Advisory Council
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-19-04
E-mail exchanges between members of an electoral board do not violate FOIA’s meeting provisions, though to the extent those e-mails relate to the transaction of public business, they are public records subject to disclosure. Centralized repository for e-mail messages between public body memers is a good idea. Before engaging in e-mail discussion of substantive matters,…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-20-04
Because they are performing a delegated duty of the county service authority as a whole, meetings of the county service authority’s customer dispute process are open.
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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-14-04
The exemption that allows withholding of personal information…concerning persons participating in or persons on the waiting list for federally funded rent-assistance programs applies only to the tenants’ records, not the records of the contracts landlords enter into with local housing authorities.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-15-04
A citizen-organized gathering with three members of a school board for the purpose of discussing business currently pending before the board must comply with FOIA’s notice provisions.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-13-04
Personal records of a university theater department audition committee member are not disclosable under FOIA or FERPA, but any standardized evaluation forms must be released to the subject student. Records pertaining to audition guidelines or procedures would be available to anyone.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-12-04
A meeting between chair and vice chair of both board of supervisors and school board is not subject to FOIA if those members were not specifcally designated as a committee of their respective boards.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-11-04
Records of all investigations of the Department of Health Professions, and not just records of active investigations, are confidential, even to the subject of the records..
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-10-04
An outside attorney’s bill to a locality must be disclosed under FOIA, though portions that reveal the substantive details of the attorney’s representation may be redacted. FOIA does not require a verbal response to a request for information.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-04
When choosing to withhold records from disclosure, the specific statutory authority must be cited; reference to a legislative bill is not appropriate. The school safety audit exemption does not apply to the entire audit, only the portions revealing specific security vulnerabilities.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-08-04
A master plan document required to be submitted to a housing authority, that comes into the director’s possession during the ordinary course of business, is not a working paper.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-04
The records exemption at subdivision A 78 of § 2.2-3705 only exempts personal information provided to a public body for purposes of receiving e-mail from a public body; it does not apply to personal information provided to an individual elected official who chooses to send out e-mails or updates to constituents.
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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-03-04
When a locality delegates its animal control authority to a third party (in this case, the SPCA, a charitable organization), the records of that party related to its animal control functions are open to the public. When a locality delegates its animal control authority to a third party (in this case, the SPCA, a charitable…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-04
Public body must follow FOIA’s notice provision, even if planning to go into a closed meeting immediately; closed meeting can only take place within the context of an open meeting. Draft proposal between a city and a county over acquisition of water may be withheld under the exemption for contract negotations, if disclosure would jeopardize…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-01-04
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, an interstate compact between Virginia, D.C. and Maryland, is subject to FOIA because the compact’s terms says that Virginia law applies in cases raised under the compact. Public body may recoup costs of providing records. Records detailing legal advice given to public body may be withheld.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-27-03
In interpreting subsections (F)(1) and (G) of 2.2-3706, the General Assembly intended for records relating to criminal investigations and prosecutions to be exempt from public disclosure, whether such records are held by state or local law-enforcement officials.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-26-03
Like lists of books and quetsions asked of reference librarian, a record that showed the Web sites cisited on the Internet by a library may be exempt from disclosure.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-25-03
Documents relating to a public relations firm hired by Newport News to assist it and its lawyers during litigation over the King William Reservoir are not protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work-product privilege. The PR agency is not an agent of the firm in the first instance, and its purpose is not part…
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-24-03
Not all Department of Corrections records containing information about procedures and protocols are automatically exempt under the security exemption, (A)(69). Without viewing the records, the council notes that the procedures and protocols related to the execution of prisoners by lethal injection and electrocution may be wholly exempt.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-23-03
A meeting notice that omits the exact time of the meeting (or, in certain instances, whether there will be a public comment period) is deficient. A public body does not have an obligation to honor a standing request for agenda items that will be created in the future.
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FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-21-03
If database is maintained in digital form, the records custodian cannot limit dissemination of the database to paper format only. Circuit courts cannot charge 50 cents per page for records subject to FOIA when those records are provided electronically; clerk could charge for search time and cost of computer disks.
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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-20-03
When providing records that have already been assembled for easy public access, the government is not required to charge requesters anything for those records, much less the amount it cost to first compile the records for an earlier requester. Government does not have an obligation to lend out a CD of public records for requesters…