Virginia’s parole board votes will be subject to Freedom of Information Act ( (FOIA) requests when State Senator David Suetterlein’s (R-Roanoke) SB 5 and Delegate Wren Williams’ (R-Patrick) HB 1303 take effect this summer.
“What it seeks to do is make parole board votes public. When someone in Virginia is charged with a crime, they know who accused them of committing that crime. When they’re arrested, they know who arrested them. When it goes to trial, they know who prosecutes them, and they know the judge that oversees that. If it stays on appeal and they’re unsuccessful, they know who was on the appellate court. Only when that person may be up for parole and that vote is not made public, that’s the first step in the entire process that lacks that sunshine,” Suetterlein told the Senate on February 14.
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