ENFORCING YOUR RIGHTS
Virginia Freedom of Information Act
The ins and outs of Virginia’s FOIA are hard enough. Enforcing your rights under the act can seem even more daunting. But it doesn’t have to be.
If you think that a public body has not followed the rules for providing public records or holding a public meeting, the first thing to do is to try to work it out with the public body: Have a conversation, collaborate, negotiate. But, if that doesn’t work, Virginia’s FOIA specifically imagines that everyday people can enforce their rights under FOIA on their own by filing a petition in general district court. If you have an attorney to help you, that’s great. But the general district court process doesn’t require that you have one.
FOIA IS DIFFERENT
- Everyday citizens can enforce FOIA in general district court without an attorney
- Many of the usual rules of court procedure do not apply in FOIA cases
- FOIA cases are supposed to be heard quickly
POSSIBLE REMEDIES
- Writ of mandamus (records)
- Injunction (meetings)
- Civil penalties
- Attorney fees and costs
FORMS
- DC-495
- Instructions
BASIC HOW-TO
- Find the right court
- Fill out the DC-495 form
- Give a copy to the public body you’re filing against
- File the form at the general district court clerk’s office and pay the filing fee
- Get a hearing
- Present your case to the judge at the hearing
VCOG’S ARCHIVE
- Supreme Court, Circuit Court and some federal cases
- Attorney General opinions
- FOIA Council opinions
- Searchable
