Attorney General's Opinion 1981-82 #433

VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. EXEMPTION FROM MANDATORY DISCLOSURE FOR PERSONNEL RECORDS. APPLICATIONS AND NAMES OF PERSONS WHO, AFTER PUBLIC INVITATION, HAVE APPLIED FOR NONPAYING POSITIONS ON PUBLIC BOARD OR COMMISSION.

August 3, 1981

The Honorable George W. Grayson
Member, House of Delegates

81-82 433

You ask whether the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (the "Act") allows a local governing body not to disclose the applications and names of persons who, after public invitation, have applied for nonpaying positions on a public board or commission.

Under §2.1342 (a), all official records shall be open to inspection and copying, except as otherwise specifically provided by law. Under 2.1-342 (b) (3), certain records are excluded from the Act, including personnel records.1

Applications are personnel records, whether for paying or nonpaying positions.2 The identity of the individual is an integral part of any personnel record, and personnel records are defined in part as the records of identifiable individuals.3

By way of Comparison, 2.1-342(b)(1) provided that certain records are exempt from mandatory disclosure, but the identity of certain individuals is nevertheless subject to mandatory disclosure. Section 2.1-342(b)(3) contains no such provision for mandatory disclosure of identities.

Accordingly, I am of the opinion that 2.1-342(b)(3) allows a local governing body not to disclose the applications and names of persons who, after public invitation, have applied for nonpaying positions on a public board or commission.4

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Footnotes:

1 Apparently there are no public records containing the applicants' names other than the applications. Under the Act, a public body is not required to abstract or summarize information from official records.

2 See Opinion to the Honorable Glenn B. McClanan, Member House of Delegates, dated April 3, 1974, found in Report of the Attorney General (1973-1974) at 456.

3 See, for example, Opinion to the Honorable Vincent F. Callan, Jr., Member, House of Delegates, dated April 13, 1979, found in Report of the Attorney General (1978-1979) at 316 (pension records of "identifiable individuals").

4 once an individual is appointed to a public hoard or commission, the individual's name and appointment presumably will appear in public records other than personnel records. See Opinion to the Honorable Claude V. Swanson, Member, House of Delegates, dated May 24, 1978, found in Report of the Attorney General (1977-1978) at 481 (list of county employees under CETA program is official record--status as personnel record not decided).