Misc.

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 category of withheld records, the specific Code section that authorizes the withholding of the records. Considering the policy of FOIA and the legal duties it imposes, there is a presumption of good faith that a custodian of records will obey the law in carrying out their duties by searching for and providing all records as requested unless the records are exempt or prohibited from release. FOIA is intended to be a non-adversarial process for obtaining information.

Kessler v. Charlottesville (Cir. Ct.)

The Public Records Act "clearly has an administrative purpose -- and seems, in fact, totally administrative and procedural -- for the benefit of the good operation of the state government and its agencies and (unlike FOIA) not for the benefit of individual citizens themselves." The court confirms that text messages are public records, however: "If the documents (texts) were still in the possession of the CIty, even in deleted form, I believe that the City would still have the obligation and duty to retrieve (recover) them. To me it is no different than if paper records were torn up and thown in a trashcan but had not been taken out to the garbage yet."

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-07-15

Generally, FOIA does not prohibit the release of public records or the exercise of free speech. FOIA does not grant special rights to elected officials that differ from those of other Virginia citizens. Real estate appraisals may be withheld until the completion of a proposed purchase, sale, or lease.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-02-14

FOIA does not define the term "custodian," but for FOIA purposes, generally the custodian is the person in charge of public records. Each public body may designate who is to act as custodian of its public records. FOIA does not apply to records that are not public records in the transaction of public business.

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.

Bland v. Virginia State University (Supreme Court, 6/8/06)

In FOIA cases, complete set of records must be included on appeal to afford Supreme Court full review on the merits. Trial court erred in refusing plaintiff's motion to include full set of records.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-06-04

Town-created strategic planning committee is a public body. The Onancock Business and Civic Organization is not a public body because, exclusive of public grant funding, it receives only 36% of its funding from governmental monies. FOI Advisory Council cannot advise on what is or should be meaningful citizen participation. Nothing in FOIA prohibits receivers of FOIA requests from sharing the request with others.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-15-03

Government employee requests under FOIA should not be treated differently from requests made by citizens; letter admonishing public employee for making a FOIA request goes against the legislative intent of FOIA; as long as records were produced in accordance with FOIA, there is no remedy under the act for the simultaneous abuse of the FOIA requester.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-09-00

Roberts Rules of Order is subordinate to FOIA in the event of any conflict between the two.

Fisher v. King

No 1st Amendment right of access to government-held information.

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