice of a hearing to approve the PW Digital Gateway data center project, the board of supervisors formally withdrew from an appeal of the ruling, after spending $1.72 million to defend the case. At least one of the developers has indicated it will pursue an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.
A Loudoun County circuit court judge ruled that the county school division had to pay $659,000 to its former superintendent for the attorney fees he racked up defending a criminal indictment that was eventually dismissed by the attorney general’s office. The superintendent said the division’s chief financial officer signed the contract for representation, while the school board said the contract could not have been authorized without a public board vote.
As part of a FOIA lawsuit that’s been ongoing since 2022, attorneys for a Chesterfield mother say the county destroyed records related to the case. The county has neither confirmed nor denied whether it automatically deleted the files pursuant to county policy. A judge is expected to rule on the motion to sanction the county once the trial begins.
Emails obtained by The Smithfield Times through FOIA showed school board members debating whether to fire the district’s superintendent for not preventing a student-led walkout at the high school to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities. Soon after the walkout, which is allowed within certain parameters under state law, the superintendent resigned.
The Fredericksburg City School Board adopted an amendment to its public comment period that states, “Comments that amount to a personal attack against any school board member and cause unnecessary delay or disruption to a meeting are not allowed.”
Hopewell’s mayor clashed with citizens during public meetings in April. At a mid-month meeting, a former council member called out from the audience that the mayor didn’t have the individual authority to question the chief financial officer about past mismanagement. When the mayor directed deputies to remove her, another citizen shouted out, “Why don’t you just remove all of us?” Then, at a meeting towards the end of the month, the mayor had a frequent critic removed for what he considered personal attacks, and then chastised the rest of the audience that they were only getting one warning to be quiet during the council’s discussions at the dais. That prompted a citizen to stand up to say, “You don’t have to throw me out. I’ll leave now.”
An analysis by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO of 200,000 Flock Safety search logs from 150 Virginia law enforcement agencies showed officers across the state using broad or vague justifications for accessing and searching the system. The governing statute says officers must tell the Virginia State Police “the specific purposes of the queries … and the offense types for any criminal investigation.” With no standardization, officers sometimes use abbreviations or one-word descriptions such as “shooting,” “shoplifting,” or “investigation.” Some used numbers: Norfolk used the term “123” 1,276 times, while Henrico made 1,014 inquiries with the term “M3966.”
Emails obtained by Williamsburg Watch through FOIA show that the former city manager continued to be paid through the first week of April even though he resigned in February. The city provided direct deposit statements that, according to the newsletter, did not match provisions in the manager’s employment contract. The city insisted it was “precluded” from talking about it.
The Surry County Electoral Board agreed to set meetings on a standardized schedule after the two Democratic members met while the Republican member was out of town at a conference for electoral board members.
The Halifax Board of Supervisors voted to amend its contract with a company conducting a forensic audit of the county after documents that would be relevant to the audit were found after an initial draft was prepared. After one supervisor criticized the company for not coming to Halifax in person, another supervisor pointed out, “If anybody’s to blame, it’s the county for not having those documents.” Another asked, “Why were those documents not located?”
A member of the Blackstone Town Council lost his FOIA suit against the town and the organization tasked with promoting the town’s historic business district. The judge ruled that the two entities had complied with the councilman’s request, even though they did not give him a copy of the budget he was seeking, because he asked for emails and texts “about” the budget, not the budget itself.
A member of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors lost his FOIA suit against his fellow council members over what he says was an unlawful closed session held before censuring him on April 28, 2025.
The Martinsville City Council voted to release, well, not quite the investigative report into spending by the city’s former manager, but a report about the report. Two weeks later, they voted to release a redacted version of the report, which showed several purchases that did not follow city policies or that were not fully supported by documentation.
A judge in Martinsville ruled that the mayor should be reinstated while he awaits his removal trial initiated by a citizen petition. A week later, the third person appointed as special prosecutor in the case petitioned to withdraw from the case over an unspecified conflict.
According to records obtained by reporters at WHRO, the former director of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority issued at least $4.3 million in no-bid contracts during Simms’ two-year stint leading the authority. Some went to former colleagues or associates of his or his top deputies. The contracts were not presented to the NRHA board of commissioners, as required by the authority’s policies.
A member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors sparred with the county attorney over which communications between the attorney and the board are covered by the attorney-client exemption in FOIA. The supervisor insisted there is a difference between the attorney’s advice and the board’s discussions in closed meetings. Another member agreed that supervisors can publicly share whatever is discussed in closed session, but “What you do end up losing is that amount of trust and that’s what we don’t want to have.”
