Virginia Coalition for Open Government

06/05/2026

VCOG All Access News, 6/5/26: Friday; can't say or won't say?; NDAs and the 1st Amendment

President Donald Trump’s proposal for federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements would flip government business from being presumed public information to punishing workers for talking about it, setting up a high-stakes battle over free speech and transparency. The policy, proposed last wee...

06/04/2026

VCOG All Access News, 6/4/26: no autopsies; trip expenses; "This should have happened last year"; no DMs

06/03/2026

VCOG All Access News, 6/3/26: second bite at removal?; tight-lipped on lawsuits & leave; Palantir contract; "internal" summary?

06/02/2026

VCOG All Access News, 6/2/26: speed camera $$; does your dog bite?; did not respond?

06/01/2026

Our monthly newsletter is out. Catch up on FOIA Council opinions, our commentary, recaps of the most noteworthy access stories of the past month, and a couple of exciting announcements about VCOG.

The FOIA Council issued three notable opinions this month, addressing scholastic records, whether counties can file FOIA requests, and whether certain statutes and regulations qualify as public records. The council also began reviewing four bills referred by the General Assembly, including proposals...

06/01/2026

There's no daily newsletter today (Monday), but keep an eye out for our monthly newsletter later this afternoon. In addition to our regular news and commentary features, we have a couple of exciting announcements!

05/29/2026

VCOG All Access News, 5/29/26: what the total number of exemptions tells us; suspended under new law; sentencing

05/28/2026

VCOG All Access News, 5/28/26: sheriff's info; waiting on the audit; shutting down debate; federal worker NDAs

05/27/2026

Every now and then an agency discloses unredacted information by mistake.

Pick your descriptive metaphor: The genie is out of the bottle. The horse is out of barn. The chickens flew the coop.

All of those metaphors imply, correctly, that retrieving the information and putting it back in the shadows is pretty darn hard.

We’re not raising this matter as a hypothetical scenario. It happened recently to TJ Martinell, a reporter at The Center Square.

In response to Martinell’s records request, the Washington Office of the Secretary of State released unredacted emails. Among the disclosed records were messages that could have been redacted as attorney-client communications.

Whoops.

The agency asked The Center Square to delete the records. But the media outlet, which got the records fair and square, said no.

Instead, The Center Square pushed back on the redaction of other released records, which resulted in the agency disclosing a previously redacted email.

Martinell asked WashCOG for its observations.

Coalition Secretary George Erb said “clawing back” disclosed information is more than an “Oops!” moment.

“The burden is on the government to disclose everything the law allows and get it right the first time,” he said.

Read Martinell’s story in The Center Square at: https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_61480f7a-8ac3-4ef5-b116-3dde782c3d20.html

Below, a Microsoft Copilot illustration, with a nod to Norman Rockwell.

05/27/2026

VCOG All Access News, 5/27/26: the cost of litigation; code names to protect business, not public; no more investigating