March 17, 1976

THE HONORABLE ROBERT B. FOX
Commonwealth's Attorney for Westmoreland County

75-76 415

This is in reply to your recent letter wherein you ask whether the records disclosure exemption provided in §2.1-342(b)(4), Code of Virginia (1950), as amended, applies to records of the County Board of Supervisors or records of the County Administrator employed by the Board of Supervisors.

Section 2.1-342(b)(4) provides in relevant portion: "(b) The following records are excluded from the provisions of this chapter:

"(4) Memoranda, working papers and correspondence held by members of the General Assembly or by the office of the Governor or Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General or the mayor or other chief executive officer of any political subdivision of the State or the president or other chief executive officer of any state-supported institutions of higher education." (Emphasis added.)

The County Administrator is clearly the chief executive officer of a county as is the mayor of a city or town. In view of the above-quoted statutory language, I am of the opinion that the exemption from the records disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, contained in §2.1-342(b)(4), is applicable to the memoranda, working papers, and correspondence of the County Administrator. This exemption, however, does not apply to similar records held by the County Board of Supervisors.