Attorney General's Opinion 1984-85 #424

VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. EXEMPTIONS. SECURITY INSPECTION SURVEYS AND OPERATION IDENTIFICATION CHECKS SUBMITTED IN CONFIDENCE TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES' OFFICIAL RECORDS FOR PURPOSES OF ACT, BUT EXEMPT FROM PROVISIONS PURSUANT TO SEC. 2.1-342(b)(1).

November 9, 1984

The Honorable Lindsay G. Dorrier, Jr.
Commonwealth's Attorney for Albemarle County

84-85 424

This is in response to your request for my opinion concerning disclosure of information from security inspection surveys and operation identification checks which is filed with local law enforcement agencies. You specifically inquire whether the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, §§ 2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the "Act"), is applicable to this type of information.

You indicate that the "information" in question takes the form of surveys and reports which are conducted and compiled by community volunteers throughout the Commonwealth. This information is then filed with local police and sheriffs' departments. You state that these documents are filed "in confidence" with the local law enforcement agency.

Section 2.1-342(b)(1) excludes from mandatory disclosure all "reports submitted to the state and local police . . . in confidence . . . ." Thus, even assuming that the documents constitute official records, as defined in § 2.1-341(b), if the documents in question are submitted in confidence, they are excluded, pursuant to § 2.1-342(b)(1), from the disclosure requirements of the Act.