Advisory Council

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-38-01

It is not a violation of FOIA for public body members to reach a consensus in closed session, but nothing is official until a vote in open session has been taken; a motion to close a meeting listing only the purpose and the statutory citation is inadequate because it does not also identify the purpose of the meeting; FOIA insures the public's right to witness public meetings, it does not guarantee the right to participate in meetings.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-37-01

An agency remains the legal custodian of records it is mandated by law to maintain, even if it does not retain physical custody of the records.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-36-01

Whether an entity is supported wholly or principally by public funds is a case-by-case determination based on the totality of all revenue sources; however, as a guideline, an entity recieving at least two-thirds of its funding from the government is a public body.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-34-01

Neither a volunteer fire company nor a committee created to handle the company's finances are public bodies; the minutes taken by a non-public body nonetheless become public records when they are provided to a public body (such as a city council); a non-public body's financial records in the possession of a local treasurer are not public records; a public record cannot be withheld simply because the public body for whom the record is prepared has not yet received it; there is no FOIA requirement that a request for records be made in writing.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-35-01

Unlike an annual request to be notified of meetings, FOIA does not require a public body to honor a standing request for records; however, to ease the administrative burden of responding multiple requests, the body may want to honor the annual request.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-33-01

According to the federal Family Policy Compliance Office, even if a school/university has designated certain student information as directory information, it can still withhold the information in its discretion.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-32-01

The city manager cannot invoke the working papers exemption to protect draft budget proposals. Because those documents are routinely generated pursuant to another law, which characterizes them as the city council's property, during the ordinary course of business, they are subject to mandatory disclosure under FOIA.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-31-01

Though a public body may discuss the sale of publicly held real property in closed meeting, FOIA and subsection B of ß15.2-1800 require a public meeting and vote before selling the property.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-29-01

Parent is entitled to view school investigatory records relating to his/her child, but portions identifying other students, teachers or attorney-client privileged information may be withheld.

FOI Advisory Council Opinion AO-30-01

A specific provision outside of FOIA prohibits the release of investigatory files by the Board of Social Work, even to the subject of the file.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Advisory Council