                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL (§ 30-356)

The Council shall:

1. Prescribe the forms required for complying with the disclosure requirements
of Article 3 and the Acts. These forms shall be the only forms used to comply
with the provisions of Article 3 or the Acts. The Council shall make available
the disclosure forms and shall provide guidance and other instructions to assist
in the completion of the forms;

2. Review all disclosure forms filed by lobbyists pursuant to Article 3 and by
state government officers and employees and legislators pursuant to the Acts.
The Council may review disclosure forms for completeness, including reviewing
the information contained on the face of the form to determine if the disclosure
form has been fully completed and comparing the disclosures contained in any
disclosure form filed by a lobbyist pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-426 with other
disclosure forms filed with the Council, and requesting any amendments to ensure
the completeness of and correction of errors in the forms, if necessary. If a
disclosure form is found to have not been filed or to have been incomplete as
filed, the Council shall notify the filer in writing and direct the filer to
file a completed disclosure form within a prescribed period of time, and such
notification shall be confidential and is excluded from the provisions of the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et seq.);

3. Require all disclosure forms and lobbyist registration statements that are
required to be filed with the Council to be filed electronically in accordance
with the standards approved by the Council. The Council shall provide software
or electronic access for filing the required disclosure forms and registration
statements without charge to all individuals required to file with the Council.
The Council shall prescribe the method of execution and certification of
electronically filed forms, including the use of an electronic signature as
authorized by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (&#xA7; 59.1-479 et seq.).
The Council may grant extensions as provided in &#xA7; 30-356.2 and may
authorize a designee to grant such extensions;

4. Accept and review any statement received from a filer disputing the receipt
by such filer of a gift that has been disclosed on the form filed by a lobbyist
pursuant to Article 3;

5. Beginning July 1, 2016, establish and maintain a searchable electronic
database comprising those disclosure forms that are filed with the Council
pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA7; 2.2-426, 2.2-3117, 2.2-3118, and 30-111. Such database
shall be available to the public through the Council&#8217;s official website;

6. Furnish, upon request, formal advisory opinions or guidelines and other
appropriate information, including informal advice, regarding ethics, conflicts
issues arising under Article 3 or the Acts, or a person&#8217;s duties under
Article 3 or the Acts to any person covered by Article 3 or the Acts or to any
agency of state or local government, in an expeditious manner. The Council may
authorize a designee to furnish formal opinions or informal advice. Formal
advisory opinions are public record and shall be published on the
Council&#8217;s website; however, no formal advisory opinion furnished by a
designee of the Council shall be available to the public or published until such
opinion has been approved by the Council. Published formal advisory opinions may
have such deletions and changes as may be necessary to protect the identity of
the person involved or other persons supplying information. Informal advice
given by the Council or the Council&#8217;s designee is confidential and is
excluded from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of
Information Act (&#xA7; 2.2-3700 et seq.); however, if the recipient invokes the
immunity provisions of &#xA7; 2.2-3121 or 30-124, the record of the request and
the informal advice given shall be deemed to be a public record and shall be
released upon request. Other records relating to formal advisory opinions or
informal advice, including records of requests, notes, correspondence, and draft
versions of such opinions or advice, shall also be confidential and excluded
from the mandatory disclosure provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information
Act;

7. Conduct training seminars and educational programs for lobbyists, state and
local government officers and employees, legislators, and other interested
persons on the requirements of Article 3 and the Acts and provide training
sessions for local elected officials in compliance with Article 9 (&#xA7;
2.2-3132) of Chapter 31 of Title 2.2 and ethics orientation sessions for
legislators in compliance with Article 6 (&#xA7; 30-129.1 et seq.) of Chapter
13;

8. Approve orientation courses conducted pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-3128 and, upon
request, review the educational materials and approve any training or course on
the requirements of Article 3 and the Acts conducted for state and local
government officers and employees;

9. Publish such educational materials as it deems appropriate on the provisions
of Article 3 and the Acts;

10. Review actions taken in the General Assembly with respect to the discipline
of its members for the purpose of offering nonbinding advice;

11. Request from any agency of state or local government such assistance,
services, and information as will enable the Council to effectively carry out
its responsibilities. Information provided to the Council by an agency of state
or local government shall not be released to any other party unless authorized
by such agency;

12. Redact from any document or form that is to be made available to the public
any residential address, personal telephone number, email address, or signature
contained on that document or form; and

13. Report on or before December 1 of each year on its activities and findings
regarding Article 3 and the Acts, including recommendations for changes in the
laws, to the General Assembly and the Governor. The annual report shall be
submitted by the chairman as provided in the procedures of the Division of
Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and
reports and shall be published as a state document.

HISTORY: 2014, cc. 792, 804; 2015, cc. 763, 777; 2016, cc. 773, 774; 2017, cc.
829, 832; 2019, c. 530; 2020, c. 111.