TAXATION - GENERAL PROVISIONS - SECRECY OF INFORMATION - REAL PROPERTY. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT GENERALLY - VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT. COURTS OF RECORD - CLERKS, CLERKS' OFFICES AND RECORDS. COSTS, FEES, SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES - FEES. DISCLOSURE OF DEED RECEIPTS BOOKS AND PROPERTY APPRAISAL CARDS NOT PROHIBITED BY §58.1-3.

August 13, 1986

The Honorable Ralph L. Axselle, Jr.
Member, House of Delegates

86-87 283

You ask whether deed receipts books maintained in offices of clerks of circuit courts and real property appraisal cards maintained by commissioners of the revenue or other comparable tax assessing officials are public records open to inspection. If these documents are open to public examination, you ask under what terms and conditions such examination may be made.

I. Applicable Statutes

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act, §§2.1-340 through 2.1-346.1 of the Code of Virginia (the "Act"), and in particular §2.1-342(a), provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all official records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizens of this Commonwealth during the regular office hours of the custodian of such records.

The records in question are clearly within the statutory definition of "official records." See §2.1-341(b).

Section 2.1-342(b)(21) excludes from the operation of the Act "[d]ocuments as specified . . . in §58.1-3," which relates to the handling of confidential tax information. Section 58.1-3 reads, in pertinent part:

A. Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, the . . . clerk . . . shall not divulge any information acquired by him in the performance of his duties with respect to the transactions, property . . . income or business of any person, firm or corporation. . . . The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable, however, to:

1. Matters required by law to be entered on any public assessment roll or book;

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4. The sales price, date of construction, physical dimensions or characteristics of real property . . . .

Four other statutory provisions are applicable to the question you have posed. Section 14.1-139 provides, in part:

[The clerks] shall keep a true and accurate record of all fees . . . to which [they are] entitled under the law, the amount of the same actually collected by him and the date of collection and sources from which the collections were made. Such record shall at all times be open to public inspection. [Emphasis added.]

Section 17-43 also relates to records of the clerk and provides, in part:

The records and papers of every court shall be open to inspection by any person and the clerk shall, when required, furnish copies thereof, except in cases in which it is otherwise specially provided. . . . No person shall be permitted to use the clerk's office for the purpose of making copies of records in such manner, or to such extent, as will interfere with the business of the office or with its reasonable use by the general public. [Emphasis added.]

Section 58.1-3303 requires the clerk of every circuit court to prepare a recordation receipt for all deeds for the partition or conveyance of land, other than deeds of trust and mortgages, made to secure payment of debts, which have been admitted to record in that clerk's office. The receipt is required to contain the date of the deed, the date admitted to record, the name of the grantor and grantee, the address of the grantee and the description, quantity and the value of the land conveyed.

Lastly, §58.1-3331 specifically addresses real property appraisal cards and provides, in part:

A. All property appraisal cards or sheets within the custody of a county, city or town assessing officer, except those cards or sheets containing information made confidential by §58.1-3, shall be open for inspection [during] the normal office hours of such official by any taxpayer, or his duly authorized representative, desiring to review such cards or sheets.

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C. The assessing officer of the governing body may fix and promulgate a limited period within normal office hours when such records shall be available for inspection and copying, but such period of time may not be less than four hours per day on Monday through Friday, except on such days when the office is otherwise closed. [Emphasis added.]

II. Clerk's Deed Receipts Books

Are Subject to Public Examination

To the extent that any of the data contained on a recordation receipt prepared pursuant to §§58.1-3303 may be regarded as tax-related information, it is a matter of public record by virtue of §§14.1-139 and 17-43, pertains to the sales price or characteristics or physical dimensions of the real property, and is specifically exempt from nondisclosure under subparagraphs (1) and (4) of §58.1-3(A). Thus, it is my opinion that the deed receipts books are public documents subject to public inspection under §§2.1-342(a), 14.1-139 and 17-43, notwithstanding the nondisclosure provisions of §58.1-3. This conclusion is supported by several prior Opinions of this Office with which I concur. See Reports of the Attorney General: 1972-1973 at 192, 490; 1967-1968 at 55.

III. Terms and Conditions May Be Prescribed for Public Examination of Deed Receipts Books

Section 17-43 authorizes the clerk to limit the use of the clerk's office for the purpose of making copies of records in such manner as will not interfere with the business of the office or with its reasonable use by the general public. The custodian of public records is also authorized by §2.1-342(a) to take necessary precautions to preserve and safeguard the records, to limit inspection and copying to normal office hours, and to make reasonable charges for copying and search time expended in supplying the records requested, not to exceed the actual cost of such services. At the request of the citizen, such cost shall be estimated in advance. See Reports of the Attorney General: 1983-1984 at 436; 1982-1983 at 727; 1975-1976 at 409; and 1972-1973 at 490.

IV. Real Property Appraisal Cards Are Subject to Public Examination

Relying upon §58-792.02(B), the predecessor to §58.1-3331, an earlier Opinion of this Office held that the information generally contained on the property appraisal cards is otherwise a matter of public record, and may, therefore, be disclosed without violating §58-46, the predecessor to §58.1-3. See 1981-1982 Report of the Attorney General at 372. That Opinion listed the following information as that which generally is contained on these cards and which may be disclosed: the appraised value of the property and improvements, if any; the calculations used in determining the assessed value of such property and improvements; and the name, residence and description of the estate of the person chargeable with taxes. The Opinion also held that in the event such cards contain additional information protected under §58.1-3, such information must be expunged before disclosure. I concur with this Opinion. It is my opinion, therefore, that property appraisal cards are open to public inspection subject to the further requirement of §58.1-3331(A) that the person requesting disclosure must be a taxpayer or a duly authorized representative of a taxpayer.

V. Examination of Property Appraisal Cards May Be Subject to Terms and Conditions

In addition to the requirement of §58.1-3331(A) that the opportunity for public inspection of real estate appraisal cards or sheets must be granted during the normal office hours of such official, §58.1-3331(C) authorizes the assessing officer to further limit the "period within normal office hours when such records shall be available for inspection and copying, but such period of time may not be less than four hours per day on Monday through Friday, except on such days when the office is otherwise closed."

The other conditions and terms for examination of deed receipts books set forth in Pt. III above would also apply to examination of the appraisal cards or sheets.