SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2016 SESSION

  • print version
Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology
Subcommittee #2

Stuart (Chairman), Petersen, Vogel, Reeves, Wexton, Suetterlein, Ebbin

Clerk: Maryann Horch
Staff: Amigo Wade
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2016
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after session, 3rd Floor East, GAB

S.B. 202 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of salaries of public employees.

Patron: Stuart

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of salaries of public employees. Provides that public access to records of the official salaries or rates of pay of public employees whose annual rate of pay is the annual equivalent of twice the federal minimum wage or less is not required under FOIA. Currently, public access to salary information is required for public employees whose annual rate of pay is more than $10,000. The bill also provides that publicly available databases of public employees' salaries shall not include the name of any public officer, appointee, or employee. The bill contains a technical amendment.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3705.1 and 2.2-3705.8 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; disclosure of salaries of public employees.

16100443D

S.B. 236 Government Data Collection & Dissemination Practices Act; collection & use of personal information.

Patron: Petersen

Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; collection and use of personal information by law-enforcement agencies. Provides that, unless a criminal or administrative warrant has been issued, law-enforcement and regulatory agencies shall not use surveillance technology to collect or maintain personal information where such data is of unknown relevance and is not intended for prompt evaluation and potential use regarding suspected criminal activity or terrorism by any individual or organization. The bill authorizes law-enforcement agencies to collect information from license plate readers, provided that such information is held for no more than seven days and is not subject to any outside inquiries or internal usage, except in the investigation of a crime or a missing persons report. After seven days, such collected information must be purged from the system unless it is being utilized in an ongoing investigation. The bill also adds to the definition of "personal information," for the purposes of government data collection and dissemination practices, vehicle license plate numbers and information that affords a basis for inferring an individual's presence at any place.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3800 and 2.2-3801 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 2.2-3808.3, relating to the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act; collection and use of personal information by law-enforcement agencies.

16102870D

S.B. 492 FOIA; limitation on exemption for certain criminal investigative files.

Patron: Surovell

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); limitation on exemption for certain criminal investigative files. Limits the application of the criminal investigative file exemption by providing that nothing in FOIA shall be construed to authorize the withholding of information from the records of completed unattended death investigations from immediate family members of the victim, provided that (i) such information is in a form that does not reveal the identity of persons supplying information or other individuals involved in the investigation and (ii) the immediate family members of the victim have been ruled as suspects.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3706 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; limitation on exemption for certain criminal investigative files.

16100121D

S.B. 493 FOIA; closed meeting not authorized for discussion of pay increases.

Patron: Surovell

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); closed meeting not authorized for discussion of pay increases for local governing bodies and elected school boards. Clarifies that nothing in the personnel exemption in the open meetings law of FOIA shall be construed to authorize a closed meeting by a local governing body or an elected school board to discuss across-the-board pay increases for such bodies.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; closed meeting not authorized for discussion of pay increases for local governing bodies and elected school boards.

16100123D

S.B. 552 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; mandatory disclosure of public employee.

Patron: Cosgrove

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; mandatory disclosure of public employee position and salary information; exceptions. Provides that the provisions of FOIA do not require public access to records of the names, positions, job classifications, or other personal identifying information concerning (i) employees of state or local police departments or sheriff's offices who are responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of the Commonwealth; (ii) special agents of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control; (iii) officers of the Virginia Marine Police; (iv) conservation police officers who are full-time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; (v) investigators who are full-time sworn members of the security division of the Virginia Lottery; (vi) conservation officers of the Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioned pursuant to § 10.1-115; (vii) full-time sworn members of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles appointed pursuant to § 46.2-217; or (viii) animal protection police officers employed under § 15.2-632.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3705.8 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; mandatory disclosure of public employee position and salary information; exceptions.

16101174D

S.B. 564 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exclusions for school personnel licensure applications.

Patron: Norment

Freedom of Information Act; exclusions for school personnel licensure applications. Excludes records of an application for licensure or renewal of a license for teachers and other school personnel, including transcripts or other documents submitted in support of an application, from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3705.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Freedom of Information Act; exclusions for school personnel licensure applications.

16102728D

S.B. 645 FOIA; exempt records concerning critical infrastructure.

Patron: McPike

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); exempt records concerning critical infrastructure, government infrastructure, or security information. Defines the terms "critical infrastructure," "government infrastructure," "interdependency," and "security information" for purposes of FOIA and revises the related FOIA public safety record exemption to incorporate those terms. The bill also sets out conditions precedent in cases where a custodian of any public safety records elects to exercise his discretion to release such records. The bill contains technical amendments.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3701, 2.2-3704, and 2.2-3705.2 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 2.2-3705.2:1, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; exempt records concerning critical infrastructure, government infrastructure, or security information.

16103916D

S.B. 678 Virginia Freedom of Information Act; time period for responding to requests for records.

Patron: Garrett

Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); time period for responding to requests for records. Allows any county, city, or town with a population of less than 10,000 to have an additional 30 working days to respond to a FOIA request in cases where it is practically impossible to provide the requested records or to determine whether they are available within the initial five-work-day period. Currently, in such cases, a public body has seven additional working days to respond. The bill contains a technical amendment.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; time period for responding to requests for records.

16103284D

S.B. 706 FOIA; record exclusion for trade secrets submitted to Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

Patron: Chafin

Virginia Freedom of Information Act; record exclusion for trade secrets submitted to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. Excludes from the mandatory disclosure provisions of FOIA trade secrets, as defined in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (§ 59.1-336 et seq.), submitted to the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy as part of the required permit or permit modification to commence ground-disturbing activities. The bill provides that in order for such trade secrets to be excluded, the submitting party shall (i) invoke this exclusion upon submission of the data or materials for which protection from disclosure is sought, (ii) identify the data or materials for which protection is sought, and (iii) state the reasons why protection is necessary.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3705.6 and 45.1-361.29 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; record exclusion for trade secrets submitted to the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy.

16104345D