Requesting Records
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Attorney General Opinion 20-036
The Suffolk City School Board policy, which limits board members’ abilitty to seek records under FOIA, “should not impede access to public records by citizens of the Commonwelath.”
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Harki v. Department of Corrections (2020)
A Norfolk Circuit Court Judge ruled April 15, 2020, that the Virginia Department of Corrections willfully and knowingly failed to provide a Virginian-Pilot reporter with documents he requested within the 5-day response time mandated by FOIA, nor did the VDOC ask for a 7-day extension. After repeated back and forth conversations between the reporter and…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-19
The fundraising exemption, subdivision A 7 of § 2.2-3705.4, allows a public body to withhold certain information maintained in connection with fundraising activities by or for a public institution of higher education. The identity of a donor may only be withheld under the fundraising exemption if the donor has requested anonymity in connection with or…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-18
A custodian may require a requester of public records to provide his legal name and address and may attempt to verify that a requester is a citizen of the Commonwealth, a representative of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, or a representative of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth.…
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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-06-05
If a public body elects to abstract or summarize records, it can only charge for such a newly created record after a prior agreement with the requester.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-18-04
registrar clerk erred by requiring requester to put verbal FOIA request in writing. Freedom of Information Advisory Council has no authority to investigate or enforce possible FOIA violations. Dispute over whether a record exists is a fact issue for a court to resolve.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-16-04
It appears that the intent of the law would indicate that if records do not exist, this should be stated in writing to the requester. once a deposit is requested from the public body, a requester does not have the right to demand that certain records that are believed to be easily accessible be provided…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-04
Absent a court order, a public body cannot prohibit a citizen of the Commonwealth from making a FOIA request, or require her to make requests through her attorney.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-22-03
FOIA does not prohibit public bodies from regulating public comment period during open meetings. A public comment period rule prohibiting speakers from asking questions of the public body and its staff does not violate FOIA’s allowance for records requests to be made verbally. FOIAC cannot render opinions regarding possible federal constitutional violations.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-34-01
Neither a volunteer fire company nor a committee created to handle the company’s finances are public bodies; the minutes taken by a non-public body nonetheless become public records when they are provided to a public body (such as a city council); a non-public body’s financial records in the possession of a local treasurer are not…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-35-01
Unlike an annual request to be notified of meetings, FOIA does not require a public body to honor a standing request for records; however, to ease the administrative burden of responding multiple requests, the body may want to honor the annual request.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-20-00
The annual report on the compensation plan being developed by the Department of Human Resources is a public record.
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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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Fisher v. King
No 1st Amendment right of access to government-held information.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-00
Inquiries as to the status of e-mail under the Freedom of Information Act, charges for electronic records, the working papers exemption, assessment of fees for producing a requested record, the meaning of ‘reasonable specificity’
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1998 #005
A record’s copyright status does not prevent it from being released under FOIA; lyric sheets and audio tapes are official records.
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Attorney General’s Opinion 1991 #007
Citizen does not have a right to make a continuing request for records that do not yet exist.
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Associated Tax Service Inc. v. Fitzpatrick
The purpose or motivation behind a request made under FOIA is irrelevant to a citizen’s entitlement to requested information.