Attorney General's Opinion 1984-85 #428
VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. PUBLIC AGENCY NOT REQUIRED TO PROVIDE OFFICIAL RECORDS IN SPECIFIC MANNER REQUESTED.
September 25, 1984
The Honorable Warren E. Barry
Clerk, Circuit Court of Fairfax County
84-85 428
You have asked whether a clerk of court is required to collect and store data in a particular manner in order to comply with a citizen's exact request pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, §§2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the "Act"). Specifically, you inquire whether you must store judgment data on magnetic tapes and make available copies of such tapes at the request of a citizen when the information is available in another form for public review during business hours.
You indicate that the judgment data requested is available during business hours. You do not indicate what form this available data takes; however, for purposes of this Opinion, I will assume that the data is available in an understandable form (i.e., typed record, computer printout). I will also assume that the data available in conventional form may be copied at the expense of the requestor.
Section 2.1-342(a) requires that public records subject to mandatory disclosure be made available to any citizen requesting them, unless otherwise specifically provided by law. These official records are open for "inspection and copying...during the regular office hours of the custodian...." See §2.1-342(a). A reasonable charge for copying and search time may be requested by the public body.
The Act does not require a public body to create a particular record if such does not already exist. See 1982-1983 Report of the Attorney General at 727. See also 1983-1984 Report of the Attorney General at 436. Similarly, the Act does not require a public body to convert an official record available in one form into another form at the request of a citizen. It is my opinion that so long as a public body makes the record available to the requesting citizen to review or copy, the public body is in compliance with the Act.
