Virginia’s parole board votes will be subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests when State Senator David Suetterlein’s (R-Roanoke) SB 5 and Delegate Wren Williams’ (R-Patrick) HB 1303 take effect this summer.
“What it seeks to do is make parole board votes public. When someone in Virginia is charged with a crime, they know who accused them of committing that crime. When they’re arrested, they know who arrested them. When it goes to trial, they know who prosecutes them, and they know the judge that oversees that. If it stays on appeal and they’re unsuccessful, they know who was on the appellate court. Only when that person may be up for parole and that vote is not made public, that’s the first step in the entire process that lacks that sunshine,” Suetterlein told the Senate on February 14.
This is the third time he has introduced the bill. Suetterlein first introduced a version of the bill in the August 2020 special session, amid revelations from leaked reports alleging the parole board improperly paroled Vincent Martin.
“The parole board used its immense power in the last few years and made several questionable decisions, and during that time, the votes were unclear because they are not made public,” Suetterlein told The Virginia Star in December. “They weren’t even keeping minutes of their actions.”
Both of his previous attempts to pass the bill made it out of the Senate with bipartisan support, but died in Democrat-controlled House of Delegates committees. This year, SB 5 and HB 1303 made it through both chambers with minimal opposition, and Governor Glenn Youngkin signed them into law on March 11.
“This is a huge victory for all Virginians,” Williams said in a press release after Youngkin signed the bill. “The days of the parole board abusing their authority to hide their votes, ignore the laws, and show contempt for victims and law-abiding Virginians are over. Moving forward, the parole board’s power will come with accountability and transparency.”
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Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Wren Williams” by Wren Willams and photo “David Suetterlein” by David Suetterlein.
