                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

(EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026) CLOSED MEETINGS AUTHORIZED FOR CERTAIN LIMITED PURPOSES
(§ 2.2-3711)

A. Public bodies may hold closed meetings only for the following purposes:

   1. Discussion, consideration, or interviews of prospective candidates for
   employment; assignment, appointment, promotion, performance, demotion,
   salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers,
   appointees, or employees of any public body; and evaluation of performance of
   departments or schools of public institutions of higher education where such
   evaluation will necessarily involve discussion of the performance of specific
   individuals. Any teacher shall be permitted to be present during a closed
   meeting in which there is a discussion or consideration of a disciplinary
   matter that involves the teacher and some student and the student involved in
   the matter is present, provided that the teacher makes a written request to be
   present to the presiding officer of the appropriate board. Nothing in this
   subdivision, however, shall be construed to authorize a closed meeting by a
   local governing body or an elected school board to discuss compensation
   matters that affect the membership of such body or board collectively.

   2. Discussion or consideration of admission or disciplinary matters or any
   other matters that would involve the disclosure of information contained in a
   scholastic record concerning any student of any public institution of higher
   education in the Commonwealth or any state school system. However, any such
   student, legal counsel and, if the student is a minor, the student&#8217;s
   parents or legal guardians shall be permitted to be present during the taking
   of testimony or presentation of evidence at a closed meeting, if such student,
   parents, or guardians so request in writing and such request is submitted to
   the presiding officer of the appropriate board.

   3. Discussion or consideration of the acquisition of real property for a
   public purpose, or of the disposition of publicly held real property, where
   discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position
   or negotiating strategy of the public body.

   4. The protection of the privacy of individuals in personal matters not
   related to public business.

   5. Discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion
   of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been
   made of the business&#8217; or industry&#8217;s interest in locating or
   expanding its facilities in the community.

   6. Discussion or consideration of the investment of public funds where
   competition or bargaining is involved, where, if made public initially, the
   financial interest of the governmental unit would be adversely affected.

   7. Consultation with legal counsel and briefings by staff members or
   consultants pertaining to actual or probable litigation, where such
   consultation or briefing in open meeting would adversely affect the
   negotiating or litigating posture of the public body. For the purposes of this
   subdivision, &#8220;probable litigation&#8221; means litigation that has been
   specifically threatened or on which the public body or its legal counsel has a
   reasonable basis to believe will be commenced by or against a known party.
   Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the closure of a
   meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body is in
   attendance or is consulted on a matter.

   8. Consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by a public body
   regarding specific legal matters requiring the provision of legal advice by
   such counsel. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to permit the
   closure of a meeting merely because an attorney representing the public body
   is in attendance or is consulted on a matter.

   9. Discussion or consideration by governing boards of public institutions of
   higher education of matters relating to gifts, bequests and fund-raising
   activities, and of grants and contracts for services or work to be performed
   by such institution. However, the terms and conditions of any such gifts,
   bequests, grants, and contracts made by a foreign government, a foreign legal
   entity, or a foreign person and accepted by a public institution of higher
   education in the Commonwealth shall be subject to public disclosure upon
   written request to the appropriate board of visitors. For the purpose of this
   subdivision, (i) &#8220;foreign government&#8221; means any government other
   than the United States government or the government of a state or a political
   subdivision thereof, (ii) &#8220;foreign legal entity&#8221; means any legal
   entity (a) created under the laws of the United States or of any state thereof
   if a majority of the ownership of the stock of such legal entity is owned by
   foreign governments or foreign persons or if a majority of the membership of
   any such entity is composed of foreign persons or foreign legal entities or
   (b) created under the laws of a foreign government, and (iii) &#8220;foreign
   person&#8221; means any individual who is not a citizen or national of the
   United States or a trust territory or protectorate thereof.

   10. Discussion or consideration by the boards of trustees of the Virginia
   Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the
   Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, the Fort Monroe Authority, and The Science
   Museum of Virginia of matters relating to specific gifts, bequests, and grants
   from private sources.

   11. Discussion or consideration of honorary degrees or special awards.

   12. Discussion or consideration of tests, examinations, or other information
   used, administered, or prepared by a public body and subject to the exclusion
   in subdivision 4 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.1.

   13. Discussion, consideration, or review by the appropriate House or Senate
   committees of possible disciplinary action against a member arising out of the
   possible inadequacy of the disclosure statement filed by the member, provided
   that the member may request in writing that the committee meeting not be
   conducted in a closed meeting.

   14. Discussion of strategy with respect to the negotiation of a hazardous
   waste siting agreement or to consider the terms, conditions, and provisions of
   a hazardous waste siting agreement if the governing body in open meeting finds
   that an open meeting will have an adverse effect upon the negotiating position
   of the governing body or the establishment of the terms, conditions and
   provisions of the siting agreement, or both. All discussions with the
   applicant or its representatives may be conducted in a closed meeting.

   15. Discussion by the Governor and any economic advisory board reviewing
   forecasts of economic activity and estimating general and nongeneral fund
   revenues.

   16. Discussion or consideration of medical and mental health records subject
   to the exclusion in subdivision 1 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.5.

   17. Deliberations of the Virginia Lottery Board in a licensing appeal action
   conducted pursuant to subsection D of &#xA7; 58.1-4007 regarding the denial or
   revocation of a license of a lottery sales agent; and discussion,
   consideration or review of Virginia Lottery matters related to proprietary
   lottery game information and studies or investigations excluded from
   disclosure under subdivision 6 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.3 and subdivision 11 of
   &#xA7; 2.2-3705.7.

   18. Those portions of meetings in which the State Board of Local and Regional
   Jails discusses or discloses the identity of, or information tending to
   identify, any prisoner who (i) provides information about crimes or criminal
   activities, (ii) renders assistance in preventing the escape of another
   prisoner or in the apprehension of an escaped prisoner, or (iii) voluntarily
   or at the instance of a prison official renders other extraordinary services,
   the disclosure of which is likely to jeopardize the prisoner&#8217;s life or
   safety.

   19. Discussion of plans to protect public safety as it relates to terrorist
   activity or specific cybersecurity threats or vulnerabilities and briefings by
   staff members, legal counsel, or law-enforcement or emergency service
   officials concerning actions taken to respond to such matters or a related
   threat to public safety; discussion of information subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision 2 or 14 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.2, where discussion in an open meeting
   would jeopardize the safety of any person or the security of any facility,
   building, structure, information technology system, or software program; or
   discussion of reports or plans related to the security of any governmental
   facility, building or structure, or the safety of persons using such facility,
   building or structure.

   20. Discussion by the Board of the Virginia Retirement System, acting pursuant
   to &#xA7; 51.1-124.30, or of any local retirement system, acting pursuant to
   &#xA7; 51.1-803, or by a local finance board or board of trustees of a trust
   established by one or more local public bodies to invest funds for
   postemployment benefits other than pensions, acting pursuant to Article 8
   (&#xA7; 15.2-1544 et seq.) of Chapter 15 of Title 15.2, or by the board of
   visitors of the University of Virginia, acting pursuant to &#xA7; 23.1-2210,
   or by the Board of the Commonwealth Savers Plan, acting pursuant to &#xA7;
   23.1-706, regarding the acquisition, holding or disposition of a security or
   other ownership interest in an entity, where such security or ownership
   interest is not traded on a governmentally regulated securities exchange, to
   the extent that such discussion (i) concerns confidential analyses prepared
   for the board of visitors of the University of Virginia, prepared by the
   retirement system, or a local finance board or board of trustees, or the
   Commonwealth Savers Plan or provided to the retirement system, a local finance
   board or board of trustees, or the Commonwealth Savers Plan under a promise of
   confidentiality, of the future value of such ownership interest or the future
   financial performance of the entity, and (ii) would have an adverse effect on
   the value of the investment to be acquired, held, or disposed of by the
   retirement system, a local finance board or board of trustees, the board of
   visitors of the University of Virginia, or the Commonwealth Savers Plan.
   Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of
   information relating to the identity of any investment held, the amount
   invested or the present value of such investment.

   21. Those portions of meetings in which individual child death cases are
   discussed by the State Child Fatality Review Team established pursuant to
   &#xA7; 32.1-283.1, those portions of meetings in which individual child death
   cases are discussed by a regional or local child fatality review team
   established pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.2, those portions of meetings in which
   individual death cases are discussed by family violence fatality review teams
   established pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.3, those portions of meetings in which
   individual adult death cases are discussed by the state Adult Fatality Review
   Team established pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.5, those portions of meetings in
   which individual adult death cases are discussed by a local or regional adult
   fatality review team established pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.6, those portions
   of meetings in which individual death cases are discussed by overdose fatality
   review teams established pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.7, those portions of
   meetings in which individual maternal death cases are discussed by the
   Maternal Mortality Review Team pursuant to &#xA7; 32.1-283.8, and those
   portions of meetings in which individual death cases of persons with
   developmental disabilities are discussed by the Developmental Disabilities
   Mortality Review Committee established pursuant to &#xA7; 37.2-314.1.

   22. Those portions of meetings of the board of visitors of the University of
   Virginia or Old Dominion University, as the case may be, and those portions of
   meetings of any persons to whom management responsibilities for the University
   of Virginia Medical Center or the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at
   Old Dominion University, as the case may be, have been delegated, in which
   there is discussed proprietary, business-related information pertaining to the
   operations of the University of Virginia Medical Center or the Eastern
   Virginia Health Sciences Center at Old Dominion University, as the case may
   be, including business development or marketing strategies and activities with
   existing or future joint venturers, partners, or other parties with whom the
   University of Virginia Medical Center or the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences
   Center at Old Dominion University, as the case may be, has formed, or forms,
   any arrangement for the delivery of health care, if disclosure of such
   information would adversely affect the competitive position of the University
   of Virginia Medical Center or the Eastern Virginia Health Sciences Center at
   Old Dominion University, as the case may be.

   23. Discussion or consideration by the Virginia Commonwealth University Health
   System Authority or the board of visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University
   of any of the following: the acquisition or disposition by the Authority of
   real property, equipment, or technology software or hardware and related goods
   or services, where disclosure would adversely affect the bargaining position
   or negotiating strategy of the Authority; matters relating to gifts or
   bequests to, and fund-raising activities of, the Authority; grants and
   contracts for services or work to be performed by the Authority; marketing or
   operational strategies plans of the Authority where disclosure of such
   strategies or plans would adversely affect the competitive position of the
   Authority; and members of the Authority&#8217;s medical and teaching staffs
   and qualifications for appointments thereto.

   24. Those portions of the meetings of the Health Practitioners&#8217;
   Monitoring Program Committee within the Department of Health Professions to
   the extent such discussions identify any practitioner who may be, or who
   actually is, impaired pursuant to Chapter 25.1 (&#xA7; 54.1-2515 et seq.) of
   Title 54.1.

   25. Meetings or portions of meetings of the Board of the Commonwealth Savers
   Plan wherein personal information, as defined in &#xA7; 2.2-3801, which has
   been provided to the Board or its employees by or on behalf of individuals who
   have requested information about, applied for, or entered into prepaid tuition
   contracts or savings trust account agreements pursuant to Chapter 7 (&#xA7;
   23.1-700 et seq.) of Title 23.1 is discussed.

   26. Discussion or consideration, by the former Wireless Carrier E-911 Cost
   Recovery Subcommittee created pursuant to former &#xA7; 56-484.15, of trade
   secrets submitted by CMRS providers, as defined in &#xA7; 56-484.12, related
   to the provision of wireless E-911 service.

   27. Those portions of disciplinary proceedings by any regulatory board within
   the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Department of
   Health Professions, or the Board of Accountancy conducted pursuant to &#xA7;
   2.2-4019 or 2.2-4020 during which the board deliberates to reach a decision or
   meetings of health regulatory boards or conference committees of such boards
   to consider settlement proposals in pending disciplinary actions or
   modifications to previously issued board orders as requested by either of the
   parties.

   28. Discussion or consideration of information subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision 11 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 by a responsible public entity or an
   affected locality or public entity, as those terms are defined in &#xA7;
   33.2-1800, or any independent review panel appointed to review information and
   advise the responsible public entity concerning such records.

   29. Discussion of the award of a public contract involving the expenditure of
   public funds, including interviews of bidders or offerors, and discussion of
   the terms or scope of such contract, where discussion in an open session would
   adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public
   body.

   30. Discussion or consideration of grant or loan application information
   subject to the exclusion in subdivision 17 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 by the
   Commonwealth Health Research Board.

   31. Discussion or consideration by the Commitment Review Committee of
   information subject to the exclusion in subdivision 5 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.2
   relating to individuals subject to commitment as sexually violent predators
   under Chapter 9 (&#xA7; 37.2-900 et seq.) of Title 37.2.

   32. Discussion or consideration of confidential proprietary information and
   trade secrets developed and held by a local public body providing certain
   telecommunication services or cable television services and subject to the
   exclusion in subdivision 18 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6. However, the exemption
   provided by this subdivision shall not apply to any authority created pursuant
   to the BVU Authority Act (&#xA7; 15.2-7200 et seq.).

   33. Discussion or consideration by a local authority created in accordance
   with the Virginia Wireless Service Authorities Act (&#xA7; 15.2-5431.1 et
   seq.) of confidential proprietary information and trade secrets subject to the
   exclusion in subdivision 19 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6.

   34. Discussion or consideration by the State Board of Elections or local
   electoral boards of voting security matters made confidential pursuant to
   &#xA7; 24.2-410.2 or 24.2-625.1 and review by the State Board of Elections of
   complaints related to the personal use of campaign funds pursuant to &#xA7;
   24.2-948.7.

   35. Discussion or consideration by the Forensic Science Board or the
   Scientific Advisory Committee created pursuant to Article 2 (&#xA7; 9.1-1109
   et seq.) of Chapter 11 of Title 9.1 of criminal investigative files.

   36. Discussion or consideration by the Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship
   Committee of information or confidential matters subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision A 3 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.4, and meetings of the Committee to
   deliberate concerning the annual maximum scholarship award, review and
   consider scholarship applications and requests for scholarship award renewal,
   and cancel, rescind, or recover scholarship awards.

   37. Discussion or consideration by the Virginia Port Authority of information
   subject to the exclusion in subdivision 1 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 related to
   certain proprietary information gathered by or for the Virginia Port
   Authority.

   38. Discussion or consideration by the Board of Trustees of the Virginia
   Retirement System acting pursuant to &#xA7; 51.1-124.30, by the Investment
   Advisory Committee appointed pursuant to &#xA7; 51.1-124.26, by any local
   retirement system, acting pursuant to &#xA7; 51.1-803, by the Board of the
   Commonwealth Savers Plan acting pursuant to &#xA7; 23.1-706, or by the
   Commonwealth Savers Plan&#8217;s Investment Advisory Committee appointed
   pursuant to &#xA7; 23.1-702 of information subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision 24 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.7.

   39. Discussion or consideration of information subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision 3 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 related to economic development.

   40. Discussion or consideration by the Board of Education of information
   relating to the denial, suspension, or revocation of teacher licenses subject
   to the exclusion in subdivision 11 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.3.

   41. Those portions of meetings of the Virginia Military Advisory Council or
   any commission created by executive order for the purpose of studying and
   making recommendations regarding preventing closure or realignment of federal
   military and national security installations and facilities located in
   Virginia and relocation of such facilities to Virginia, or a local or regional
   military affairs organization appointed by a local governing body, during
   which there is discussion of information subject to the exclusion in
   subdivision 8 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.2.

   42. Discussion or consideration by the Board of Trustees of the Veterans
   Services Foundation of information subject to the exclusion in subdivision 28
   of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.7 related to personally identifiable information of donors.

   43. Discussion or consideration by the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization
   Commission of information subject to the exclusion in subdivision 23 of &#xA7;
   2.2-3705.6 related to certain information contained in grant applications.

   44. Discussion or consideration by the board of directors of the Commercial
   Space Flight Authority of information subject to the exclusion in subdivision
   24 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 related to rate structures or charges for the use of
   projects of, the sale of products of, or services rendered by the Authority
   and certain proprietary information of a private entity provided to the
   Authority.

   45. Discussion or consideration of personal and proprietary information
   related to the resource management plan program and subject to the exclusion
   in (i) subdivision 25 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 or (ii) subsection E of &#xA7;
   10.1-104.7. This exclusion shall not apply to the discussion or consideration
   of records that contain information that has been certified for release by the
   person who is the subject of the information or transformed into a statistical
   or aggregate form that does not allow identification of the person who
   supplied, or is the subject of, the information.

   46. Discussion or consideration by the Board of Directors of the Virginia
   Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority of information subject to the exclusion
   in subdivision 1 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.3 related to investigations of applicants
   for licenses and permits and of licensees and permittees.

   47. Discussion or consideration of grant, loan, or investment application
   records subject to the exclusion in subdivision 28 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.6 for a
   grant, loan, or investment pursuant to Article 11 (&#xA7; 2.2-2351 et seq.) of
   Chapter 22.

   48. Discussion or development of grant proposals by a regional council
   established pursuant to Article 26 (&#xA7; 2.2-2484 et seq.) of Chapter 24 to
   be submitted for consideration to the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board.

   49. Discussion or consideration of (i) individual sexual assault cases by a
   sexual assault response team established pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-1627.4, (ii)
   individual child abuse or neglect cases or sex offenses involving a child by a
   child sexual abuse response team established pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-1627.5,
   (iii) individual cases involving abuse, neglect, or exploitation of adults as
   defined in &#xA7; 63.2-1603 pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA7; 15.2-1627.5 and
   63.2-1605, or (iv) individual human trafficking cases by any human trafficking
   response team established pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-1627.6.

   50. Discussion or consideration by the Board of the Virginia Economic
   Development Partnership Authority, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review
   Commission, or any subcommittees thereof, of the portions of the strategic
   plan, marketing plan, or operational plan exempt from disclosure pursuant to
   subdivision 33 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.7.

   51. Those portions of meetings of the subcommittee of the Board of the
   Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority established pursuant to
   subsection F of &#xA7; 2.2-2237.3 to review and discuss information received
   from the Virginia Employment Commission pursuant to subdivision C 2 of &#xA7;
   60.2-114 and the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement pursuant
   to subsection B of &#xA7; 2.2-2040.

   52. Discussion or consideration by the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovation
   Partnership Authority (the Authority), an advisory committee of the Authority,
   or any other entity designated by the Authority, of information subject to the
   exclusion in subdivision 35 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.7.

   53. Deliberations of the Virginia Lottery Board conducted pursuant to &#xA7;
   58.1-4105 regarding the denial or revocation of a license of a casino gaming
   operator, or the refusal to issue, suspension of, or revocation of any license
   or permit related to casino gaming, and discussion, consideration, or review
   of matters related to investigations excluded from mandatory disclosure under
   subdivision 1 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.3.

   54. Deliberations of the Virginia Lottery Board in an appeal conducted
   pursuant to &#xA7; 58.1-4007 regarding the denial of, revocation of,
   suspension of, or refusal to renew any license or permit related to sports
   betting and any discussion, consideration, or review of matters related to
   investigations excluded from mandatory disclosure under subdivision 1 of
   &#xA7; 2.2-3705.3.

   55. Meetings or portions of meetings of the Board of Criminal Justice Services
   or the Department of Criminal Justice Services concerning the decertification
   of an identifiable law-enforcement or jail officer.

B. No resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation or motion adopted,
passed or agreed to in a closed meeting shall become effective unless the public
body, following the meeting, reconvenes in open meeting and takes a vote of the
membership on such resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation, or motion
that shall have its substance reasonably identified in the open meeting.

C. Public officers improperly selected due to the failure of the public body to
comply with the other provisions of this section shall be de facto officers and,
as such, their official actions are valid until they obtain notice of the legal
defect in their election.

D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the holding of
conferences between two or more public bodies, or their representatives, but
these conferences shall be subject to the same procedures for holding closed
meetings as are applicable to any other public body.

E. This section shall not be construed to (i) require the disclosure of any
contract between the Department of Health Professions and an impaired
practitioner entered into pursuant to Chapter 25.1 (&#xA7; 54.1-2515 et seq.) of
Title 54.1 or (ii) require the board of directors of any authority created
pursuant to the Industrial Development and Revenue Bond Act (&#xA7; 15.2-4900 et
seq.), or any public body empowered to issue industrial revenue bonds by general
or special law, to identify a business or industry to which subdivision A 5
applies. However, such business or industry shall be identified as a matter of
public record at least 30 days prior to the actual date of the board&#8217;s
authorization of the sale or issuance of such bonds.

HISTORY: 1968, c. 479, § 2.1-344; 1970, c. 456; 1973, c. 461; 1974, c. 332;
1976, cc. 467, 709; 1979, cc. 369, 684; 1980, cc. 221, 475, 476, 754; 1981, cc.
35, 471; 1982, cc. 497, 516; 1984, cc. 473, 513; 1985, c. 277; 1988, c. 891;
1989, cc. 56, 358, 478; 1990, cc. 435, 538; 1991, c. 708; 1992, c. 444; 1993,
cc. 270, 499; 1995, c. 499; 1996, cc. 855, 862, 902, 905, 1046; 1997, cc. 439,
641, 785, 861; 1999, cc. 485, 518, 703, 726, 849, 867, 868; 2000, cc. 382, 400,
720, 1064; 2001, cc. 231, 844; 2002, cc. 87, 393, 455, 478, 499, 655, 715, 830;
2003, cc. 274, 291, 332, 618, 703; 2004, cc. 398, 690, 770; 2005, cc. 258, 411,
568; 2006, cc. 430, 499, 518, 560; 2007, cc. 133, 374, 566, 739; 2008, cc. 626,
633, 668, 721, 743; 2009, cc. 223, 325, 472, 765, 810, 827, 845; 2010, cc. 310,
630, 808; 2011, cc. 89, 111, 147, 536, 541, 816, 874; 2012, cc. 476, 507, 803,
835; 2013, cc. 571, 580, 695; 2014, c. 225; 2015, cc. 27, 38, 108, 169, 182,
549, 730; 2016, cc. 544, 620, 716, 724, 725, 775, 778, 779; 2017, cc. 587, 616,
778, 796, 804, 816, 824; 2018, cc. 48, 532, 533, 600, 829; 2019, cc. 4, 170,
358, 426, 500, 729, 775, 834; 2020, cc. 759, 851, 1164, 1169, 1197, 1218, 1248,
1256; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 7, 483; 2023, cc. 624, 625, 756, 778; 2024, cc.
217, 366, 494; 2025, cc. 535, 537.