Bragg appeals to Virginia Supreme Court; county authorizes defense lawyer

The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors convened a special meeting August 11 and voted unanimously to authorize the appointment of a lawyer to defend the BOS in an appeal to a petition filed in the Supreme Court of Virginia by Marian Bragg, and to allocate up to $7,000 for legal fees.

Bragg’s original petition, filed earlier this year in Rappahannock County Circuit Court, declared that certain actions taken by the BOS violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act during the closed portion of several supervisor meetings in the summer and fall of 2016.

Alfred D. Swersky, a substitute judge in Rappahannock’s 20th Judicial Circuit, denied the petition, finding that certain procedural aspects of the complaint had not been met.

Bragg argues in her petition before the Supreme Court: “The Trial Court’s narrow and restrictive construction of FOIA in this case is not in accord with a long line of cases decided by this [Virginia Supreme] Court that carry into effect the General Assembly’s dictate that the Freedom of Information Act be liberally construed.”

The petition asks that the court “issue a writ of appeal in this case, to reverse the Trial Court’s May 30, 2017 order dismissing the [petition] with prejudice, and to remand this case to the Trial Court for further proceedings.”