Beck v. Shelton, 267 Va. 482

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia addressed whether Virginia's Freedom of Information Act applies to members-elect, whether certain e-mail exchanges among public officials constitute meetings, and whether a citizen-organized gathering attended by three city council members was a meeting. The court held that members-elect are not members under the Act, the e-mail exchanges at issue were not meetings because they lacked simultaneity, and the Charlotte Street gathering was not a meeting. The judgment was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and final judgment was entered for the defendants.

Holdings

1. Members-elect are not members under Code § 2.2-3701, and FOIA's open-meeting provisions do not apply when the required participant threshold is reached only by including members-elect.
2. Under the facts presented, e-mail exchanges functioning as non-simultaneous written correspondence did not constitute meetings under FOIA.
3. The Charlotte Street gathering was not a meeting under FOIA because it was a citizen-organized informational forum, not a gathering called or attended for the purpose of discussing or transacting public business.

Questions Presented

1. Whether members-elect are members of a public body for purposes of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act's open-meeting provisions.
2. Whether the exchange of non-simultaneous e-mails among three or more members of a public body constitutes a meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
3. Whether the Charlotte Street citizen gathering attended by three city council members constituted a meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
4. Whether the trial court properly resolved the e-mail-based historic-preservation claim.

Disposition

other