Disclosure Law's Author Surprised To Learn Of Loophole

Virginia Sen. Mark R. Herring, D-Loudoun, was surprised to learn there is a loophole in a disclosure law he helped rewrite last year.

“Are you sure?” he asked when told the law allows officeholders to lump landholdings together for reporting purposes.

All this time, Herring thought state and local officials had to individually list real-estate holdings other than where they live. That way, the public can tell how much land is owned and exactly where it is. And officials can’t get rich on the sly when voting in favor of land grabs.

As it turns out, a list intended to point out an official’s interests to the general public just might be the best way to hide it.

“I wasn’t aware there was a way to lump it all together,” Herring said.

It’s known as question 9B on the Virginia economic interests disclosure form. It points sheriffs, city councilmen, school board members and other local officials who own property worth at least $10,000 to a pre-printed list to fill out.

Instructions say to jot down each location, briefly describe it as a business, open land or rental property, and name any co-owners.

It also says: “You may list each parcel of real estate individually if you wish.”

Often, the results in Southwest Virginia are forms that can be deciphered only with land records on hand.

For example, Dickenson County Commonwealth's Attorney Joe Short wrote that he has “farm land open land” in Dickenson County.

“This is land that my parents bought and paid for,” Short said in a telephone interview.

Legally, he does not have to describe it as three separate lots totaling 9.25 acres and worth $59,600, as revealed in county land records.

Nor does Short have to mention that two of the lots feature a building, one of them a vacant country store.

Such vagueness is one reason nonprofit watchdog Center for Public Integrity graded Virginia’s forms with an F when compared to other states.

“There are a lot of questions that are not really clear,” center spokesman Steve Carpinelli said. “Many of them .. almost 10 questions on the [Virginia] form, do not require information be clearly stated.”

Changes

Herring jumped into the disclosure game last year after the FBI began eyeing officials in his Northern Virginia district because of questionable multimillion-dollar land deals.

A 2007 Washington Post story pointed out how a former Loudoun County official made six-digit sales commissions by using her connections in the county administration building.

After reading the story, Herring looked to the disclosure forms and realized that local officials didn’t have to mention whether they co-owned land with a developer or a developer’s representative.
“When these stories came to light, it was very troubling,” Herring said.

He drafted a transparency law that affected just officials in Loudoun County. He then made some statewide changes. The co-owner clause was just one. Another was requiring disclosure for every piece of property.

Before Herring, officials only had to list real estate in their jurisdiction or neighboring localities.

For instance, Tazewell County School Board member Estelle Carter Johnson did not have to disclose her condominium in Nelson County. And Bluefield Mayor Donald Ray Harris could have left off the hunting lodge he co-owns in Bland County.

“It doesn’t matter where that land is located,” Herring said. “It should be disclosed.”

And now it must.

More change?

Herring, when told about the ability to lump the landholdings together, rummaged through files and forms for several minutes.

“Frankly, I didn’t realize there was an issue of people lumping parcels together,” he said as he searched for a copy of the disclosure form.

After several minutes, he found it, thumbed to the real-estate section, and began to read.

“I would think that each parcel is [individually] listed,” he said. “But, as I sit here reading this, I see that you can lump all the parcels together.”

The reason for requiring such a list is so the public can police officials, Herring said. Average Joes know their hometown better than anyone at the Capitol in Richmond.

The disclosure form is just a compass for hometown citizens to find their officials’ interests.

Should information on the disclosure form be more specific? Will there be another revision?

Perhaps.

“I will give that some serious consideration,” Herring said.

Staff writer Claire Galofaro contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This article was corrected on 8/4/09.

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