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VIRGINIA
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
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ADVISORY
OPINIONS ISSUED
2024
Opinion
No. |
Issue(s)
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February |
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AO-01-24 |
Discusses
the circumstances under which a pro se petitioner becomes
eligible to obtain reimbursement of attorney fees after
hiring an attorney to represent the petitioner in a FOIA
matter or during the appeal process. A court would have
to determine that a petitioner's rights and privileges
were denied in violation of law, that the petitioner had
substantially prevailed on the merits of his case, and
that there were no special circumstances that would make
the awarding of attorney fees and costs unjust. The court
would have to determine the amount of attorney fees and
costs that were incurred by a petitioner in the litigation
proceedings and award a reimbursement amount
accordingly. |
AO-02-24 |
A
public body shall not be required to create a new record
if the record does not already exist; however, a public
body is required to provide to a requester, unless otherwise
specifically provided by law, a public record in the medium
requested if the public record is identified with reasonable
specificity and if that medium is used by the public body
in the regular course of business. |
AO-03-24 |
Generally,
federal FOIA is limited in that it only applies to federal
agencies and does not extend to state agencies. However,
some federal laws are worded so that they do apply to
other public bodies, including state agencies. FOIA provides
that public records must be disclosed except as otherwise
specifically provided by law. Therefore, if a federal
law provides that disclosure of information is prohibited,
and that law is written so that it applies to state agencies,
then a state agency would be prohibited from releasing
that information and would cite the federal law as the
appropriate legal authority when withholding the records
in response to a FOIA request. |
May |
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AO-04-24 |
The
exemption for a closed meeting relating to discussion
of actual or probable litigation does not require that
legal counsel be present at the discussion. Briefings
pertaining to actual or probable litigation may be performed
by staff members or consultants. Conversely, the exemption
for a closed meeting pertaining to consultation with legal
counsel employed or retained by a public body regarding
specific legal matters does require that legal counsel
be present accordingly. Public notice of a special, emergency,
or continued meeting must be reasonable under the circumstances
and shall be given contemporaneously with the notice being
provided to the members of the public body conducting
the meeting. |
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