VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ADVISORY COUNCIL
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

2025 Subcommittees

At its meeting on April 22, 2025, the Council established two subcommittees for the 2025 interim, one to study issues concerning access to public records and the other to study issues concerning access to public meetings, as described below. Considering the number of topics to be studied, the Council directed the Subcommittees (1) to study legislative enactments and bills referred before other business and (2) to meet every other month as needed in order to complete the volume of work.

Please note that in addition to these Subcommittees, HB 2452 (Hodges) requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in consultation with the FOIA Council and a representative from the Library of Virginia, to work with the public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and with technology experts to develop minimal uniform standards, to the extent practicable, for (i) providing the public with real-time access to the meetings of governing boards of public institutions of higher education and the meetings of committees of such boards, (ii) archiving the recordings of such meetings, and (iii) taking minutes at such meetings. Council member Maria J.K. Everett volunteered to represent the Council for this study.

1. Records Subcommittee

The Subcommittee consists of Council members Maria J.K. Everett, Corrine Louden, Lola Perkins, and Dwayne Yancey. The Subcommittee will study HB 1590 (Kent) referred by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly, summarized below:

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions; apprenticeship programs; minors. Excludes from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act any personal information in a public record regarding the participation of a minor in a program run by a state public body, such as an internship, externship, or apprenticeship, except as otherwise prescribed by law.

The Subcommittee will also consider the following additional issues:

Definition of "personal information." The Council observed that HB 1590 and several existing records exemptions use the phrase "personal information." Some of the exemptions cross-reference the definition of "personal information" in the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (in Code § 2.2-3801), while others do not have any cross-reference, which could lead to differing interpretations of the same phrase. Therefore, the Council directed the Subcommittee to study options for drafting a general definition of "personal information" to be added to FOIA (in Code § 2.2-3701).
Vexatious requests/harassment by requesters. Noting that the Council last studied this issue in 2010 (see 2010 Subcommittee work here) but did not make any final recommendation (see the Council's November 8, 2010 meeting summary available on the Council Meetings webpage), the Council directed the Subcommittee to study the issue again with the goal of finding a solution to the problem of requesters using FOIA as a weapon that does not also result in a chilling effect on legitimate requests.

Meetings Scheduled:

Monday, June 16, 2025, at 3:00 p.m., General Assembly Bldg, House Room B, Richmond

2. Meetings Subcommittee

The Subcommittee consists of Council members Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, Maria J.K. Everett, Chidi James, Lola Perkins, and Ken Reid. The Subcommittee will study SB 876 (Ebbin) referred by the 2025 Session of the General Assembly, summarized below:

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; notice of public meetings; proposed agenda required. Requires public bodies subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act to include a proposed agenda and any subsequent revisions to be posted on the public body's official public government website, if any, and made available to the public prior to the meeting. The bill provides that any items added to the agenda after the meeting commences may be considered and discussed at the meeting, but final action shall not be taken on such an item unless the matter is time-sensitive.

The Subcommittee will also consider the following additional issues:

Study referral from the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. The Joint Subcommittee, which performed a three-year study of the Commonwealth's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, recommended that the FOIA Council study remote voting and decision-making processes used by public bodies meeting by electronic means with the goal to establish consistent protocols to enhance transparency and public trust. See the letter submitted by Co-Chairs of the Joint Subcommittee ("Freedom of Information Advisory Council- JSPRP Letter") and the After Action Report Breakout (Freedom of Information Advisory Council Referral) here for details. The Council directed the Subcommittee to study the issue while noting that several years have passed since the pandemic ended and most public bodies have made progress in using electronic communications since then, so it may be more a matter of examining what has happened rather than trying to create future legislation.
Emergency Meeting Protocols. Representatives from Loudoun County related difficulties in responding to local emergencies due to limitations imposed by FOIA's meetings requirements. See the memorandum submitted by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors here for details.
Stakeholder meetings. Philip F. Abraham of the Vectre Corporation raised the issue of stakeholder group meetings at the state level where the groups did not include members of a state public body's governing board or any agency heads, but consisted solely of interested parties. He noted that different agencies treat these groups differently, with some treating them as public bodies that must adhere to FOIA's meetings rules and others saying these groups are not public bodies. He asked that the issue be studied with an eye toward addressing these meetings in the definitions section of FOIA.

Meetings Scheduled:

Monday, June 16, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., General Assembly Bldg, House Room B, Richmond