Attorney General's Opinion 1980-81 #392

VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. RECORDS OF SHERIFF'S SPECIAL FUNDS ACCOUNT.

November 6, 1980

The Honorable W. Onico Barker
Member, Senate of Virginia

80-81 392

You have asked whether financial records pertaining to funds in a special account maintained by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff's Office are official records subject to required public disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (the "Act").

The information provided with your inquiry indicates that the funds in the special account are derived from sources such as the sale of calendars by the sheriff's department and receipts from drink vending machines located at the jail. None of the funds in the account are provided by State or county government appropriations. The account funds are, however, used, in part, for expenses related to the official function of the sheriff's department, including the purchase of business forms, automobile equipment and postage, salaries of temporary employees, reimbursements of deputies' travel expenses, and cleaning of uniforms. I am also advised that some funds have been used for criminal investigations. Expenditures have also been made for unofficial purposes such as flowers in cases of employee illness or family deaths, contributions to Christmas parties for State penal institution prisoners, and donations to local rescue squads.

The Act requires that, except as otherwise provided by law, all "official records" maintained by State and local governmental officials shall be subject to required public disclosure upon request by any citizen of this State. See §2.1-342 (a) of the Code of Vir inia (1950), as amended. "Official records" are defined in §2.1-341 (b) to include: "all written or printed books, papers letters documents, maps and tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, reports or other material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, prepared, owned, or in the possession of a public body or any employee or officer of a public body in the transaction of public business."

Although the funds in the account you describe are not governmental appropriations they are clearly used, in part, for some of the sheriff's expenses in the performance of official duties. I, therefore, conclude that the account records in question are official records made in the transaction of public business within coverage of the Act. The fact that these records may reflect expenditures for criminal investigations would not bring them within the exception from required disclosure provided for criminal investigative records under §2.1-342(b)(1), provided that no investigative information is revealed in the account records.

The account records are, therefore, official records of the sheriff's department subject to required public disclosure under the Act.