A self-policing disclosure system and differing requirements for lobbyists and lawmakers have led to haphazard reporting of events at which lobbyists entertain Virginia legislators. Here are a few examples from 2008:

Wilder’s unit had seven wrecks from 2005 to’08 Richmond police officers blamed for three crashes but charged in none At 1:40 a.m. on a Thursday last October, a 2006 Mercury crashed into a deer on state Route 5 in Charles City County. The wreck caused $1,713 in damage to the car’s front end but no injuries to its occupants. It’s an accident that typically would get little notice, except it involved a Richmond Police Department unit assigned to provide 24-hour security to then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder.

Suit led to settlement being made public Open-records law was used to report on drug-linked wrongful-death cases Editor’s note: To mark Sunshine Week, each day we’re highlighting a different example of how we used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents that helped us bring you the full story. Sunshine Week ends today. In a challenge brought by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, the Virginia Supreme Court last year affirmed that wrongful-death settlements are public documents that cannot be kept confidential.

Editor’s note: To mark Sunshine Week, each day we’re highlighting a different example of how we used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents that helped us bring you the full story.

Information act used in Monroe case T-D got information from city police department in reporting diploma issue It was no secret that he took only two courses at Virginia Commonwealth University. Rodney Monroe, then Richmond’s police chief, publicly spoke of that shortly before he graduated in 2007. But far less apparent were how lapses in judgment and university procedures combined to allow him to get that diploma even though he fell far short of requirements for his bachelor’s degree.

Va. posts many public records online The state ranks fifth in a survey of open government and access Unless you’re looking for death certificates, hospital inspections or a handful of other official state documents, chances are you can find them online in Virginia. A new survey finds Virginia ranks among the top states when it comes to posting public records online.

Richmond Times-Dispatch Exclusive: Six-figure wages reach from big localities to tiny King and Queen.