Research Library

• LIS Public API (developer portal)

  REST API for bills, votes, members, committees (free key; 2025+ session data)

• Code of Virginia (law.lis)

  Official Code of Virginia, Constitution, and Administrative Code

• House of Delegates meeting schedule

  House committee and subcommittee meeting schedule and dockets

• General Assembly live streaming & archives

  Live and archived House and Senate floor and committee video

• Senate of Virginia

  Senator directory, committee meeting schedules, and Senate resources

• Senate of Virginia video (Granicus)

  Archived Senate floor and committee video

• Who's My Legislator

  Find state and federal legislators by address

• Division of Legislative Services (DLS)

  Legislative studies, commissions, redistricting history, and session summaries

• Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC)

  Nonpartisan audits and evaluations of state agencies and programs

• Virginia Redistricting Commission

  2021 district shapefiles, court-ordered maps, and commission records

• LIS API key registration

  Free API key sign-up for the LIS REST API

• LIS data files (CSV)

  Bulk CSV downloads of bills, votes, patrons, and history

• Virginia Law developer services

  JSON/XML web services and CSV downloads of the Code

Also on the shelves above: Virginia Legislative Information System (LIS), Virginia General Assembly Portal, Virginia LIS — Legacy System (pre-2025 sessions)

• VA Dept. of Elections: Campaign Finance

  Official campaign finance hub: filing info, deadlines, and report access

• VPAP (Virginia Public Access Project)

  Nonpartisan donor, candidate, and money-in-politics data and visualizations for Virginia

• VPAP donor search

  Look up individual and business donors across state and local races

• VPAP visuals

  Charts and maps on elections, money, and policy in Virginia

• VPAP lobbyist disclosures

  Searchable lobbyist and lobbying-client data for Virginia

• VPAP local politics

  Local officeholders, races, and money by locality

• FollowTheMoney (OpenSecrets state data)

  50-state campaign finance database including Virginia history

Also on the shelves above: Virginia SBE Campaign Finance — Official Filings (source of record)

• Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT)

  Voter, candidate, and election administration info

• ELECT candidate lists

  Who is on the ballot for upcoming elections

• ELECT registration statistics

  Voter registration counts by locality and district

• VPAP elections

  Race-by-race Virginia election data and maps

• Ballotpedia: Virginia

  Encyclopedic coverage of Virginia officials, races, and ballot measures

• MIT Election Data + Science Lab

  Precinct and county-level results datasets nationwide

• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. ElectionsPaid

  Historical election results by county (some data paid)

• ELECT redistricting maps

  Precinct and district PDF/GIS maps by locality

• ELECT political committees

  Registered PACs and party committees

Also on the shelves above: Virginia Historical Elections Database (pre-2024 results), Virginia Department of Elections — Official Results

Court-record caution: OCIS is the go-to statewide search, but a name match is not a person match. Confirm with date of birth, middle name/initial, address, or case details before relying on it. Fairfax Circuit and Alexandria Circuit are not in OCIS.

• OCIS (Online Case Information System 2.0)

  Statewide name search across district and most circuit courts (Scott's go-to; confirm matches with DOB or case details)

• Virginia Judicial System case information

  Gateway to all VA court case lookups

• General District Court online case info

  Civil, criminal, and traffic cases by individual GDC

• Circuit Court case information (by locality)

  Circuit court directory and links to each court's online case info

• Fairfax Circuit Court CPANPaid

  Fairfax Circuit is NOT in OCIS; CPAN is its subscription remote access to case and land records (paid)

• Fairfax Circuit Court

  Fairfax Circuit Court clerk, land records, and case access info

• Alexandria Circuit Court

  Alexandria Circuit (separate from statewide circuit system)

• Supreme Court & Court of Appeals opinions

  Published opinions from both Virginia appellate courts

• Appellate Case Management System (ACMS)

  Docket info for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases

• Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission

  Judicial conduct complaints and published actions

• PACER (federal courts)Paid

  Federal court dockets incl. E.D. and W.D. Virginia (paid, per page; fees often waived under $30/qtr)

• CourtListener / RECAP Archive

  Free federal opinions and PACER documents others have bought

• U.S. District Court E.D. Virginia

  Federal court for NoVA, Richmond, Norfolk; opinions and notices

• VA Dept. of Corrections inmate & supervisee locator

  Find people in state prison custody or on supervision

• Virginia Sex Offender Registry

  State Police sex offender registry

• VINELink

  Jail custody status lookup (search by state)

• JudyRecords

  Free full-text search of hundreds of millions of U.S. court records

• CourtListener RECAP Archive

  Free PACER dockets and filings (pairs with the RECAP browser extension)

• Free Law Project RECAP extension

  Browser extension that saves PACER purchases to the free archive

• SCC Clerk's Information System (CIS)

  Business entity search: officers, registered agents, filings, and history

• SCC Business Entity Search

  Direct search for corporations, LLCs, and LPs

• SCC UCC search

  UCC liens and financing statements

• SCC docket search

  Utility, insurance, and regulatory case dockets (e.g., Dominion rate cases)

• DPOR license lookup

  Professional licenses (contractors, realtors, etc.) and discipline

• Department of Health Professions license lookup

  Health professional licenses and board actions

• OpenCorporates

  Cross-state corporate registry search for officers and entities

• SEC EDGAR full-text search

  Public company filings, insiders, and Form D offerings

• Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council

  State SOEIs, gift disclosures, and lobbyist reports

• Ethics Council public information

  Explains what is filed where (state vs. local SOEIs, candidates since 7/1/2026)

• Ethics Council searchable disclosure database

  Search Statements of Economic Interests and lobbyist disclosures

• Secretary of the Commonwealth: lobbyist registration

  Lobbyist registration info and lookup

• Secretary of the Commonwealth: boards & commissions

  Gubernatorial appointees to state boards

• Virginia Coalition for Open Government (VCOG)

  FOIA guides, sample requests, and open-government news

• Virginia FOIA Council

  Official FOIA advisory opinions, guides, sample letters, and FOIA officer contacts

• MuckRock

  File and track public records requests; browse others' requests

• Virginia Register of Regulations

  Proposed and final regulations, executive orders, and notices

• Virginia Regulatory Town Hall

  Regulatory actions, public comment, and state board meeting calendar

• Commonwealth Calendar (Town Hall meetings)

  State board and commission meeting notices and minutes

• Governor of Virginia: executive actions

  Executive orders and directives

• Office of the Attorney General: official opinions

  Official AG opinions on state and local law

• Department of Planning and Budget (DPB)

  Governor's budget documents and agency planning

• Budget.lis (state budget bills)

  Appropriation acts, amendments, and member budget requests

• House Appropriations Committee

  Budget summaries and committee reports

• Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee

  Senate budget documents and presentations

• Auditor of Public Accounts (APA)

  State and local audit reports, special investigations

• APA local government reports

  Local audits (ACFRs) and Comparative Report of revenues/expenditures for every county and city

• APA fraud reporting

  State fraud, waste and abuse hotline and investigation reports

• Open Data Portal (data.virginia.gov)

  State open datasets across agencies

• Virginia Retirement System

  Pension system reports and investments

• Weldon Cooper Center demographics

  Population estimates and projections by locality

• Virginia Dept. of Taxation local tax rates

  Local tax rate tables and annual surveys

Also on the shelves above: Commonwealth Data Point, eVA — Virginia Procurement System

• VDOE (Virginia Department of Education)

  State education policy, Board of Education, and data

• VDOE School Quality Profiles

  Test scores, accreditation, and school-level data

• VDOE data & reports

  Enrollment, finance, staffing, and statistics

• VDOE Superintendent's Annual Report

  Per-pupil spending and school division finances

• LCPS School Board (BoardDocs)

  Loudoun County Public Schools board agendas and materials

• FCPS School Board (BoardDocs)

  Fairfax County Public Schools board agendas and materials

• Virginia School Boards Association

  School board member resources and division directory

• NCES (federal education statistics)

  School district finance, enrollment, and comparisons

• Virginia Association of Counties (VACo)

  County directory and county policy positions

• Virginia Municipal League (VML)

  City and town directory and local government issues

• Loudoun County meetings (Granicus)

  Archived Loudoun BOS and commission video and agendas

• Fairfax County Board of Supervisors

  Fairfax BOS agendas, summaries, and members

• Fairfax County meeting video

  Fairfax Channel 16 live and archived meetings

• City of Fairfax City Meetings

  Fairfax City Council, School Board, and Planning Commission agendas, minutes, and video

• City of Manassas Mayor & Council

  Manassas council members and contacts

• Albemarle County Board of Supervisors

  Albemarle BOS agendas and members

• Prince William County Board of County Supervisors

  PWC BOCS agendas, members, and video

• Arlington County Board

  Arlington County Board agendas and members

• Granicus (meeting video platform)

  Platform behind many local meeting archives; search "<locality>.granicus.com"

• eScribe meetings

  Agenda and video platform used by some VA localities

• Swagit (Granicus)

  Meeting video platform used by some VA localities and school boards; search "<locality>.swagit.com"

• Manassas council meeting center

  Manassas council agendas, minutes, and video

Also on the shelves above: Loudoun County Board of Supervisors

• Loudoun County parcel/real estate search

  Loudoun assessments, owners, and sales

• Loudoun WebLogis GIS

  Loudoun parcel maps, zoning, and districts

• Fairfax County real estate assessments

  Fairfax assessments, owners, and sales history

• Fairfax County GIS (Digital Map Viewer)

  Fairfax parcel and zoning maps

• Prince William County property search

  PWC assessments, owners, value history, and transfers

• Albemarle County GIS Viewer

  Albemarle parcel cards, owners, zoning, and aerials

• Arlington County real estate assessments

  Arlington property owners and assessments

• Supreme Court of Virginia Secure Remote Access (land records)Paid

  Remote access to circuit court land records in participating localities (paid subscription)

• VGIN / Virginia GIS clearinghouse

  Statewide parcel, boundary, and address layers

• Virginia Geographic Information Network parcels

  Statewide parcel data aggregation

• Virginia DEQ permits and enforcement

  Environmental permits, violations, and enforcement

• Manassas property search (Vision)

  Manassas assessments, owners, and sales

• Loudoun LandMARCPaid

  Loudoun Circuit Court land records (deeds, liens) remote access (paid subscription)

• Albemarle County View

  Albemarle property, planning, and building application lookups

• Prince William County Mapper

  PWC parcel and zoning GIS map

• Fairfax County Times

  Fairfax local news

• Cardinal / Daily Progress (Charlottesville)

  Albemarle and Charlottesville news

• Charlottesville Tomorrow

  Nonprofit Albemarle/Charlottesville local news

• The Virginia Star

  Conservative-leaning Virginia politics news

• Blue Virginia

  Progressive Virginia politics blog

• The Bull Elephant

  Conservative Virginia politics blog

• Library of Virginia

  State archives, historical records, and government publications

• Virginia Chronicle (digital newspapers)

  Free full-text historical Virginia newspapers from the Library of Virginia

• Library of Virginia research guides

  Research guides incl. government records and older campaign finance

• Chronicling America (LOC)

  Historical U.S. newspapers full text

• Google News

  Current coverage search; set alerts

• Google Alerts

  Email alerts for names and topics

• Patch (Virginia)

  Hyperlocal community news by town

Also on the shelves above: Virginia Mercury, Cardinal News, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Loudoun Times-Mirror, Loudoun Now, InsideNoVa, WTOP, Bacon's Rebellion

• FEC (Federal Election Commission)

  Federal candidates, PACs, and individual contribution search

• FEC individual contributions

  Look up federal donations by name, employer, ZIP

• OpenSecrets: Virginia

  Virginia federal delegation, races, and donors

• OpenSecrets personal finances

  Members of Congress financial disclosure summaries

• House financial disclosures

  House member and candidate financial disclosures and stock trades

• Senate financial disclosures (eFD)

  Senator and candidate financial disclosures

• IRS 527 political organization search

  IRS Section 527 political organization filings (8871/8872)

Also on the shelves above: OpenSecrets

• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

  Search nonprofit 990s, executive pay, and finances

• IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (TEOS)

  Verify exempt status and pull 990s and determination letters

• Candid (GuideStar) profilesPaid

  Nonprofit profiles (some features paid)

• VDACS charitable solicitation

  Charities registered to solicit in Virginia

• InfluenceWatch

  Profiles of advocacy groups, funders, and activists (Capital Research Center; right-leaning)

• SAM.gov

  Federal contractor registrations and exclusions

• Grants.gov

  Federal grant opportunities

• Federal Audit Clearinghouse

  Single audits of local governments and nonprofits receiving federal money

• EPA ECHO

  Facility environmental compliance and enforcement

• OSHA establishment search

  Workplace safety inspections and violations by company

• Violation Tracker (Good Jobs First)

  Corporate penalties and settlements across federal and state agencies

• Subsidy Tracker (Good Jobs First)

  Economic development subsidies by company and state, incl. Virginia deals

Also on the shelves above: USAspending.gov

• GovInfo

  Official federal publications, Congressional Record, Federal Register

• GovTrack

  Bill tracking and member voting records

• Senate roll call votes

  Official Senate roll call votes

• Federal Register

  Federal rules, notices, and executive orders

• Regulations.gov

  Federal rulemaking dockets and public comments

Also on the shelves above: Congress.gov, Clerk of the US House of Representatives — Roll Call Votes, C-SPAN

• LDA lobbying disclosure (lda.gov)

  Federal lobbying registrations, reports, and LD-203 contributions

• House lobbying disclosure

  House-side federal lobbying filings

• FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act)

  Registered foreign agents and their filings

• FARA (DOJ info)

  FARA overview and search link

• LittleSis

  Power mapping of people, companies, and relationships

• OpenSecrets lobbying

  Federal lobbying spending by client, firm, and issue

• The Accountability Project (TAP)

  Search 2.7B+ public records (donors, contracts, salaries, licenses) by name or address; free MuckRock login unlocks voter/property data. Old tap.theaccountabilityproject.org address no longer resolves

• OCCRP Aleph

  Searchable leaks, company registries, and court records worldwide (free account for some data)

• ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database

  Panama, Paradise, and Pandora Papers offshore entities and officers

• OpenSanctions

  Sanctions lists and politically exposed persons (PEPs)

• DocumentCloud

  Search and annotate public documents published by newsrooms

• MuckRock FOIA request search

  Browse others' public records requests and released documents

• Bellingcat

  Investigations and how-to guides on open-source research methods

• TruePeopleSearch

  Free people search: addresses, relatives, phones (verify independently)

• FastPeopleSearch

  Free people search; confirm with official records

• FamilySearch

  Genealogy records incl. death and marriage indexes (free account)

• FAA aircraft registry

  Aircraft ownership lookups

• USPTO trademark search

  Trademarks tied to people or companies

• Google Patents

  Patents by inventor or assignee

• Nationwide Environmental Title Research (NETR) Online - VA

  Directory of every VA locality's assessor and land records sites

• BRB Publications free public records directory

  Directory of free government record sites by state

• X Advanced Search

  Search posts by account, date range, keywords, and engagement (needs an X login)

• Meta Ad Library

  Political ads on Facebook and Instagram with spend and targeting

• Google Ads Transparency Center

  Political and other ads run on Google and YouTube by advertiser

• Google Political Ads report

  U.S. political ad spending on Google

• Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)

  Archived versions of websites; save pages as evidence

• archive.today

  Snapshot pages, including social posts

• Internet Archive TV News Archive

  Searchable TV news clips

• Social Searcher

  Free cross-platform social mention search

• WhatsMyName

  Find a username across hundreds of sites

• ICANN Lookup (WHOIS/RDAP)

  Domain registration records for campaign or PAC websites

• ViewDNS.info

  Reverse IP, DNS history, and related domain lookups

• crt.sh (certificate search)

  Find subdomains and related sites via SSL certificates

• BuiltWithPaid

  Website technology and shared tracking IDs (partly paid)

• Google Lens

  Reverse image search

• TinEye

  Reverse image search with first-seen dates

• InVID / WeVerify plugin

  Video and image verification browser plugin

• Reddit search

  Local subreddit discussion (e.g., r/nova, r/Virginia)

• Wayback Machine Save Page Now

  Archive a page on demand to preserve evidence

Also on the shelves above: YouTube

• OSINT Framework

  Clickable tree of OSINT tools by category

• Bellingcat Online Investigation Toolkit

  Reviewed, regularly updated catalog of investigation tools

• IntelTechniques tools

  Search tools and resources from Michael Bazzell

• GIJN Resource Center

  Investigative journalism guides incl. political finance and public records

• Bsquared Intel: OSINT for political campaigns

  Short guide to OSINT for opposition and self-research

• Awesome OSINT (GitHub)

  Large curated list of OSINT tools

• Start.me OSINT pages

  Community OSINT bookmark collections

• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

  Tipsheets and data resources for public records reporting

• OSINT Newsletter tools library

  Searchable tools library with cost and use notes

• UNISHKA resources

  Toolkit for investigative journalists and anti-corruption research