Last year, thanks in large part to some stirring testimony from two VCOG members, a bill that would have allowed government to sue a citizen that the government felt was harassing it with FOIA requests was sent to the FOIA Council for further study.

The discussions in those FOIA Council study committees was thorough and often impassioned. Ultimately, there was no agreement and the full FOIA Council declined to recommend any measures to the 2011 General Assembly.

Nonetheless, harassment-by-FOIA is back. This time, Del. Lynwood Lewis from Accomac has introduced HB 2383. The bill would amend section 2.2-3704(C) to add this provision:

Any public body may petition the appropriate court as provided in § 2.2-3713 for a summary determination whether a requester, in making a request for records, is intending to harass or otherwise abuse the rights or privileges granted under this chapter or whether such request is overly burdensome on the public body.

What do you think of this measure? And would you be interested in testifying on the bill? Add your comments below, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it