A while ago I wrote about Virginia’s private police departments and their compliance (or lack thereof) with the the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. VFOIA mostly applies only to government entities but the Act specifically includes “private police departments” with respect to the requirements concerning public records. This makes sense considering that law enforcement is a quintessentially governmental function. 

After I requested records from the police departments of private universities, one responded with a novel argument: It’s not actually a “private police department” under Virginia law. Rather, it’s a “campus police department.” I requested an advisory opinion from the Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

The Advisory Council has now weighed in with Opinion AO-02-25: Police departments of private universities are not private police departments and VFOIA does not apply to them. That interpretation means police transparency in Virginia works like this:

I don’t agree with the Council’s reasoning—specifically, their view that because private police departments and campus police departments are defined separately, no department can be both. But if their opinion is how the law will be interpreted, it’s a serious oversight for transparency and accountability, and one that needs to be corrected through legislation. When the General Assembly added “private police departments” to VFOIA, did the legislators intend to require transparency from every law enforcement agency except for those at private colleges and universities? I think not. The legislature should close this loophole so that every police department in Virginia is accountable to the public.