Courts

A report prepared by the VDOT Assurance and Compliance Office looking into allegations of an improper hiring decision should not have been redacted under the personnel exemption, but it could be withheld under an exemption for internal investigations, 2.2-3705.3(7).

Circuit Court judge Reilly Marchant rules a report prepared by a law firm for the school board was not protected by attorney-client privilege in its entirety. Specific parts that actually reflect legal advice may be redacted, but otherwise, the report is a fact-finding endeavor, not legal advice, even if legal consequences could follow from the report's release.

Hanover Circuit Court says the names of most officers in the Hanover Sheriff's office can be kept off of a spreadsheet of department salaries because some of those officers might one day work undercover.

Mecklenburg Circuit Court judge orders release of redacted records previously withheld under the personnel records exemption.

Gloucester County General District Court: Meeting to discuss disciplining a fellow board meet was improper based on the notice given; recording made in the meeting must be released.

Community forum meeting that 5 members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors attended and discussed police response to the George Floyd protests should have been open to the public under FOIA because it discussed "public business." The majority and dissenting opinions discuss the contours of "public business."

The Virginia Supreme Court rules that the public must be able to physically attend a meeting. It also confirms that an injunction can be issued under FOIA without a finding of willful or knowing conduct, and without going through the usual steps for granting injunctive relief in other contexts.

The Supreme Court of Virginia voids a revamped zoning ordinance vote that was taken in the first year of the pandemic because the board voted on it in an electronic meeting, but neither FOIA, the county's continuity of government ordinance nor an amendment made to the 2020 budget allowed for votes on matters that are not somehow time-sensitive.

Supreme Court of Virginia interprets the personnel exemption and imposes guardrails on governments from applying it broadly.

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled there is a presumptive right of access by the public to bond hearings. A Newport News circuit court judge erred by closing a bond hearing for a police officer accused of second-degree murder.