                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ADVISORY COUNCIL; MEMBERSHIP; TERMS; QUORUM;
EXPENSES (§ 30-178)

A. The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council (the Council) is hereby
created as an advisory council in the legislative branch to encourage and
facilitate compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et
seq.).

B. The Council shall consist of 14 members as follows: the Attorney General or
his designee; the Librarian of Virginia or his designee; the Director of the
Division of Legislative Services or his designee; five members appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Delegates, two of whom shall be members of the House of
Delegates, and three nonlegislative citizen members, at least one of whom shall
be or have been a representative of the news media; four members appointed by
the Senate Committee on Rules, two of whom shall be members of the Senate, one
of whom shall be or have been an officer of local government, and one
nonlegislative citizen at-large member; and two nonlegislative citizen members
appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall not be a state employee. The local
government representative may be selected from a list recommended by the
Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Municipal League, after due
consideration of such list by the Senate Committee on Rules. The citizen members
may be selected from a list recommended by the Virginia Press Association, the
Virginia Association of Broadcasters, and the Virginia Coalition for Open
Government, after due consideration of such list by the appointing authorities.

C. All appointments following the initial staggering of terms shall be for terms
of four years, except that appointments to fill vacancies shall be for the
unexpired terms in the same manner as the original appointment. No
nonlegislative citizen member shall be eligible to serve for more than two
successive four-year terms. At the end of a term, a nonlegislative citizen
member shall continue to serve until a successor is appointed. However, after
the expiration of a term of three years or less, or after the expiration of the
remainder of a term to which appointed to fill a vacancy, two additional terms
may be served by such member if appointed thereto. Legislative members and other
state government officials shall serve terms coincident with their terms of
office. Legislative members may be reappointed for successive terms.

D. The members of the Council shall elect from among their membership a chairman
and a vice-chairman for two-year terms. The chairman and vice-chairman may not
succeed themselves to the same position.

E. The Council shall hold meetings quarterly or upon the call of the chairman. A
majority of the Council shall constitute a quorum. Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection C, if any nonlegislative citizen member of the Council
fails to attend a majority of meetings of the Council in a calendar year, the
Council shall notify the member&#8217;s appointing authority. Upon receipt of
such notification, the appointing authority may remove the member and appoint a
successor as soon as practicable.

F. Members of the Council shall receive no compensation for their services but
shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties as provided in &#xA7;&#xA7; 2.2-2813, 2.2-2825 and
30-19.12, as appropriate. Funding for expenses of the members shall be provided
from existing appropriations to the Council.

HISTORY: 2000, cc. 917, 987, § 2.1-346.2; 2001, c. 844; 2004, c. 1000; 2017,
cc. 141, 644.