Advisory Council

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-11

Summarizes the requirements for making and responding to a FOIA request. Clear communications between the parties are essential. Public bodies are reminded to provide one of the five responses required by statute.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-12

A public official may only charge his or her rate of pay as a public official, not as a private employee, when responding to requests for public records.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-11

Adult arrestee booking photographs (mug shots) are public records subject to FOIA.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-11

A rescue squad which is a town department is subject to FOIA for records purposes, but is not subject to the open meetings requirements of FOIA.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-11

The attorney-client privilege exemption must be narrowly construed. If a record contains both exempt and non-exempt material, only the exempt material may be withheld. Whether a record is exempt depends on the contents of the record and the existence of a specific legal provision that allows the record to be withheld.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-11

Section 40.1-11 of the Code of Virginia exempts certain records of the Department of Labor and Industry from mandatory disclosure under FOIA.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-11

Pursuant to the exemption for records of persons imprisoned in penal institutions in the Commonwealth related to the imprisonment, the Department of Corrections may withhold a list of female inmates showing the inmates' names, state identification numbers, and facility locations.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-11

A settlement agreement that settles ongoing litigation and is sealed by court order is exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-10

For the purpose of the definition of public records, the meaning of in the transaction of public business must be examined on a case by case basis. FOIA does not mandate how to perform a search for records, but any search that is conducted must be carried out in good faith.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-10

FOIA provides exemptions from mandatory disclosure for certain records related to closed meetings. However, FOIA does not address whether a mayor may demand that at the conclusion of a closed meeting members of a local governing body give to the mayor any documents distributed or notes taken during the closed meeting.

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