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September 7, 2001
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Howard
2059 Overbrook Road
Lynchburg, Virginia 24501
The staff of the Freedom of
Information Advisory Council is authorized to issue advisory
opinions. The ensuing staff advisory opinion is based solely upon
the information presented in your correspondence of August 5,
2001.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Howard:
You have asked a question concerning access to documents from
the Virginia Department of Corrections ("the Department") under the
Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, you are
trying to obtain the name of the physician at a particular state
correctional facility. You ask if the name of the physician is
available under FOIA, and to whom you should address such a
request.
Subsection A of § 2.1-342 of the Code of Virginia states
that [e]xcept as otherwise specifically provided by law, all
public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any
citizens of the Commonwealth.1 As
such, unless a specific statutory provision exempts the requested
information, it must be made available to the public. There is no
exemption in FOIA that would exempt the name of a physician working
for the Department from disclosure. It seems likely that either the
chief physician for the Department or the particular facility at
which the physician works would be able to supply this
information.
Thank you for contacting this office. I hope that I have been of
assistance.
Sincerely,
Maria J.K. Everett
Executive Director
1. Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3704(A) (Michie 2001)
(effective Oct.1, 2001).
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