12:00PM
Richmond, VA
Draft
Council Members Present
Officers:
R. Bryan Haskins (Pittsylvania County), Chair
David L. Ledbetter (Waynesboro), First Vice Chair (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
Tracy Q. Martin (Halifax County), Second Vice Chair
Colette W. McEachin (City of Richmond), Secretary
Bryan L. Porter (City of Alexandria), Past Chairman (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
Council District Representatives:
Krystyn L. Reid (York County) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
Georgette C. Phillips (Isle of Wight County)
Anton A. Bell (City of Hampton)
Erin B. Barr (Chesterfield County)
Bethany A. S. Harrison (City of Lynchburg) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
David L. Ledbetter (City of Waynesboro) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
G. Ryan Mehaffey (Spotsylvania County) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
Bryan L. Porter (City of Alexandria) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
Robert M. Lilly (Giles County) (remote attendance pre-approved – distance)
R. D. “Bob” Anderson (Loudoun County)
Steve T. Descano (Fairfax County)
Other Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Present
John Alexander (Botetourt County) (remote attendance)
Amy Ashworth (Prince William) (remote attendance)
Mackenzie Babichenko (Hanover) (remote attendance)
Erin Barr (Chesterfield County)
Clarissa T. Berry (Madison County) (remote attendance)
Dayna Bobbit (Patrick County) (remote attendance)
Megan Clark (Prince Edward County)
Derek Davis (Surry County) (remote attendance)
Ramin Fatehi (Norfolk City)
Susan Fierro (Prince George County) (remote attendance)
Justin Griffith (Pulaski County) (remote attendance)
Matthew Hamel (Chesapeake City) (remote attendance)
Wendy Hannah (Cumberland County)
Heather Hovermale (Winchester City) (remote attendance)
Mike Jones (Wythe County) (remote attendance)
Tyler Klink (Charles City County) (remote attendance)
John McNeil (Roanoke City) (remote attendance)
Spencer Morgan (Accomack County) (remote attendance)
Andrew Nester (Henry County)
Eric Olsen (Stafford County)
Georgette Phillips (Isle of Wight)
Shannon Taylor (Henrico County) (remote attendance)
Jack Thornton (Northampton County) (remote attendance)
Leanne Watrous (Nottoway County) (remote attendance)
Guests
Deputy and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Present
Philip Chicester, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, Stafford County (remote attendance)
Cameron Green, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, James City County/City of Williamsburg (remote attendance)
CASC Staff Present
Elliott Casey, Director
VACA Staff Present
Amanda Howie, Administrator
Abigail Wilcox, Assistant to the Administrator
This meeting took place in-person at the Truist Building, but several members attended electronically using a secured video link provided by the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys to facilitate their attendance.
Call to Order
Mr. Haskins called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m.
Minutes
The draft minutes from the April 12, 2026, meeting were previously posted and circulated to Council. The minutes were approved as submitted.
Chairman’s Report
None.
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. The balance sheet for April is not yet available.
2026 Spring Institute Update
Mr. Casey shared that CASC had 764 registered for in-person Spring Institute. Last year was 724 people. CASC also had 292 registered to attend online, another record (288 last year). The leadership track had 62 people registered (51 last year).
The conference itself was a huge success, thanks to the CASC staff and volunteer prosecutor faculty who delivered this program. 96% of the attendees rated the program as either excellent or good, and 97% would recommend the training to others. CASC also found that 99% of our prosecutors get all of their CLEs each year from CASC programs.
Mr. Casey also shared that CASC staff are currently processing the reimbursement requests from almost 700 of those attendees, seeking reimbursement for their travel expenses through the Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Training Fund. This process will take several weeks and involves careful accounting and auditing. CASC hopes to complete this process by June 30.
Mr. Casey reminded offices that the due date for reimbursement requests is May 16th. Mr. Casey also noted that many offices are not sending their hotel folios (invoices). There are also quite a few offices who are submitting requests but not signing the Certification page.
Lastly, Mr. Casey specially commended the Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ office, which has once again declined reimbursement. CASC appreciates Mr. Hamel’s willingness to use his own funds rather than CASC’s limited CATF funds.
New Business
Spring Institute 2030 Update
Mr. Casey advised that CASC is currently exploring options for the April 14-17, 2030 Spring Institute, including potential venues throughout the Commonwealth other than Norfolk.
CASC 2026 Finance Committee Meeting
Mr. Casey reminded the body that the next CASC Finance Committee meeting will take place June 22, 2026, 1:30 p.m. at this location.
VSP Request for CA Contact Information RE: Sealing Procedure
Mr. Casey advised that Virginia State Police contacted CASC earlier this week about the new Sealing procedures that will go into effect on July 1 of this year. The Virginia State Police has been working on the Seal Notification process that will allow VSP to meet the statutes regarding notification of seal orders. VSP has identified that the Commonwealth Attorney Offices across the state will be required to receive notifications based upon the statute set forth in §19.2-392.
The Virginia State Police are ready to electronically notify agencies and individuals that have requested criminal history information. When an individual is notified of a seal order, they will need to log in to the Seal Notification Portal to view the detail information for that seal order. The key information needed is an email address from each office for their primary ORI.
VSP is seeking contact information and communicating to the Commonwealth Attorney offices their expected actions. VSP believes that it makes sense to send notice to a particular employee that would be responsible for ensuring that the seal order notifications are processed for the office. VSP is prepared to accept multiple email addresses per organization, so it would be up to each office to determine who the right people are. VSP needs a person’s email address (not a generic email) and they will each be given a login to the Seal Notification Portal to view the seal order details.
VSP is hoping that CASC will provide a comprehensive contact list. After a discussion, the consensus was that CASC will provide prosecutors with a link to a Web form that each office would need to fill in their information; VSP is already using this form to gather contact information for Law Enforcement agencies.
VSP is requesting the information by June 1 to allow time to do verification and load it into their production system. CASC will circulate that link in the next few days.
CASC New Laws Webinar
Mr. Casey advised that CASC will hold its first-ever webinar reviewing the new laws from the Virginia General Assembly on May 13, 2-5 p.m. Instructors will be Mr. Casey and Jason Kowalski, CASC Staff Attorney. CASC will review and examine the new legislation from the 2026 General Assembly session.
Public Comment
There was no public comment.
Adjournment
There being no further business before Council, the meeting adjourned at 12:23 p.m. The next regularly scheduled meeting is June 17, 2026, 1:00 p.m., at the CASC Office, Truist Place, 919 E. Main Street, Suite 1250, Richmond.