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VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. PUBLIC AGENCY NOT REQUIRED TO
PROVIDE OFFICIAL RECORDS IN SPECIFIC MANNER REQUESTED.
September 25, 1984
The Honorable Warren E. Barry
Clerk, Circuit Court of Fairfax County
84-85 428
You have asked whether a clerk of court is required to collect and
store data in a particular manner in order to comply with a citizen's
exact request pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act,
§§2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the
"Act"). Specifically, you inquire whether you must store judgment
data on magnetic tapes and make available copies of such tapes at the
request of a citizen when the information is available in another
form for public review during business hours.
You indicate that the judgment data requested is available during
business hours. You do not indicate what form this available data
takes; however, for purposes of this Opinion, I will assume that the
data is available in an understandable form (i.e., typed record,
computer printout). I will also assume that the data available in
conventional form may be copied at the expense of the requestor.
Section 2.1-342(a) requires that public records subject to
mandatory disclosure be made available to any citizen requesting
them, unless otherwise specifically provided by law. These official
records are open for "inspection and copying...during the regular
office hours of the custodian...." See §2.1-342(a). A reasonable
charge for copying and search time may be requested by the public
body.
The Act does not require a public body to create a particular
record if such does not already exist. See 1982-1983
Report of the Attorney General at 727. See also 1983-1984
Report of the Attorney General at 436. Similarly, the Act does
not require a public body to convert an official record available in
one form into another form at the request of a citizen. It is my
opinion that so long as a public body makes the record available to
the requesting citizen to review or copy, the public body is in
compliance with the Act.
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