Megan Rhyne

VCOG All Access News, 3/9/26: #FOIA Council opinions; we won't tell you who isn't complying; silent work session
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 3/6/26: changing on a dime; adoption records; campaign paperwor #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 3/4/26: billing error is biz development?; parochial policy; ICE says you can't?; Justin Timberlake #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 3/3/26: demise of the enforcement bill; general lack of respect; easy & free vs. hard & expensive #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

Emails between ICE, Richmond sheriff's office show sheriff won't comply with detention requests Last year, the Richmond sheriff’s office received at least five detainer requests from ICE, records show. In none of those cases did the office honor the requests, a spokesperson said.

There's no daily newsletter today, but (1) here's a story about both the content and process of a records request to the Richmond sheriff's office, and (2) stay tuned for our monthly newsletter later today.
richmond.com/news/local/g...

VCOG All Access News, 2/27/26: updated bylaws on 2x2s; records contradict; ALPRs in other states #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/26/26: enforcement bill NO, agenda bill YES, and shall means shall; apology(?) #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/25/26: water usage records released; #FOIA every year; no public hearings?
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/23/26: agendas, gaming machines & pledges; records contradict misinformation #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

And every "no" is part of this targeting vs. well, yes, the statute allows that.

Beyond The Pale - Meaning & Origin Of The Phrase What's the meaning and origin of the phrase 'Beyond the pale'?

pale
www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bey...

Mineral Council member alleges misogyny, abuse Virginia Coalition for Open Government Director sheds light on FOIA law

Plus, a discussion of FOIA and 2-person committees
www.thecentralvirginian.com/news/mineral...

And you thought YOUR public meetings were contentious?

VCOG All Access News, 2/19/26: the continuing saga of the #FOIA phone; two-person committees; more recall news; biz by text
opengovva.org/transparency...

me and my RCFP lawyers outside the courthouse this morning

BREAKING — WE WON! DC Superior Court Judge Darlene Soltys ordered the DC Metropolitan Police to produce ALL body cam footage of the March 2025 DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace within 14 days.

Thanks to my @rcfp.org lawyers for their tireless work.

Details on thehandbasket.co later today!

VCOG All Access News, 2/18/26: policy change redo; recall efforts; curing partisan rancor through local government #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/17/26: #FOIA reveals payment; depositions reveal discomfort with FOIA officer (or process?)
opengovva.org/transparency...

‘A bitchiness type of attitude’: Read officials’ depositions in Connie Clay’s lawsuit against the city In her deposition, former city spokesperson Petula Burks characterized City Hall’s FOIA process as deeply dysfunctional and galling to officials who were required by law to turn over documents.

In her deposition, former city spokesperson Petula Burks characterized City Hall’s FOIA process as deeply dysfunctional and galling to officials who were required by law to turn over documents.

VCOG All Access News, 2/16/26: data center direction?; pie holes; transparency committee relaunch; brass-knuckled version #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/13/26: Supreme Court on GDCDPA; UVA's #FOIA timeline; more $ post-firing
opengovva.org/transparency...

We're still here, just no newsletter today or yesterday. If you're missing us 😢 (and who wouldn't!?) take a 🐰 hop over to our website and check out our upcoming conference and nominate someone for our annual open government award. 🏆
www.opengovva.org

See how utterly frustrating it is when you can't get access to records that you're legally entitled to?
#FOIA #publicrecords

VCOG All Access News, 2/10/26: go to the blog; threat of court case; genealogy resources #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/9/26: visibility of criminal complaints; when is a #FOIA request received?
opengovva.org/transparency...

VCOG All Access News, 2/6/26: more time to comment; more money to litigate; more automated requests #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

A lot better than the wrong-number text my husband had Tuesday. I don't have the screen shot, but it was essentially "Come join us at the Wine Seller."
"Can't, man, gotta piss tomorrow."
"?"
"Who's this?"
"Mike P"
"Wrong number"

HB1029 - 2026 Regular Session | LIS

To all my VA press corps friends, you may want to get involved in HB1029, which impacts access to criminal complaints.
lis.virginia.gov/bill-details...

Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell Somewhat devastating news today from the CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they …

The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!

This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...

VCOG All Access News, 2/5/26: scripted events; Factbook; Sup. Ct.'s NDAs #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

did you grow up in the woods? are you nell from the movie nell? YouTube video by JSAV

This session, I've been giving my testimony/comments in committee without notes, but for some reason, I decided to use notes yesterday. And this is what it looked like:
youtu.be/oy_usvYW5z4?...