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In a case brought against the City of Norfolk alleging violations of FOIA's response times and fee estimates, a Norfolk Circuit Court gives deference to prior FOIA Council opinions and finds:
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the city waived its objection to the plaintiff's failure to file an affidavit of good cause by not bringing it up within 7 days of the plaintiff filing his petition;
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FOIA's 5-day response time is not put on hold while the city asks the requester for clarification of what he's asking fort;
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the plaintiff's FOIA request met the reasonable specificity requirement for all requests;
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the 5-day response time clock begins the day after a FOIA request is received;
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if a requester hasn't forwarded a deposit, a public body isn't obligated to forward responsive records;
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a public body cannot cure its failure to respond within the 5-day response time by arguing its eventual response was within the 12 working days it would have gotten if it had asked for 7 working days within the 5 original working days;
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declaratory relief is not an available remedy under FOIA; and
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response-time failures are minor technical violations that "do not rise to a level warranting an award of costs."
Hurst v. City of Norfolk on VCOG's website
The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to hear a case out of Rappahannock County, Bragg v. BOS of Rappahannock County. In addition to issues surrounding proper motions to go into closed session, the case will take up what makes an adequate affidavit of good cause that a FOIA plaintiff must file in circuit court. In this case, the affidavit included an acknowledgement by a BOS member that matters not covered by an exemption were discussed in closed session, but the trial court said the acknowledgement didn't amount to "good cause." Read all of the points of error that will be considered.
Supreme Court of Virginia
Del.-elect Chris Hurst filed his first bill Tuesday, proposing to exempt student cellphone numbers and personal email addresses from publicly available college campus directories. Hurst’s bill, which adds a single sentence to state code, exempts the student email addresses and phone numbers from public disclosure. The genesis of House Bill 147 stems from this past election cycle, in which progressive political group NextGen Virginia used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain student directories from some of Virginia’s public colleges and universities. The group intended to use the information to text students about their voter registration status.
The Roanoke Times
As more residents rely on their smartphones to navigate everyday life, the city of Lynchburg recently has launched three new apps to engage citizens with their community and make life in the Hill City more tech savvy. All three apps are put out by different city departments — the city’s Communications and Marketing Department, the Lynchburg Fire Department and Parking Management — and connect residents with a wide range of city services.
The News & Advance
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Track HB147 and other FOIA and access bills on VCOG's 