By Taylor Boyd and Debbie Hall
Five counts of a civil suit filed against the Patrick County Board of Supervisors were dismissed on Monday, April 27, and the remaining count was voluntarily withdrawn during a hearing in Patrick County Circuit Court.
All of the counts related to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Steve Marshall, Blue Ridge District representative on the board, named fellow board members Jonathan Wood in his capacity as past chairman, Andrew Overby in his capacity as current chairman, and Clayton Kendrick as a board member, in the suit filed on April 20.
Circuit Court Judge Marcus Brinks presided over the hearing that drew about half a dozen residents and a few county employees.
Marshall, who represented himself, alleged in part that the board held an unlawful closed session meeting before censuring him on April 28, 2025. He testified that members had discussed the document, and that the censure was predetermined before the motion was made or the vote taken in open session. Marshall testified he was told that county attorney Jim H. Guynn, Jr., of Guynn, Waddell, Carroll & Lockaby, P.C., had approved the document that led to the censure.
“I was most certainly damaged reputationally in the community” as a result of the censure, Marshall said, adding that his committee assignments also were revoked at the time.
Under cross-examination by Guynn, Marshall testified that the censure was not discussed in closed session.
Counts 2 through 6 of Marshall’s filing alleged a second unlawful closed session relating to a salary spreadsheet; a verbal contract agreed to in closed session; denial of a verbal FOIA request made by county resident Steve Ferring; a secret meeting of the budget committee; and denial of his statutory right to record the budget committee meeting.
All of the six allegations occurred within the last year, according to Marshall, who said he witnessed the violations firsthand as a board member and was positioned to preserve the record.
“Your Honor, these six counts” show a “documented consistent pattern spanning 10 months, the same members of the board majority, acting through the same methods to shield the public’s business from public view,” Marshall said during his opening statement.
After hearing arguments from both sides during the two-hour morning session, Brinks dismissed five counts of the filing. Guynn also made a motion to dismiss the closed-session censure claim, arguing that Marshall failed to present a prima facie case (establish a legally required rebuttable presumption).
“He hasn’t done that,” Guynn said.
The judge overruled Guynn’s motion to dismiss.
Brinks also referenced previous cases involving FOIA in which he held the county’s feet to the fire.
During a spate of hearings in April/May 2017, Brinks ruled in favor of the petitioner, Russell W. “Bill” Moore, that the then county administration failed to comply with a FOIA request.
Before Monday’s hearing resumed after an hour-long lunch break, Marshall approached Guynn and the two spoke briefly. Guynn, Overby, Kendrick, Wood, and County Administrator Michael McGuinness then went into a separate room. When they returned, and the hearing resumed, Guynn said the parties had reached an agreement in which Marshall agreed to drop the remaining count.
Other terms of the agreement were not immediately available at the time of publication.
“I am glad that the parties conducted themselves appropriately, and that these matters, at least at this point, proceeded very well, so I do appreciate that,” Brinks said.
Guynn will prepare the agreement, and Brinks said it must be signed by Marshall.
Following the hearing, Guynn said he appreciated Brinks’ rulings and thought they were correct.
“It’s unfortunate that there’s strife in the board of supervisors,” Guynn said.
Wood, of the Peters Creek District, said he’s glad to see that the legal system worked as it should and that justice prevailed.
“The American system at its finest. Justice prevailed today, and it’s a great thing about being in an American democracy system,” Wood said.
Overby, of the Dan River District, and Kendrick, of the Mayo River District, echoed Woods’ sentiments.
“We reached a mutual agreement for” Marshall to withdraw the first count, Overby said. “He (Marshall) agreed to voluntarily withdraw the final count.”
McGuinness said he believes the outcome “was a win for Patrick County.”
As he left the courthouse, Marshall declined to comment.
