On March 31 Governor Ralph Northam officially signed House Bill 2004 into law, this bill will allow for the public to easily access closed criminal investigative files which some have applauded as a big step towards greater police transparency and justice.

HB 2004, which was filed by Del. Chris L. Hurst (D-Radford, Giles County) adds criminal investigative files related to criminal investigations or proceedings that are not ongoing to the list of items that can be requested through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Before this bill the release of such files was up to the sole discretion of law enforcement which could cause headaches for defense attorneys who would seek their client’s old case files or to request the case files of officers who had been known to contribute to wrongful convictions.

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