Records
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-09
Scholastic records, by definition, are those records which contain information directly related to a student and maintained by a public body that is an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution. A denial of a records request must cite the specific Code section that authorizes the withholding of…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-09
The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia is an agency of the Commonwealth supported wholly or principally by public funds; opinion also address response time, and failure to respond properly.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-11-08
A record that is not prepared, owned, or possessed in the transaction of public business is not a public record subject to FOIA. When conducting private business, public officials and employees (in this case, a university law professor) should avoid indicia, such as agency letterhead, that make private records appear to carry the imprimatur of…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-08
FOIA provides that public bodies bear the burden of proof to establish an exemption by a preponderance of the evidence. However, FOIA is silent regarding whether a requester may challenge as an abuse of discretion a decision not to disclose records that are excluded from mandatory disclosure pursuant to a valid exemption, once the exemption…
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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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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-08
Records concerning general law enforcement policy matters must be disclosed, but records specifying how policy will be implemented, i.e. the methods by which officers will conduct investigations, may be withheld as records of investigative techniques or procedures.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-08
FOIA does not require a public body to provide records, or portions thereof, that are not responsive to a request. Implementing a universal security policy requiring all visitors to present identification before entering a public building does not inherently exclude the public from attending public meetings which may be held therein.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-08
FOI Advisory Council discusses exemptions on vendor proprietary records, security system manuals, and school safety audits. Also discussed: duty of government to seek clarification if records request is confusing; failure to identify the volume of records requested that are subject to an exemption; and improperly denying records based on the sheer volume of the request.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-08
Weekends and legal holidays are not counted as working days when computing the five working day time limit for a response to a request for public records. A public body must inform a requester in writing when it does not have the records the requester seeks. Clear communications are essential to the operation of FOIA.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-08
Records concerning a public body’s employment policies are open to disclosure. If a public body is unsure of the scope of a request, it should contact the requester to clarify the matter. A failure to respond to a records request is deemed a denial of the request and a violation of FOIA.
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Rivera v. Long (Virginia Supreme Court)
Where the Social Security numbers are redacted from voter registration application records, the documents will no longer be exempt from inspection.
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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-12-07
If a public body denies a request for public records in whole or part, it must send the requester a written response citing the law that allows the records to be withheld. The release of certain Department of Social Services records pertaining to child support enforcement matters is prohibited by law under Title 63.2 of…
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Fenter v. Norfolk Airport Authority (Virginia Supreme Court)
Norfolk Airport Authority’s response that it had forwarded a citizen’s FOIA request to the Transportation Security Administration did not meet the standards of any of Virginia FOIA’s required responses.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 2007 #068
Virginia Retirement System can withhold information private equity firms provide the system on its structure, portfolio or strategy.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-07
FOIA allows a public body to charge for existing records. FOIA does not address what a public body may charge for additional access features beyond inspection and copying of existing records.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-07
The student government of a public institution of higher education is a public body subject to FOIA. The branches of student government are analogous to the organization of government generally (i.e., legislative, executive, and judicial). (Several other related issues discussed.)
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Attorney General’s Opinion 2007 #027
List of concealed-carry gun permittees should be kept confidential by the state police because it might contain names of crime victims or witnesses.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-07
A public body may charge for the actual cost of staff time spent redacting records in response to a request. It may not charge any additional fee for a separate legal review of the same records.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-07
An electronic mail message header showing the time and date when the message was received by a public body may not be withheld as documentation or other information that describes the design, function, operation or access control features of any security system under subdivision 3 of § 2.2-3705.2.
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Rivera v. Long (Norfolk Circuit Court) (on costs and attorneys’ fees)
Judge rules on cost prevailing plaintiff should pay for copies of general registrar’s records, as well as on attorneys’ fees for the plaintiff’s attorney.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-08-06
Animal licensing records are open to the public under FOIA and §3.1-796.86. Public bodies should not collect from citizens information that will become part of a public record unless such collection is required or necessary to the mission of the public body.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-06
American Society of Civil Engineers is not a public body because its funding comes primarily from grants. Records provided by the body to the Secretary of Transportation or the Department of Rail and Public Transportation would be public records, though. And because of intense public interest, the ASCE "might wish to consider opening the meetings…