Richmond City Council votes to exit closed session, certifies compliance with Virginia law and adjourns

Vice President Jurden moved that the Richmond City Council return to open session, and Councilmember Bratton seconded the motion. By roll call during the meeting excerpt, multiple council members responded “Aye,” the record shows. The council then certified that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, only public business lawfully exempted from open-meeting requirements under Virginia law was discussed in the closed meeting and that only matters identified in the closing motion were considered. The council adjourned the informal meeting afterward.

The certification is a routine step under state open-meeting requirements, entered on the public record after councils conclude closed sessions. The transcript excerpt shows the motion to return to open session, a roll-call series of affirmative votes from members present, and a clerk’s record that the informal meeting’s agenda items were complete. The council did not disclose the substance of the closed-session discussion in the public excerpt provided.

During roll call, the transcript records Councilmember Bratton answering “Aye,” Councilmember Jones answering “Aye,” Councilmember Robertson answering “Aye,” Councilmember Auerbach answering “Aye,” Vice President Jurden answering “Aye,” and President Newbill answering “Aye.” The excerpt includes prompts for Councilmember Gibson to unmute and a prompt for Councilmember Trammell to respond; the provided excerpt does not clearly record their individual votes. Following the roll call, the chair declared the motion approved and the informal meeting adjourned.

The record on the public transcript is limited to the motions, roll call and the certification statement referencing Virginia law; the excerpt does not state the specific topics discussed in the closed session or any follow-up actions. The clerk noted for the record that those were all the items on the evening’s informal agenda before adjourning.