Bill Text: VA SB139 | 2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-04-09 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0904) [SB139 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-SB139-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §2.2-3704.3, as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-3704.3. (Effective July 1, 2020) Training for local officials.
A. The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council (the Council) or the local government attorney shall provide in-person or online training sessions for local elected officials on the provisions of this chapter.
B. Each local elected official shall complete a training session described in subsection A within two months after assuming the local elected office and thereafter at least once during each consecutive period of two calendar years commencing with the date on which he last completed a training session, for as long as he holds such office. No penalty shall be imposed on a local elected official for failing to complete a training session.
C. The clerk of each governing body or school board shall maintain records indicating the names of elected officials subject to the training requirements in subsection B and the dates on which each such official completed training sessions satisfying such requirements. Such records shall be maintained for five years in the office of the clerk of the respective governing body or school board.
D. For purposes of this section, "local elected officials" shall include constitutional officers.
2. That any training on the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) completed by a local elected official prior to July 1, 2020, but after January 1, 2020, shall satisfy the training requirement set forth in Chapter 531 of the 2019 Acts of Assembly, as it shall become effective.
