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The Virginia Freedom of Information Act ("the Act" or the "FOIA") states its underlying policy at § 2.1-340.1:The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities and afford every opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of government. Any exemption from public access to records or meetings shall be narrowly construed and no record shall be withheld or meeting closed to the public unless specifically made exempt pursuant to this chapter or other specific provision of law.
This policy of openness largely permeates the State government, but it stops at the door to some Richmond city agencies. The Act, however, provides the tools to enforce the policy and pry public information out of City Hall.
These web pages contain a primer on the use of the Act to obtain documents from the City. The Act also deals with meetings, but these pages do not.
As you browse these pages, please remember that real life is more complicated than any statute. Indeed, there are plenty of ambiguities in the statue itself, notwithstanding the major clarifying amendments in the 1999 session.
The Act provides more of a process than a path. The more you understand about the Act, the better armed you will be as you navigate through the process.
Finally, at some point you may have to be willing to sue to get what you want. That is not to say you will have to sue, but you may have to be willing to. The Act provides for an injunction to compel City officials to obey its provisions, and attorney's fees for the citizen who has to sue to obtain that result. The Act even provides for a personal fine for any official who willfully refuses to comply. If you are willing to deploy these tools, you almost certainly won't have to. If you are not willing to sue, however, you will be at a serious disadvantage.
Please let me know what you think of these pages and please let me know how you fare dealing with Our City.
Here are links to the web pages:
- A Sample Request that touches on many of the important issues
- An Annotated Copy of the Act as it relates to public records
- Links to helpful web sites.
Back to FOIA Pages
Back to the Sample Request
Last Updated Sunday, February 24, 2002
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