When A Meeting Is Public
Va. Code 2.2-3707 — open meetings, notice three working days ahead, and the right to record
In Virginia, all meetings of public bodies are open, except where the closed meeting provisions of the chapter apply.
Every public body gives notice of the date, time, location and any remote location of its meetings, on its official public government website if it has one, in a prominent public location where notices are regularly posted, and at the office of the clerk or chief administrator. The notice is posted at least three working days prior to the meeting.
- Notice reasonable under the circumstances of special, emergency or continued meetings is given at the same time as notice to the members.
- Any person may annually file a written request for notification, and the body then gives that person notice of all meetings directly.
- At least one copy of the proposed agenda, the agenda packets and, unless exempt, the materials furnished to members is made available for public inspection at the same time it goes to the members.
- No final action is taken on items added to the agenda after the meeting begins unless they are time sensitive or the subject of a properly identified closed meeting.
- Minutes are taken at all open meetings, and minutes, including drafts, and recordings of open meetings are public records.
Any person may record any part of an open meeting. Any person may photograph, film, record or otherwise reproduce any portion of a meeting required to be open. The body may adopt rules on the placement and use of equipment to prevent interference, but it may not prohibit or otherwise prevent the recording, and it may not hold an open meeting in a building where recording devices are prohibited.
The purposes for which a closed meeting may be held, the rules for meetings held by electronic means, and the remedies for a violation are in other sections of the chapter and are not reproduced here. Whether a particular gathering was a meeting of a public body is a question for a court and for a licensed Virginia attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Va. Code 2.2-3707 — Meetings to be public; notice of meetings; recordings; minutes
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Virginia attorney.