Creation of a New Record
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-18
Discusses general open meetings requirements of public bodies and their committees as well as obligations of public bodies in response to a request for public records. A public body is not required to record open meetings itself but must afford the public the opportunity to record the meetings. A committee of a public body is…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-15
A public body does not have to create a new record that does not already exist, but may abstract or summarize information under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requester and the public body. Clear and concise communications are critical when making and responding to requests.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-08
Failure to respond to a request for records is deemed a denial of the request and a violation of FOIA. Clear communications are essential to FOIA transactions.
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Davis v. City of Chesapeake (Chesapeake Circuit Court)
The Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act is not an exemption to FOIA’s disclosure requirements. City may not charge for summary/abstract of record without first reaching an agreeement with the requester.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-11-03
An exception to the general rule that a public body does not have to create a record that does not exist is when the requested information is for employee salaries. General recommendation that public body and requester work together to clarify requests. General advice to compare information contained in records oneself instead of relying on…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-49-01
A record custodian can, in his/her discretion, create a record where none exits, but he/she cannot charge the requester for the new document without prior notification. Nothing prevents and nothing requires one governmental entity to forward the records responsive to a requester’s request to another governmental entity, however, the first entity cannot charge the requester…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-13-01
Regarding directory information held by a school system and duties under FOIA when a requested record does not exist.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-01
noncriminal incident police reports are available under FOIA, though police may excise personal identifying information; phone director of city employees, if it exists, is subject to disclosure under FOIA.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-11-00
public body not required to merge two separate databases to create a record containing the information sought by a requester; requester can ask for both databases and manipulate the raw data himself.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1989 #013
Public body not required to compile a record, but must notify the requester within the required time.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1983-84 #436
When determining the actual cost of providing copies, a public body may take into consideration (1) number of hours reasonably necessary to compile, copy and assemble documents, (2) cost of computer time used and (3) costs of reproducing the records. If a document is created at the request of a citizen, even though the public…
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1969-70 #317
Records on salaries paid to public employees open.