A Circuit Court judge was asked Monday to reconsider his decision allowing the Rappahannock County Public Library Board of Trustees to withhold draft lease documents and hold closed-door meetings on the potential relocation of the library. Attorney David Konick — representing several Rappahannock residents in a Freedom of Information Act suit against the board — filed the request alleging the judge’s ruling was too narrow. Konick argued that the opinion did not address other points raised in the lawsuit, like whether the board’s announcement of what it will discuss in closed sessions is specific enough, whether some documents could have been released in redacted form and if the board’s negotiating committee broke the law by keeping no minutes of its meetings.

Shenandoah County Public Schools has exhausted all $192,500 available through its insurance coverage for defending the lawsuit over two Confederate school names, and its insurer will not pay any of the School Board’s costs to appeal the ruling. A Dec. 5, 2025, letter from VAcorp to Shenandoah County Public Schools obtained by The Northern Virginia Daily, describes the coverage as “defense-only.” Under the policy language quoted in the letter, claims for attorneys’ fees, costs or expenses are not considered claims for money damages. The letter states that any judgment against SCPS “shall be the sole responsibility” of the school division or individually named defendants. That leaves any judgment awarding the plaintiffs attorneys’ fees or costs outside the VAcorp coverage. … Board member L.M. “Mike” Scheibe II said Thursday that the board expects private donations and community fundraising coordinated by the Coalition for Better Schools and other private groups to cover “a significant portion, if not all” of the appellate legal costs.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia has previously said it doesn’t conduct all state-mandated autopsies since a 2024 law began requiring the procedure. Statements from the office, a part of the commonwealth’s health department, have referred to the legislation as an unfunded mandate and indicated a need of about $287,000 to fulfill the requirement. Following Radio IQ reporting on inconsistencies in carceral deaths data among state agencies, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Gormley wrote in an email obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that his department is now changing how it shares the information. A range of modifications to OCME data collection and analysis are laid out in a draft copy of a new agreement covering the medical examiner, VADOC, the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Board of Local and Regional Jails. The 17-page draft memorandum of understanding, obtained through a records request, expands the 2020 agreement — which only included the medical examiner’s officer and DCJS. Now, instead of one department simply sending information to DCJS, the agreement directs each office to create a “secure exchange, verification, and reconciliation of deaths-in-custody data.” It also includes a directive to notify DCJS of “discrepancies, corrections, or updates affecting previously submitted records.”