By Michael Sluss

Archives Reprint

    RICHMOND - The General Assembly's partisan caucuses are not public bodies, but they should open their meetings if they discuss "expected votes" on legislation, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore said in a letter Tuesday.

    Kilgore's advisory opinion leaves questions about the conduct of closed-door caucus meetings held daily during General Assembly sessions. Democrats in the House of Delegates opened their caucus meetings last year, but House Republicans and the two Senate caucuses continued their tradition of meeting privately.

    Kilgore said the caucuses themselves are not public bodies required to comply with the open meeting provision of the Freedom of Information Act. A legislative caucus receives no public funds and "does not exist to transact public business," he wrote.

    But Kilgore also noted that "an informal assemblage of three or more legislators at a meeting prearranged or called for the purpose of discussing expected votes on matters pending before the General Assembly constitutes a meeting under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, requiring that such a meeting be open to the public."

    Kilgore said the issue "is not as clear cut as some assert," largely because of the wide-ranging nature of the caucus meetings. Members of both parties have described the meetings as political strategy sessions, but some also have said the discussions sometimes deal with votes on specific bills.

    "Ultimately, whether any specific assemblage or meeting of three or more legislators is required to be open to the public will turn on the facts surrounding each such event," Kilgore wrote.

    House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said lawmakers "may have to clarify a few things" about how they conduct their meetings when the legislative session begins next week.

    Griffith said the caucus meetings are "largely political discussions" but added that Kilgore's opinion "shows there's a huge gray area here."

    Kilgore wrote the opinion in response to a request from retiring Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, a longtime legislative leader on open-government issues. Woodrum made the request last July after Kilgore proclaimed that a scheduled private meeting between Gov. Mark Warner and members of the legislature's tax reform commission should be open to the public. Warner and lawmakers ultimately agreed to open the session.

    Woodrum called Kilgore's letter "a non-opinion opinion" and disputed Kilgore's assertion that the caucuses are not public bodies. He noted that the organizations usually meet in the Capitol and that the time and location of the meetings are published daily in legislative calendars.

    "Clearly, I disagree with it," Woodrum said.

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