| Opinion
No. |
Issue(s)
|
March |
|
AO-01-19 |
Access
to health records is addressed by FOIA and other specific
laws outside of FOIA. Where the laws differ, the more
specific provisions are controlling. |
AO-02-19 |
A public body engaged in dispute resolution proceedings
may hold closed meetings under the exemptions for discussion
of actual or probable litigation and consultation with
legal counsel on specific legal matters. However, it does
not appear that FOIA or the various laws concerning dispute
resolution have considered or addressed situations where
two or more public bodies wish to hold a joint meeting
for the purpose of dispute resolution. There are also
applicable records exemptions for certain records of dispute
resolution proceedings both within FOIA and outside of
FOIA in statutes that specifically address such dispute
resolution proceedings. |
April |
|
AO-03-19 |
Records concerning identifiable individual students, including
individual students' test scores, are scholastic records
that are exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA.
The redaction of a student's name and other personal information
does not necessarily make a scholastic record a nonexempt
record that must be disclosed under FOIA as the record
may still contain information about the specific individual,
whether identified by name or not. |
AO-04-19 |
Section 54.1-108 provides that certain license applications
and scoring records, among other records, are not subject
to disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information
Act. This opinion considers a dispute regarding the redaction
of applicant names from records related to the application
and scoring process. |
July |
|
AO-05-19 |
Charges for public records are limited to reasonable charges
not to exceed the public body's actual costs, but the
question of whether a particular charge is reasonable
may be decided only by a court. |
August |
|
AO-06-19 |
Failure
to provide notice and take minutes of public meetings
as required by FOIA are violations of FOIA. Only a court
may rule on whether any particular notice is reasonable
under the circumstance for a special,
emergency, or continued meeting. Once posted, notices
should not be removed before the meeting occurs. |
AO-07-19 |
The
exemption in subdivision 32 of § 2.2-3705.6 of FOIA
applies to “information related to a grant application,
or accompanying a grant application” that is submitted
to the Department of Housing and Community Development
as described in the exemption. Challenges to applications
submitted as part of the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative
program are not exempt from disclosure under this exemption
as they are not submitted by the applicant. |
AO-08-19 |
The
exemption in subdivision 13 of § 2.2-3705.1 applies
to certain account numbers and routing information, but
does not address the names of credit card holders. The
expedited hearing provisions in § 2.2-3713 apply
regardless of whether a petition is filed in general district
court or circuit court. Only a court may rule on evidentiary
matters. |
November |
|
AO-09-19 |
The
The fundraising exemption, subdivision A 7 of § 2.2-3705.4,
allows a public body to withhold certain information maintained
in connection with fundraising activities by or for a
public institution of higher education. The identity of
a donor may only be withheld under the fundraising exemption
if the donor has requested anonymity in connection with
or as a condition of making a pledge or donation. Only
a court has the authority to review records in camera
and render a legally binding decision on whether
redactions were properly made. |
