Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission names Jody Friendly acting executive director
Summary
After a closed session, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission voted in open session to appoint Jody Friendly as acting executive director effective Sept. 1, 2025. The commission also certified its closed session by roll call.
The Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission voted in open session to appoint Jody Friendly as acting executive director effective Sept. 1, 2025, until a permanent director is hired or the commission takes further action. The appointment followed a closed session for personnel and legal consultation under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The commission convened a closed meeting citing the FOIA personnel exemption and a legal‑advice exemption to discuss “designation of an acting executive director” and related legal matters. After returning to open session, members certified by roll call that only the matters identified in the motion were discussed in the closed meeting. One member abstained from that certification vote, citing absence during the closed meeting.
Following the certification, a member moved that the commission appoint Jody Friendly as acting director effective 09/01/2025; a second was made and the commission voted in favor in open session. No roll‑call tally for the appointment vote was recorded in the transcript; the chair called for voice assent and the motion carried.
The transcript records that Mr. Regneri participated in the closed session to provide legal advice and that the personnel matter discussed was specifically the acting executive director designation. The commission did not provide additional details in the public record about length of any interim contract or the search timeline for a permanent director beyond “until a permanent director is hired or further action by the commission is taken.”
The action follows the commission’s routine practice of using closed sessions for personnel matters protected under FOIA and then certifying the session on the public record.
The commission’s minutes list the certification roll call responses by named members; the transcript shows unanimous support for the certification except for one abstention by a member who said they were not present for the closed meeting.
The commission did not publish further implementation details for the acting director appointment in the recorded discussion.
