---
type: "Bill"
title: "Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements."
description: "Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements. Adds the option for in-person training sessions in addition to the current requirement of online training sessions for local elected officials provided by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council or a local government attorney. The bill also clarifies that \"local elected officials\" includes constitutional officers. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 139"
citation: "Virginia SB 139 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard H. Stuart"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 28
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-12-18"
last_action: "2020-04-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/186ad6c6-2f23-4019-a054-7bf1ccd0f2c1"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB139"
source_hash: "37dc285c67a035d30320b6afaee7daf40cb941d756ec23a73248691115cfd29d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 139 (2020) — Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements.

Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Act; training requirements. Adds the option for in-person training sessions in addition to the current requirement of online training sessions for local elected officials provided by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council or a local government attorney. The bill also clarifies that "local elected officials" includes constitutional officers. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0904)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0904)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB139ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB139ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (SB139)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB139)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws with amendment (21-Y 0-N) — **21–0** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Richard H. Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-12-18** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20100371D `introduction`
- **2019-12-18** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** Reported from General Laws and Technology (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-30** Impact statement from DPB (SB139)
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-13** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-14** Assigned GL sub: Open Government/Procurement `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2020-02-18** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (8-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-20** Reported from General Laws with amendment (21-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2020-02-25** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2020-02-25** Passed House with amendment BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-27** House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-04** Enrolled
- **2020-03-04** Impact statement from DPB (SB139ER)
- **2020-03-05** Signed by President
- **2020-03-05** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-09** Approved by Governor-Chapter 904 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/186ad6c6-2f23-4019-a054-7bf1ccd0f2c1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).