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Bill > HB160
VA HB160
VA HB160FOIA; officers, employees, or members of a public body, alleged willful and knowing violations.
summary
Introduced
01/06/2026
01/06/2026
In Committee
01/06/2026
01/06/2026
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
Introduced Session
2027 Regular Regular Session
Bill Summary
Virginia Freedom of Information Act; officers, employees, or members of a public body; alleged willful and knowing violations; mitigating factors to be considered. Specifies that civil penalties may only be imposed on officers, employees, or members of a public body in actions brought against them in their individual capacity for certain violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill further requires a court, when determining whether an officer, an employee, or a member of a public body has committed certain violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act willfully and knowingly, to consider certain mitigating factors, including good faith reliance on (i) opinions of the Attorney General; (ii) court cases substantially supporting such officer's, employee's, or member's actions; (iii) advisory opinions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council; and (iv) advice of counsel for the public body, as evidence that such officer, employee, or member did not willfully and knowingly commit such violation. Current law provides any officer, employee, or member of a public body the right to introduce at any proceeding regarding such willful and knowing violation a copy of a relevant advisory opinion issued by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
AI Summary
This bill clarifies and updates rules under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, which is a state law guaranteeing public access to government records and meetings, by specifying that financial civil penalties can only be imposed on government officers, employees, or members when lawsuits are brought against them personally rather than in their official capacities. Additionally, the legislation requires courts to actively consider specific mitigating factors—such as whether the official acted in good faith by relying on official opinions from the Attorney General, relevant court rulings, advisory opinions from the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, or legal advice from the public body's own attorney—as evidence that the official did not intentionally or knowingly violate the law, thereby replacing older provisions that merely allowed officials to introduce advisory council opinions as evidence.
Committee Categories
Government Affairs, Justice
Sponsors (1)
Last Action
Continued from last session (on 07/21/2026)
Bill Topics
Government Operations
- ‐ Government Transparency and Open Records
Official Document
bill text
bill summary
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bill summary
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bill summary
| Document Type | Source Location | Created |
|---|---|---|
| State Bill Page | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/HB160 | 10/19/2026 |
| BillText | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/HB160/text/HB160 | 10/19/2026 |
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