1:00PM
Norfolk, VA
Draft
Council Members Present
Officers:
Bryan L. Porter (City of Alexandria), Chairman
R. Bryan Haskins (Pittsylvania County), First Vice Chair
David L. Ledbetter (Waynesboro), Second Vice Chairman
Tracy Q. Martin (Halifax County), Secretary
Anton A. Bell (Hampton), Past Chairman
Colette W. McEachin (City of Richmond), Secretary-Elect
Council District Representatives:
Krystyn L. Reid (York County)
Georgette C. Phillips (Isle of Wight County)
Anton A. Bell (City of Hampton)
Bethany A. S. Harrison (City of Lynchburg)
David L. Ledbetter (City of Waynesboro)
G. Ryan Mehaffey (Spotsylvania County)
Bryan L. Porter (City of Alexandria)
Other Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Present
Meredith Adkins (King and Queen County)
Rhonda Alexander (Lunenberg County)
Amy Ashworth (Prince William)
Mackenzie Babichenko (Hanover County)
Erin Barr (Chesterfield County)
Megan Clark (Prince Edward County)
Eric Cooke (Southampton County)
Derek Davis (Surry County)
Nate Green (Williamsburg/James City of County)
Justin Griffith (Pulaski County)
Keri Gusmann (King George County)
Matt Hamel (Chesapeake City)
Heather Hovermale (Winchester City)
Elizabeth Humphries (Fredericksburg City)
Michael Hurd (Middlesex County)
Shannon Jones (Newport News City)
Erik Laub (Nelson County)
Amanda Mann (Dinwiddie County)
Tim Martin (Augusta County)
Spencer Morgan (Accomack County)
Mary Pettit (Montgomery County)
Georgette Phillips (Isle of Wight County)
Narendra Pleas (Suffolk City)
Russel Rabb (Culpeper County)
Krystn Reid (York/Poquoson County)
Chris Robinson (Westmoreland County)
Colin D. Stolle (Virginia Beach)
Regina Sykes (Sussex County)
Jack Thornton (Northampton County)
Leanne Watrous (Nottoway County)
Jane Wrightson (Northumberland County)
Guests
Deputy and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Present
Cameron Green, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Williamsburg/James City County
Petra Haskins, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Danville
Jessic Henson, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, Henry County
Ken Lammers, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Wise County
Elizabeth Blair Trent, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, Prince Edward County
CASC Staff Present
Elliott Casey, Director
Nancy Oglesby, Deputy Director
VACA Staff Present
Amanda Howie, Administrator
Call to Order
Mr. Porter called the meeting to order at 1:01 p.m.
Minutes
The draft minutes from the February 12, 2026, meeting were previously posted and circulated to Council. The minutes were approved as submitted.
Chairman’s Report
Mr. Porter commended CASC staff on the launch of the 2026 CASC Spring Institute.
Administrator’s Report
Mr. Casey reviewed the agenda items:
Old Business
CATF Update
Mr. Casey reviewed the CATF balance sheet reflecting account activity through March 31, 2026.
Spring Institute Update
Mr. Casey reviewed the registration numbers for this year’s Spring Institute:
761 registered to attend in-person (new record!)
287 registered to attend online
59 registered to attend leadership track
For a total of 1,048 people registered for Spring Institute (including CASC and VACA staff).
Mr. Casey reviewed the CASC reimbursement schedule and plan. CASC reimbursement instructions and forms went were emailed to the reimbursement coordinators and the elected Commonwealth’s Attorneys on March 24.
Mr. Casey also added a proviso about reimbursement for faculty prosecutors: If someone from a jurisdiction is presenting, offices should ensure that their name/hotel/dates attended are on the reimbursement form. After the jurisdiction submits it to CASC, CASC staff will calculate the final reimbursement and notify the office of the final amount.
New Business
CASC Faculty Awards 2026
Mr. Casey advised that CASC has made a budget request of the Governor for the position of Program Specialist/ Administrative Assistant at an annual cost of $107,344.06 (Annual Salary of $64,480 + benefits)
Mr. Casey noted that the number of training programs conducted by CASC has increased substantially since the 2010-2012 mandatory budget cuts, from a dozen or fewer trainings to now over thirty trainings per year, along with multiple webinars and other resource trainings. In the past twenty years, the number of prosecutors in Virginia has more than doubled. Since the 2010–2012 mandatory budget reductions, CASC’s training volume and operational complexity have increased substantially, but administrative capacity has not. CASC currently has no funded full-time administrative assistant positions. The only full-time staff are the agency head, staff attorneys, and the fiscal officer.
Mr. Casey noted that the shortage of administrative employees in the agency has resulted in the agency head and staff attorneys being unable to deliver legal work and instead being responsible for administrative and IT duties that are not consistent with their job descriptions, education and skill level. Staff attorneys and the agency head are currently handling tasks such as travel voucher processing, website maintenance, basic data entry, answering the main office phone line, and serving as de facto IT support. In short, CASC is paying professional-level salaries for clerical and technical work because there is no funded administrative position to perform it.
New Member for CASC Standing Committee on Prosecutorial Ethics
Mr. Casey detailed the need for one new member for the CASC Standing Committee on Prosecutorial Ethics. Two individuals volunteered, the Honorable Krystyn Reid and the Honorable Meredith Adkins. The body passed the matter to the May 6 meeting to decide who should hold the position.
Potential Law Enforcement Security for CASC Executive Program
Mr. Porter expressed an interest in expanding CASC’s efforts to provide security at its events beyond the CASC Spring Institute. Mr. Casey shared that CASC paid $4425 for 59 hours at $75.00 per hour in 2025 for law enforcement officers to provide security at its Spring Institute program and $3750 for 50 hours at $75.00 per hour in 2026.
FOIA Council Ruling
Mr. Casey shared that on February 23, 2026, the Virginia FOIA council provided an advisory opinion on the adequacy of CASC’s 2024 notices regarding its upcoming Council meetings at the time. Mr. Casey advised that since he became director on January 1, 2025, CASC has always provided the precise location of its meetings and a copy of the meeting agenda on Virginia’s “Commonwealth Calendar” website, simultaneously when sharing them with the Council and the elected Commonwealth’s Attorneys. Mr. Casey shared that he spoke with Alan Gerhardt with the FOIA Commission, who expressed that this procedure is compliant with Virginia FOIA requirements. Mr. Casey also shared that a copy of the schedule with meeting locations is posted in the CASC office, per FOIA, and that a meeting notice regarding this meeting was posted at the Albemarle County Circuit Court clerk’s office and such notices will continue to be so posted in the future. Lastly, Mr. Casey shared that the CASC website has CASC’s meeting schedule and provides access to the location of meetings as well. Mr. Casey made sure to review all of these requirements with Mr. Gerhardt prior to today’s meeting and is confident that CASC is currently in compliance with its FOIA requirements regarding meeting notices.
New CASC Training Programs
Mr. Casey shared that CASC had recently launched several new training programs. First, CASC has launched a basic program on Internet Crimes Against Children that we delivered in Hanover in March that had 100 attendees. CASC also completed 4 one-day Fourth Amendment trainings offered all around Virginia. CASC is also launching a brand-new week-long abusive head trauma investigation and prosecution class for prosecutors, law enforcement, and child protective services for June. Then, in July, CASC is delivering a two-day class legal and practical issues in law enforcement use of force investigations, which is open to prosecutors and law enforcement and will take place at the CASC office in Richmond.
CASC has also delivered a series of webinars for prosecutors and staff throughout the year on topics to include Use of Courtroom Technology, Common Defenses at trial, Pretrial Identification: Show-Ups, Photo-Ids, Suppression, Defending Against Constitutional Challenges, Jury Instructions, Student Loan Repayment and Forgiveness, Virginia Conservation Police, Animal Fighting Prosecutions, and in May will do a legal update on new legislation from the 2026 General Assembly.
Executive Program 2028
Mr. Casey shared that the Executive Program 2028 will take place November 29 – December 1, Staunton. Bids will be solicited through the EVA system shortly.
Spring Institute 2030
Mr. Casey mentioned that at the moment, the dates available for Spring Institute in 2030 are April 7-10 or April 14-17, 2030. Mr. Casey polled the group for which date the body preferred. The body preferred April 14-17, 2030.
Public Comment
The floor was opened for public comment. There was no public comment.
Adjournment
There being no further business before Council, the meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 12:00 p.m., at the CASC offices at Truist Place, 919 E. Main Street, Suite 1250, Richmond.