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VIRGINIA
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
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ADVISORY
OPINIONS ISSUED
2025
| Opinion
No. |
Issue(s)
|
March |
|
AO-01-25 |
FOIA
contains no specific provision which precludes the
utilization of a declaratory judgment action in the
adjudication of a FOIA dispute. Declaratory judgment may
be available under appropriate circumstances, but otherwise
the petition for mandamus or injunction is the sole remedy
available under FOIA. Whether any given set of
circumstances is appropriate for decision under FOIA's
statutory petition procedures, the Declaratory Judgment
Act, or both, would be a decision for the court adjudicating
the matter. |
AO-02-25 |
The
University of Richmond Police Department (the
URPD) is not a public body obligated by FOIA to respond
to requests for public records because it is the campus
police department of a private institution of higher
education established under the provisions of § 23.1-810
of
the Code of Virginia. The URPD did not violate FOIA
when it refused to respond to a request for its policy
manual because it is not a public body subject to the
provisions of FOIA. The URPD is required by § 23.1-817
of the Code of Virginia to provide criminal incident
information, including (i) the date, time, and general
location of the alleged crime; (ii) a general description
of
injuries suffered or property damaged or stolen; and (iii)
the name and address of any individual arrested as a result
of felonies committed against persons or property or
misdemeanors involving assault, battery, or moral turpitude
reported to the campus police, that is open to inspection
and copying by any citizen of the Commonwealth,
currently registered student of the institution, or parent
of a
registered student during the regular office hours of
the
custodian of such information unless such disclosure is
prohibited by law. § 23.1-817 of the Code of Virginia
also
provides that "[i]f the release of such information
is likely
to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation or the
safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade
detection, or result in the destruction of evidence, such
information may be withheld until such damage is no
longer likely to occur from the release of such
information." |
AO-03-25 |
For
a gathering of members of a public body to be
considered a meeting under FOIA, it must meet the
following two threshold requirements: (i) the presence
of
three or more members, or a quorum if a quorum is less
than three members, of a public body sitting as a body
or
assemblage and (ii) the discussion or transaction the
public
business of that public body by those members. If three
or
more members of a public body gather together and do not
discuss or transact public business, as such term is defined
within the definition of "meeting" in
§ 2.2-3701 of the
Code of Virginia (i.e., any activity a public body has
undertaken or proposes to undertake on behalf of the
people it represents), then it would not be considered
a
meeting under FOIA. However, if three or more members
of a public body convene and discuss or transact public
business, then it would be considered a meeting subject
to
the provisions of FOIA. |
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