A Richmond Circuit judge
ordered the city's mayor to release a portion of the $1.4 billion Coliseum redevelopment plan and other records to Paul Goldman. The judge rejected the city's argument that release of the plan would hurt the city's bargaining position. The judge also said the city did not provide any evidence to justify withholding records from Goldman that it had previously released to the
Richmond Times-Dispatch. The city charged Goldman $1,749 more than it charged the paper for the same records, saying more extensive review was needed because some records were released to the paper in error.
A Charlottesville Circuit Judge gave the Virginia State Police
30 days to release a redacted copy of the operational plan it had in place for the Aug. 12, 2017, Unite the Right rally. The judge threw the police a bit of a bone, though, when he said he'd allow the agency to delete portions of the plan that could be redacted, ather than blacking out the portions. The judge agreed with the police that revealing just how much was being redacted could create a safety risk.
Prince George citizens were left flat-footed when, during a specially called meeting, just a week after announcing the retirement of the school division's superintendent, the board named a successor without any advance notice, discussion or input. Focusing on the qualifications of the successor, the school board chair said the process they used
"saves money and time" and was "win-win for everybody."
Hundreds of emails obtained via FOIA by the
Washington Business Journal confirmed what many already suspected: Arlington County worked closely with Amazon during the rollout of the HQ2 deal
to coordinate what information would be released to the public and how.
Using FOIA, the Richmond Transparency and Accountability Project
obtained data on 27,432 field interview reports over a 21-month period. The data showed blacks are far more likely to be stopped and questioned than whites are. The city's interim police chief attributed the disparity to inconsistent record-taking more than inconsistent policing.
The Commissioner of the Department of Social Services
cited the attorney-client privilege to withhold disclosure of a $44,487 investigative report prompted by allegations of bullying at the agency's headquarters. The commissioner would not verify whether he adopted any or all of the investigation's findings, conclusions or recommendations.
The Front Royal town attorney said the town is
likely to file litigation against the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority because the town’s FOIA request seeking the findings of a forensic audit into the EDA’s finances was denied. The EDA's attorney cited exemptions for criminal investigative files, attorney work product and attorney-client privilege.
After obtaining the Charlottesville police chief's appointment calendar via FOIA, a
Daily Progress reporter determined that there were several openings for the chief to meet with the Police Civilian Review Board, even though the chief's assistant insisted that the chief was unavailable. The city said a separate request for the chief's emails would cost $3,000 but
refused to explain what charges made up that estimate. (
VCOG wrote a letter to the city attorney asking that charges be broken down upon request so that citizen can determine whether the charge appears reasonable and reflective of the actual cost to the government.)
Several clerks of court have been at odds with the Office of Executive Secretary (the court system's administrative arm)
over how to handle electronic case records in civil lawsuits. The OES wants a statewide system, while the clerks want to be able to shop for their own system tailored to their particular needs.
Augusta County citizens concerned about an economic development deal to sell Seawright Spring to Flow Alkaline Spring Water received emails in response to a FOIA request that showed several instances where
keeping information from the media and the public was discussed by state officials.
A public forum on school issues set up in Bristol by Virginia Organizing wasn't what the group hoped it would be when the nine city council members and school board members in attendance
remained silent throughout. Though FOIA allows members of a public body to attend a public forum without triggering FOIA, the city manager advised the public officials that they would be breaking the law if they spoke.
The 22-year-old daughter of the Richmond chief administrative officer was hired by the Department of Public Utilities
at a rate of pay higher than all but three city employees with the same title, and all of whom have worked for the city longer. She is also being paid 46% more than her predecessor. The city's nepotism policy does not apply unless someone is in the direct line of supervision for a family member.
The
Martinsville Bulletin confirmed through records obtained by FOIA that the Henry County sheriff
intentionally hid the reason behind his called press conference to gin up more media coverage of what was, ultimately, his announcement that he was seeking reelection.
A judge in Rappahannock County
set a trial date of Feb. 20, 2020, for the case known as Bragg 1, where a citizen alleges the county board of supervisors held an improperly called closed meeting. The case was originally filed in 2016 and went up to the Virginia Supreme Court on a procedural issue. The 2020 trial will be on the merits of the citizen's claim.
The Hampton Roads Regional Jail superintendent said
it was his fault that the public was not given proper notice under FOIA of the jail board's May meeting. He would not discuss details of the meeting, though, because issues were discussed in closed session. Officials who attended the meeting from Portsmouth and Norfolk disagreed, however, over exactly what staffing changes had been recommended. (
VCOG wrote a letter to the jail asking that notice of upcoming meetings be put on their website, hrrj.org, as required by FOIA. The notice was added soon thereafter.)
After an hour-long closed meeting, Front Royal's vice mayor said the town council had approached six people to fill the mayor's seat, made vacant when the previous mayor resigned after being charged with soliciting prostitution. The vice mayor
refused to say who the people were other than that none were sitting council members.
The Department of Corrections
refused to release any records related to an inmate's escape from a worksite. The inmate was on the run for two days before being taken back into custody. The DOC said it had only two pages of related records and that they could be withheld as exempt records of inmate incarceration conditions.
Virginia Beach school officials
vowed to be more transparent about who they would appoint to fill a board vacancy after a closed process led to the appointment of a retired firefighter who later withdrew from consideration when his social media posts that could be characterized as sexist and racist surfaced.
