Advisory Council
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-24
As a general principle for FOIA, an entity that receives at least two-thirds, or 66.6 percent, of its operating budget from government sources would be supported wholly or principally by public funds. However, the question of whether an entity is supported principally by public funds is a question of fact that must be decided on…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-08-24
FOIA policy provides that all public records are presumed open for inspection or copying, unless an exemption is properly invoked. There is a fundamental duty in FOIA for a public body to collaborate with a requester in the production of the records requested. FOIA does not prohibit or restrict access rights under the attorney-client or…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-24
Any response by a public body to a FOIA request for public records shall comply with the provisions of subsection B of § 2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia. The working papers exemption in subdivision 2 of § 2.2-3705.7 of the Code of Virginia was designed to provide a zone of privacy for the deliberative…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-24
FOIA affirmatively requires that “records of the name, position, job classification, official salary, or rate of pay of, and records of the allowances or reimbursements for expenses paid to, any officer, official, or employee of a public body” be made available to the public. However, while the Virginia personnel information exemption requires the release of…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-24
FOIA does not require a public body to charge a requester at all, but if charges are assessed, FOIA provides that a public body may only do so within the stated limitations. A public body may assess charges for the production of requested records which includes the hourly rate of pay for the staff that…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-24
The exemption for a closed meeting relating to discussion of actual or probable litigation does not require that legal counsel be present at the discussion. Briefings pertaining to actual or probable litigation may be performed by staff members or consultants. Conversely, the exemption for a closed meeting pertaining to consultation with legal counsel employed or…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-24
A public body shall not be required to create a new record if the record does not already exist; however, a public body is required to provide to a requester, unless otherwise specifically provided by law, a public record in the medium requested if the public record is identified with reasonable specificity and if that…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-24
Discusses the circumstances under which a pro se petitioner becomes eligible to obtain reimbursement of attorney fees after hiring an attorney to represent the petitioner in a FOIA matter or during the appeal process. A court would have to determine that a petitioner’s rights and privileges were denied in violation of law, that the petitioner…
Opinions -
FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-23
Upon a receipt of a request, a public body must respond in accordance with the established provisions and timeframes in subsection B of § 2.2-3704. If part of the requested records are being withheld from release, a public body shall identify with reasonable particularity the subject matter of withheld portions, and cite, as to each…
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FOI Advisory Council opinion AO-02-23
A Governor-elect’s transition teams generally would not be public bodies subject to FOIA unless they are supported wholly or principally by public funds. Transition team records might be public records subject to FOIA (i) if the transition team is a public body because it is supported by public funds or (ii) if transition team records…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-23
Public Subsection D of § 15.2-2907 exempts the Commission on Local Government and certain meetings from FOIA, but does not otherwise address access to public records under FOIA. Also discussed the attorney-client privilege exemption, delivery methods and remedies available under FOIA.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-22
Public bodies are required to provide cost estimates for the production of public records upon request, but FOIA does not specify the level of detail to be included with a cost estimate. Because an estimate is inexact by definition and sometimes the total costs that may be incurred cannot be predicted with accuracy, FOIA does not require a public body to…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-21
The Parole Board is largely excepted from FOIA, but that exception only applies to the Board itself. However, the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG) may withhold certain records it receives from the Board pursuant to the administrative investigation exemption at subdivision 7 of § 2.2-3705.3. The same exemption requires that OSIG must release…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-21
Although personnel records may be withheld from public disclosure, accounting records that reflect payments made by a public body to a former employee pursuant to a settlement agreement are not exempt. As this office is not a trier of fact, only a court has the authority to resolve factual disputes about specific records.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-20
The provisions of § 2.2-3708.2 allowing members to participate in meetings by electronic communication means are alternative meetings procedures, not exemptions from public access that would allow meetings to be closed to the public. If a member is calling in due to a disability or medical condition or due to a personal matter, the member…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-20
The records exclusion at subdivision 1 of § 2.2-3705.3 exempts from mandatory disclosure “information relating to investigations of applicants for licenses and permits, and of all licensees and permittees, made by or submitted to” certain public bodies. That language includes the application and materials submitted. Additionally, unlike several other exemptions in the same section, the language…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-20
Closed meeting motions must include a subject, purpose, and citation and must be set forth in detail in the meeting minutes. Votes taken after a closed meeting must reasonably identify the substance of the vote. Meeting minutes must include a summary of the discussion on matters proposed, deliberated or decided, and a record of any…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-20
A public body may not provide a requester with a summary of an existing record instead of the record itself, even when the record may be redacted, unless the requester agrees to accept the summary instead.
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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-08-19
The exemption in subdivision 13 of § 2.2-3705.1 applies to certain account numbers and routing information, but does not address the names of credit card holders. The expedited hearing provisions in § 2.2-3713 apply regardless of whether a petition is filed in general district court or circuit court. Only a court may rule on evidentiary…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-19
The exemption in subdivision 32 of § 2.2-3705.6 of FOIA applies to “information related to a grant application, or accompanying a grant application” that is submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development as described in the exemption. Challenges to applications submitted as part of the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative program are not exempt from…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-19
Failure to provide notice and take minutes of public meetings as required by FOIA are violations of FOIA. Only a court may rule on whether any particular notice is reasonable under the circumstance for a special, emergency, or continued meeting. Once posted, notices should not be removed before the meeting occurs.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-05-19
Charges for public records are limited to reasonable charges not to exceed the public body’s actual costs, but the question of whether a particular charge is reasonable may be decided only by a court.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-04-19
Section 54.1-108 provides that certain license applications and scoring records, among other records, are not subject to disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. This opinion considers a dispute regarding the redaction of applicant names from records related to the application and scoring process.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-03-19
Records concerning identifiable individual students, including individual students’ test scores, are scholastic records that are exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA. The redaction of a student’s name and other personal information does not necessarily make a scholastic record a nonexempt record that must be disclosed under FOIA as the record may still contain information about…