NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) – State lawmakers are considering a bill that would improve public access to information about criminal court cases in Virginia. The legislation would make the Virginia Supreme Court’s databases of court case information from across the state open to the public, as well as a database containing district court records. The Daily Press reports that the compromise bill under consideration follows lengthy efforts by the newspaper to obtain a database of circuit court records from the Supreme Court. Currently, cases can be individually accessed online, but only if a case number or person’s name is known.
