Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council

VIRGINIA FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ADVISORY COUNCIL
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

AO-07-26

June 22, 2026

Mr. George Barsness
Alexandria, Virginia
Request received via email

The staff of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is authorized to issue advisory opinions. The ensuing staff advisory opinion is based solely upon the information presented in your email of May 13, 2025.

Dear Mr. Barsness:

You have requested an advisory opinion relative to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) (FOIA) whether certain practices of the Board of Equalization for the City of Alexandria (the Board), specifically the recording and posting of minutes for meetings, are in violation of FOIA, and consequently, are invalid. You have submitted the following five questions for response:

Question 1: Whether FOIA allows the Board to undertake official action at a meeting in which it did not provide advance public notice of the meeting in accordance with Virginia law, and subsequently, would any action taken by the Board at both of the organizational meetings for 2024 and 2025 appear to be invalid?

Question 2: Whether the posted draft minutes for the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, contain the required information, specifically "a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided" as required by subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia and are in compliance with FOIA requirements for meeting minutes?

Question 3: Whether official business of the Board must be decided at a properly noticed, open public meeting of the Board?

Question 4: Whether the posted minutes from the Board's 2022–2024 equalization hearings that do not contain a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided comply with the provisions of subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, and consequently, whether the posting of the incomplete minutes satisfies the requirements under § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia?

Question 5: Whether the posting of the Board's meeting minutes by the Office of Real Estate Assessments on the City of Alexandria's website satisfies the location requirements for posting of the Board minutes as set forth in § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia?

Background

According to the background information you provided, the General Assembly created the Board that currently consists of nine members with three-year staggered terms. The Alexandria Circuit Court appoints five members and the Alexandria City Council appoints the other four members to the Board. You wrote, "[T]he Board apparently was unaware until on or about December 2024 of the requirements under VA Code Sections 2.2-3707 and 2.2-3707.2 to prepare and post written minutes of its meetings." You also wrote that after the failure to prepare and post written minutes had been raised with the Board, "the City of Alexandria' s Office of Real Estate Assessments apparently without the knowledge or approval of the Board, posted (three years late) on a link on the City's website what purport to be draft minutes for Board equalization hearings for 2022–2024."¹

You expressed that the Office of Real Estate Assessments "apparently in response to a VA FOIA inquiry, posted on the City's website (see above link) what purport to be draft minutes of the [Board's] organizational meetings for 2024 and 2025 held on April 9, 2024, and April 1, 2025, respectively." In addition, you stated that the Board at these particular organizational meetings "among other things, purportedly elected a Chairman and Secretary and adopted rules and procedures governing its equalization hearings." Moreover, you declared, "Apparently given the absence of posted organizational meeting minutes for 2022 and 2023 no organizational Board meetings were held in either 2022 or 2023." For ease of reference by the FOIA Council staff, you attached to your request for an advisory opinion copies of the posted draft equalization hearing minutes for the years 2022-2024 (one for each year) and a copy of the posted draft 2024 and 2025 organizational meeting minutes, along with copies of §§ 2.2-3707 and 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia.

You asserted: "Among other things, the posted equalization hearing minutes do not comply with the content requirements under paragraph I. of VA Code Section 2.2-3707." In particular, you wrote that "the posted equalization minutes only contain a record of the votes taken but do not contain '(c) a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided,' as also required by such paragraph." You avowed: "When asked at a tape-recorded equalization hearing on December 13, 2024, the Board Secretary declined to answer whether he had prepared the posted minutes and then took the 5th." You further stated: "The Board Clerk also has declined to say who prepared the minutes."

You averred: "Apparently, the draft 2022–2024 equalization hearing meeting minutes were approved on April l, 2025, by the 2025 successor Board (see paragraph 3.b. in the attached draft 2025 organizational meeting minutes) but not by the 2022, 2023, or 2024 Boards." You also stated: "The 2025 Board also approved the minutes with full knowledge by the current Board and its advisors that the minutes do not comply with the above content requirements of VA Code Section 2.2-3707(I) regarding that Board minutes contain a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, as well as a record of the votes taken." You further asserted: "Both the posted draft 2024 and 2025 organizational Board meeting minutes have yet to be finally approved by the relevant Boards."

In regard to your first question, you stated: "Pursuant to Section 58.1-3378 of the Code of Virginia, legal notices containing the dates and times of Board equalization hearings are annually published in the Alexandria Times local newspaper." Then, you asserted that "no legal notices were published of the dates and times for either the 2024 or the 2025 organizational meetings of the Board." You stated that you are seeking corroboration of your understanding that "as a local public body, the Board may not under VA FOIA undertake official action at a Board meeting where advance public notice of the meeting has not been given in accordance with Virginia law." You have requested confirmation whether "action taken [by the Board] at both organizational meetings for 2024 and 2025 would appear to be invalid."

As to your second question, you stated, "Neither of the posted draft organizational minutes contain '(c) a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided,' as required by VA Code Section 2.2-3707(I)." Additionally, you declared in your request that "the draft minutes for the organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, do not specify the votes taken on any of the matters put to a vote of the Board in violation of VA Code Section 2.2-3707(I) that [requires] minutes include 'a record of any votes taken.'" You have requested confirmation that "as a result, the posted minutes for these meetings do not comply with the applicable VA FOIA requirements for minutes."

Concerning your third question, you asserted: "The draft minutes for the [Board's] 2025 organizational meeting held on April 1, 2025, under paragraph 3.e. also indicate that certain edits to the 2025–2026 Rules and Procedures for Hearings were approved after review by Board members post-meeting and later released to the public." You stated: "This appears to violate VA FOIA requirements that official business of the Board be decided at a properly noticed open public meeting of the Board." You have requested verification as to whether "[a]ll such edits, therefore, would appear to be invalid."

Relating to your fourth question, you wrote: "None of the posted 2022–2024 equalization hearing minutes contain '(c) a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided,' as required by VA Code Section 2.2-3707(I)." Subsequently, you have requested confirmation as to whether these minutes comply with subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, and whether the posting of incomplete minutes satisfies the requirements under § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia. You further emphasized that "in order to satisfy the requirements for posting of minutes under VA Code Section 2.2-3707.2, the posted minutes must comply with all of the content requirements for minutes specified under VA Code Section 2.2-3707(I), not just those with which the Board chooses to comply."

Lastly, concerning question five, referring to the establishment of the Board by the General Assembly as discussed previously, you wrote: "As such, the Board is independent of the City of Alexandria and its Office of Real Estate Assessments. Apparently, the City's Office of Real Estate Assessments considers the Board part of the City, but it is not." You referenced § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia, which requires a local public body to post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, or if a local public body does not own or maintain an official public government website, as otherwise specified in such section within seven working days of final approval of the minutes. You stated: "The Board does not have its own official government website." Furthermore, you asserted: "Nothing in VA Code Section 2.2-3707.2 suggests that the posting of Board minutes on the City of Alexandria's website otherwise complies with such Section." You requested verification "that the posting of Board's minutes by the Office of Real Estate Assessments on the City of Alexandria's website does not satisfy the location requirements for posting of Board minutes set forth in VA Code Section 2.2-3707.2."

Policy Statement of FOIA

The policy of FOIA set forth in subdivision B of § 2.2-3700 of the Code of Virginia is to ensure "the people of the Commonwealth ready access to public records in the custody of a public body or its officers and employees, and free entry to meetings of public bodies wherein the business of the people is being conducted."

FOIA policy as stated in subdivision B of § 2.2-3700 of the Code of Virginia also provides that:

The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken at any level of government. Unless a public body or its officers or employees specifically elect to exercise an exemption provided by this chapter or any other statute, every meeting shall be open to the public and all public records shall be available for inspection and copying upon request. All public records and meetings shall be presumed open, unless an exemption is properly invoked.

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 chapter shall not be construed to discourage the free discussion by government officials or employees of public matters with the citizens of the Commonwealth.

A determination of whether the Board is subject to the meetings requirements of FOIA will depend primarily on whether the Board meets the definition of a "public body" under FOIA. Section 2.2-3701 of the Code of Virginia defines a "public body" in relevant part as:

any legislative body, authority, board, bureau, commission, district, or agency of the Commonwealth or of any political subdivision of the Commonwealth, including counties, cities, and towns, municipal councils, governing bodies of counties, school boards, and planning commissions; governing boards of public institutions of higher education; and other organizations, corporations, or agencies in the Commonwealth supported wholly or principally by public funds.

The FOIA Council in previously published Advisory Opinion 05 (2009) examined the applicability of FOIA to a board of equalization.² This office remarked that there are different methods by which a board of equalization may be appointed under §§ 58.1-3370 through 58.1-3373 of the Code of Virginia.³ While you stated that the General Assembly created the Board, if correct, then the Board appears to be a "public body" because it is a "board . . . of [a] political subdivision of the Commonwealth" and is "supported wholly or principally by public funds."

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has issued a prior opinion in which it determined that a board of equalization must hold open meetings in accordance with FOIA.⁴ Based on this cumulative information, we must conclude that the Board is a public body, and therefore, subject to the records and meetings requirements of FOIA. Additionally, it appears of importance to note that § 58.1-3378 of the Code of Virginia requires additional public notice when boards of equalization sit.⁵ Moreover, § 58.1-3384 of the Code of Virginia contains additional requirements for recording minutes by boards of equalization. These provisions support the position that such boards are public bodies and their meetings are subject to public observation.

Subsection D of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia provides in relevant part:

Every public body shall give notice of the date, time, location, and remote location, if required, of its meetings by:

1. Posting such notice on its official public government website, if any;

2. Placing such notice in a prominent public location at which notices are regularly posted; and

3. Placing such notice at the office of the clerk of the public body or, in the case of a public body that has no clerk, at the office of the chief administrator.

All state public bodies subject to the provisions of this chapter shall also post notice of their meetings on a central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth. Publication of meeting notices by electronic means by other public bodies shall be encouraged.

Subsection D of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia also requires that "the notice shall be posted at least three working days prior to the meeting." However, subsection E of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, provides that the "notice, reasonable under the circumstances, of special, emergency, or continued meetings shall be given contemporaneously with the notice provided to the members of the public body conducting the meeting." Therefore, based on information you have provided, this office will only consider whether the Board provided notice in compliance with FOIA's requirements for regular meetings in subsection D of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia but not for special, emergency, or continued meetings.

FOIA sets forth requirements for recording minutes of a public body's meeting in subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, which in relevant part states as follows:

Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings. . . .

Minutes, including draft minutes, and all other records of open meetings, including audio or audio/visual records shall be deemed public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter.

Minutes shall be in writing and shall include (a) the date, time, and location of the meeting; (b) the members of the public body recorded as present and absent; and (c) a summary of the discussion on matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken. In addition, for electronic communication meetings conducted in accordance with § 2.2-3708.2 or 2.2-3708.3, minutes shall include (1) the identity of the members of the public body who participated in the meeting through electronic communication means, (2) the identity of the members of the public body who were physically assembled at one physical location, and (3) the identity of the members of the public body who were not present at the location identified in clause (2) but who monitored such meeting through electronic communication means.

As previously noted, the minutes of a board of equalization's meetings are subject to specific requirements under § 58.1-3384 of the Code of Virginia that state:

The board shall keep minutes of its meetings and enter therein all orders made and transmit promptly copies of such orders as relate to the increase or decrease of assessments to the taxpayer and commissioner of the revenue. The orders shall be recorded on forms prepared by the Tax Commissioner and provided to localities by the Department of Taxation or on forms prepared by the board that contain, at a minimum, all the information required on the forms prepared by the Tax Commissioner.

Read together, these provisions of law are clear that the Board has an affirmative duty to record meeting minutes of all its open meetings in accordance with subsection I of § 2.2-3707 and § 58.1-3384 of the Code of Virginia.

For meetings held through electronic communication means in situations other than declared states of emergency, subsection B of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia, in relevant part, states:

If participation by a member through electronic communication means is approved pursuant to this subsection, the public body holding the meeting shall record in its minutes the remote location from which the member participated; however, the remote location need not be open to the public and may be identified in the minutes by a general description. If participation is approved pursuant to subdivision 1 or 2, the public body shall also include in its minutes the fact that the member participated through electronic communication means due to a (i) temporary or permanent disability or other medical condition that prevented the member's physical attendance or (ii) family member's medical condition that required the member to provide care for such family member, thereby preventing the member's physical attendance. If participation is approved pursuant to subdivision 3, the public body shall also include in its minutes the fact that the member participated through electronic communication means due to the distance between the member's principal residence and the meeting location. If participation is approved pursuant to subdivision 4, the public body shall also include in its minutes the specific nature of the personal matter cited by the member.

If a member's participation from a remote location pursuant to this subsection is disapproved because such participation would violate the policy adopted pursuant to subsection D, such disapproval shall be recorded in the minutes with specificity.

Concerning FOIA's posting requirements for final approved minutes of a local public body's meeting, § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia provides:

Except as provided in subsection I of § 2.2-3707, any local public body subject to the provisions of this chapter shall post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes.

If a local public body does not own or maintain an official public government website, such public body shall make copies of all meeting minutes available no later than seven working days after final approval of the minutes (i) at a prominent public location in which meeting notices are regularly posted pursuant to subdivision D 2 of § 2.2-3707; (ii) at the office of the clerk of the public body; or (iii) in the case of a public body that has no clerk, at the office of the chief administrator.

As previously referenced, in subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA requires that the minutes of a public body's meeting include a record of any votes taken by the members of a public body. Additionally, subsection A of § 2.2-3710 of the Code of Virginia states:

Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, no vote of any kind of the membership, or any part thereof, of any public body shall be taken to authorize the transaction of any public business, other than a vote taken at a meeting conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. No public body shall vote by secret or written ballot, and unless expressly provided by this chapter, no public body shall vote by telephone or other electronic communication means.

Furthermore, subsection B of § 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia provides:

No resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation or motion adopted, passed or agreed to in a closed meeting shall become effective unless the public body, following the meeting, reconvenes in open meeting and takes a vote of the membership on such resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation, or motion that shall have its substance reasonably identified in the open meeting.

Analysis

With your request for an advisory opinion, you also provided copies of the Board's minutes of meetings from July 11, 2022, July 10, 2023, April 9, 2024, July 9, 2024, and April 1, 2025. This office also accessed the Board's webpage to review the posted final approved minutes from the Board's past meetings.⁶ Please note that at the time of drafting this advisory opinion, the Board apparently has not held a meeting or posted minutes for 2026.

You have submitted the following five questions for response.

Answer: Pursuant to subsection D of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA requires every public body to give public notice of the date, time, location, and remote location, if required, for its meetings. FOIA directs public bodies to: (i) post such notice on its official public government website, if any; (ii) place such notice in a prominent public location at which notices are regularly posted; and (iii) place such notice at the office of the clerk of the public body or, in the case of a public body that has no clerk, at the office of the chief administrator. Additionally, the notice must be posted at least three working days prior to the meeting. Weekends, legal holidays, and the day of the meeting are not included when calculating the three working days.⁷ FOIA provides that public notices for special, emergency, or continued meetings shall be reasonable under the circumstances and given contemporaneously with the notice provided to the members of the public body conducting the meeting.⁸ Furthermore, subsection D of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia mandates that all state public bodies subject to FOIA post notice of their meetings on a central, publicly available electronic calendar maintained by the Commonwealth, while FOIA also encourages other public bodies to publish notices for their meetings by electronic means.

From the documents that you provided along with your request for an advisory opinion, there was no information regarding previously posted notices of the Board's meetings except for your statement that "no legal notices were published of the dates and times for either the 2024 or the 2025 organizational meetings of the Board." Section 58.1-3378 of the Code of Virginia requires the Board when sitting to give public notice "at least seven days beforehand by publication in a newspaper having general circulation in the county or city and, in a county, also by posting the notice at the courthouse and at each public library, voting precinct or both."⁹ If true that the Board failed to provide notice as required, then on its face, it would appear that the Board was out of compliance with § 58.1-3378 of the Code of Virginia.

Upon review of the Board's website, there is no apparent link to access notices for previous meetings. Even so, FOIA does not require a public body to maintain the posting of a notice beyond the time of the meeting. The length of time for retention or keeping of public records is generally not a FOIA issue. It is important to note that at the time of drafting this opinion, there were no posted notices for upcoming meetings on the Board's webpage.¹⁰ Without additional information, this office is unable to ascertain whether the Board provided proper notice of its past meetings in accordance with the provisions of FOIA. However, if it were accurate that the Board failed to provide notice of its meetings as required, it would be noncompliant with FOIA.

Although FOIA does not specifically invalidate any action taken by a public body at an improperly noticed meeting, subsection E of § 2.2-3713 of the Code of Virginia provides that "[a]ny failure by a public body to follow the procedures established by this chapter shall be presumed to be a violation of [FOIA]." Moreover, subsection F of § 2.2-3713 of the Code of Virginia states: "Failure by any person to request and receive notice of the time and place of meetings as provided in § 2.2-3707 [of the Code of Virginia] shall not preclude any person from enforcing his or her rights and privileges conferred by [FOIA]."

In Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors, the Supreme Court of Virginia, as part of its analysis of a FOIA dispute between three resident taxpayers of Fairfax County (the Residents) and the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County (the BOS for Fairfax County) over adoption of an updated zoning ordinance (Z-Mod) via an electronic meeting, examined the applicability of the Declaratory Judgment Act (§ 8.01-184 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) in such matters.¹¹ The Residents requested a declaration from the circuit court "that any such action or approval by [the BOS for Fairfax County] concerning Z-Mod is not permitted by Virginia law during the pandemic emergency and, hence, is void ab initio and of no continuing force or effect."¹²

Eventually, the Supreme Court of Virginia decided that "neither § 15.2-1413 [of the Code of Virginia], nor the Continuity Ordinance, nor the budget language authorized the BOS for Fairfax County to consider and adopt Z-Mod in meetings conducted 'by electronic communication means without a quorum of the public body or any member of the governing board physically assembled at one location[.]'"¹³ Concluding that "the circuit court had erred in dismissing the Residents' complaint" and "that the BOS for Fairfax County adopted Z-Mod in a manner that violated the open meeting provisions of [FOIA]," the Supreme Court of Virginia, in accordance with previous rulings, reversed the judgment of the circuit court, entered final judgment for the Residents, and declared Z-Mod void ab initio.¹⁴

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) previously issued two opinions on the validity of votes taken by members of the City Council of the City of Franklin (City Council) at a meeting that was improperly noticed pursuant to subsection C of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia.¹⁵ The OAG determined that subsection A of § 2.2-3710 of the Code of Virginia "specifically forbids any vote by the City Council on any public business unless the vote is taken 'at a meeting conducted in accordance with the provisions'" of FOIA. Because the public body did not give proper notice of its meeting, the OAG concluded that the City Council members' vote to select a person to fill the unexpired term of the at-large school board member was not taken "at a meeting in accordance with the provisions" of FOIA. Therefore, the OAG declared the City Council members' vote "null and void."¹⁶ Nonetheless, a decision to invalidate action taken by a public body at an improperly noticed public meeting would be subject to the discretion of an appropriate court under §§ 2.2-3713 and 2.2-3714 of the Code of Virginia.

Answer: In subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA requires that minutes of a public body's meeting be recorded in writing and include: (i) the date, time, and location of the meeting (i.e. notice); (ii) the members of the public body recorded as present and absent (i.e. determination of a quorum); and (iii) a summary of the discussion on matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, and a record of any votes taken. Subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia also requires that minutes for electronic communication meetings conducted in accordance with § 2.2-3708.2 or 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia, include the following information: "(1) the identity of the members of the public body who participated in the meeting through electronic communication means; (2) the identity of the members of the public body who were physically assembled at one physical location; and (3) the identity of the members of the public body who were not present at the location identified in clause (2) but who monitored such meeting through electronic communication means." In addition, in subdivision B 4 of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA obligates the public body holding the meeting through electronic communication means to record in its minutes the fact and basis that a member or members participated through electronic communication means due to one of the four approved reasons and the remote location from which the member or members participated through electronic means.

The posted "draft" minutes of the Board's April 9, 2024, meeting contained: (a) the date, time, and location of the meeting (Tuesday April 9, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. in City Hall Room 3008) and (b) the members of the public body recorded as present and absent, including the identity of the members of the public body who participated in the meeting through electronic communication means and the identity of the members of the public body who were physically assembled at the physical location of the meeting. Although two members of the Board attended virtually, the posted "draft" minutes did not include the approved reasons or locations for remote participation of these two members pursuant to subsection B of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia. This information is of particular importance because only three members of the Board were physically present at the location of the meeting, with two members attending remotely and three members declared absent. It would appear that an insufficient number of members attended the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting on April 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. to comply with FOIA's requirement that a quorum of the public body's membership be physically present to conduct a meeting.

In § 2.2-3701 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA defines "remote participation" to mean "participation by an individual member of a public body by electronic communication means in a public meeting where a quorum of the public body is otherwise physically assembled." Despite the absence of three members and two other members participating remotely through electronic means, without clear documentation of the reasons for or the location of their remote participation, the Board's Chair declared a quorum of the Board's membership present for the 2024–2025 organizational meeting on April 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. Subdivisions B 1 and 2 of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia provide that a member of a public body who is remotely participating in a meeting through electronic means due to the member having "a temporary or permanent disability or other medical condition" or due to a "medical condition of a member of the member's family that requires the member to provide care that prevents the member's physical attendance" or because "the member is a caregiver who must provide care for a person with a disability at the time the public meeting is being held thereby preventing the member's physical attendance" be included in the count toward the quorum as if the individual were physically present.

If the two members were participating remotely based on either reason cited in subdivision B 1 or 2 of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia, then the Chair could declare a quorum present at such meeting in compliance with FOIA. However, the reasons for and the location of the two members' remote participation were not recorded in the "draft" minutes for the April 9, 2024, organizational meeting. Although the Board did not appear to have a quorum physically present at such meeting, a definitive conclusion as to whether the meeting was held improperly should be reserved until such information is verified.

Moreover, the minutes of the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting on April 9, 2024, held between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. posted on the Board's webpage are marked as "draft."¹⁷ It appears that final approved minutes for this meeting have yet to be posted.¹⁸ FOIA does not specifically provide when final minutes must be adopted or approved by a local public body. Still, pursuant to § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA requires a local public body "to post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes." Nevertheless, § 58.1-3384 of the Code of Virginia provides that a board of equalization "shall keep minutes of its meetings and enter therein all orders made and transmit promptly copies of such orders as relate to the increase or decrease of assessments to the taxpayer and commissioner of the revenue."

The Board's webpage contains a link to minutes for what appears to be another meeting of the Board also held on April 9, 2024. These minutes appear to be for a meeting or equalization hearings separate from the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. The posted minutes include six records of "Minutes and Decision" applicable to specific parcels of real property. These records are posted on the Board's webpage under "Board of Equalization Meeting Minutes" and header and tab "2023–2024," with a web link by date marked "April 9, 2024." The "Board Action" votes of the three members in physical attendance and the two members of the Board virtually attending the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. are included in these records. The minutes do not include any recorded votes of the three members marked absent from the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting on April 9, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. It appears that perhaps a quorum of the Board's membership may not have been physically present at this other April 9, 2024, meeting either.

You asked whether the posted "draft" minutes for the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, contain the required information, specifically "a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided" as required by subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia. As previously mentioned, the minutes of the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, are clearly marked as "draft." FOIA does not require a local public body to post "draft" minutes of its meetings. Under § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA only requires that a local public body "post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes." Therefore, this office is unable to opine fully whether these "draft" minutes comply with FOIA, as there is no requirement for them to do so.

Notwithstanding, as previously stated, the minutes do not contain the reason for or the location of those members remotely participating in the meeting through electronic means. If these posted "draft" minutes are deemed to be the final approved minutes of the Board's 2024–2025 organizational meeting held on April 9, 2024, then the minutes do not appear to comply with the recording provisions found in subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia. This office has previously opined that "FOIA does not require a verbatim transcript of a meeting, nor that every detail of a discussion be mentioned in meeting minutes."¹⁹ Yet, there appears to be insufficient information regarding a summary of the discussion on matters that were proposed, deliberated, or decided by the members at this meeting. For instance, there is no record of any nominations or votes taken by the members even though the leadership positions of Chair and Secretary were filled during the meeting. However, without knowing what was not recorded, it cannot be stated with certainty that there is missing information that was required to be included in the minutes.

Question 3: Whether official business of the Board must be decided at a properly noticed, open public meeting of the Board?

Answer: Yes, unless otherwise specifically provided by law. In subsection A of § 2.2-3710 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA provides "[u]less otherwise specifically provided by law, no vote of any kind of the membership, or any part thereof, of any public body shall be taken to authorize the transaction of any public business, other than a vote taken at a meeting conducted in accordance with the provisions of [FOIA]." Additionally, subsection B of § 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia provides that, before any resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation or motion adopted, passed or agreed to by the membership of the public body while in a closed meeting becomes effective, the membership of the public body must reconvene in an open meeting, following the closed meeting, and vote on any such resolution, ordinance, rule, contract, regulation, or motion that shall have its substance reasonably identified in the open meeting. This office has previously opined: "As a board acts by motion and vote, it is presumed that there was a vote taken in order for a decision of the Board to be made."²⁰ In general, unless otherwise specifically provided by law, FOIA only authorizes public bodies to act by taking votes of the membership of the public body during open meetings conducted in accordance with FOIA.²¹ Furthermore, FOIA requires any such votes taken by the membership of the public body to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting pursuant to subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia. As previously opined: "If in fact a vote was taken without any record of that vote being kept in the minutes, such a practice is clearly in violation of the minutes requirements of § 2.2-3707 [of the Code of Virginia]."²²

Question 4: Whether the posted minutes from the Board's 2022–2024 equalization hearings, that do not contain a summary of the discussion of the matters proposed, deliberated, or decided, comply with the provisions of subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia, and consequently, whether the posting of the incomplete minutes satisfies the requirements under § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia?

On the Board’s webpage under the header "Board of Equalization Meeting Minutes," there are 58 links, under tabs labeled 2022–2023 and 2023–2024, to the posted minutes of the Board's equalization hearings for 2022 and 2023. Thirty-nine of these links are for posted minutes of the Board's equalization hearings held during 2022 and 2023, and include minutes for the Board's equalization hearings and meetings held on April 9, 2024. At these equalization hearings and meetings, the Board's members voted to affirm or to change the assessment of value for specific parcels of real property. The posted minutes of these hearings and meetings, categorized as "Minutes and Decision," contain the date but not the time or location of the hearings and meetings. Additionally, the minutes include the names of the Board's members who made and seconded the motions to affirm or change the assessments along with the results of the votes on such motions. However, the minutes do not include which members attended or were absent from the Board's hearings and meetings, and there were no summaries included of the discussion on matters proposed, deliberated, or decided by the Board's members pursuant to subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia.

For the minutes of the Board's equalization hearings and meetings posted under the 2024–2025 tab, the amount of information recorded in these minutes clearly contrast with the limited and lack of information included in the minutes from the Board's meetings in 2022 and 2023. The minutes for the meetings in 2024–2025 include the date, time, and location of the meetings; the members of the public body recorded as present, absent, or attending virtually; and the names of the Board's members who made and seconded the motions to affirm or change the assessments, along with the results of the votes on such motions. However, the summaries of the discussion on matters proposed and considered at these meetings continue to be sparse in details and provide little information, if any, concerning any discussions of the Board's members during these meetings. Moreover, for those meetings in which a Board member or members attended virtually, the minutes do not appear to include the reason for or the location of those members remotely participating in the meetings through electronic means as required by subsection B of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia.

The most recent posting of minutes for the Board's last meeting on November 10, 2025, are marked as "draft" on the Board's webpage. The form and information included in these "draft" minutes and in the minutes for the Board's other meetings held in 2025–2026 appear to have significantly improved in quality and detail to meet the requirements of subsection I of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia. Unlike previous years, the information in the minutes is no longer sparse, and the minutes of Board's 2025–2026 meetings include summaries of the discussion on matters proposed and considered by the Board's members at these meetings and the members' votes on such matters. However, these minutes still do not appear to include the reason for or the location of those members who remotely participated in the meetings through electronic means as required by subsection B of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia.

Based on the information presented and reviewed, the Board's posted minutes appear to be much improved but are still deficient due to the missing information. While authorized by statute to provide advisory opinions regarding FOIA, this office does not possess the authority to make binding factual determinations.²³ Ultimately, only a court may resolve a factual dispute of whether the posted minutes satisfy the requirements under § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia.

Answer: In § 2.2-3707.2 of the Code of Virginia, FOIA requires a local public body to post minutes of its meetings on its official public government website, if any, within seven working days of final approval of the minutes. However, if a local public body does not own or maintain an official public government website, FOIA provides that such public body shall make copies of all meeting minutes available no later than seven working days after final approval of the minutes by posting the minutes (i) at a prominent public location in which meeting notices are regularly posted pursuant to subdivision D 2 of § 2.2-3707 of the Code of Virginia and (ii) at the office of the clerk of the public body, or if the public body has no clerk, at the office of the chief administrator. The term "official public government website" is defined in § 2.2-3701 of the Code of Virginia to mean "any Internet site controlled by a public body and used, among any other purposes, to post required notices and other content pursuant to [FOIA] on behalf of the public body." FOIA does not address or prohibit the Board from posting its final approved minutes on a webpage located on the City of Alexandria's website as long as the webpage meets this definition as the Board's official public government website.

With four of the nine members of the Board being appointed by the Alexandria City Council, there is likely some convenience that the Board's information is easily accessible though the City of Alexandria's website. There are recorded instances across the Commonwealth of separate political offices, officers, and local governmental entities combining services, including joint websites, to reduce public expenditures and costs while also providing enhanced information and ease of public access to its citizens. Nevertheless, the Board is still responsible as custodian of its own records for adhering to and complying with any lawful requirements, including the provisions of FOIA.

Conclusion

This office is unable to conclude definitively whether the Board's meetings were properly noticed as required by FOIA and § 58.1-3378 of the Code of Virginia. There were meetings at which a quorum of the Board's membership may not have been present. Based on the information provided and review of the applicable records, the posted minutes of the Board's meeting are clearly lacking sufficient information required by FOIA. In several instances, the reason for or the location of those Board members who remotely participated in the meetings through electronic means are not recorded in the minutes as required by subsection B of § 2.2-3708.3 of the Code of Virginia. If found to be true violations of FOIA, these issues would likely affect the authority of votes taken by the Board's members at such meetings. However, the FOIA Council has previously stated: "This office is not a fact-finding body or a trier of fact."²⁴ Under FOIA, the courts of Virginia are the only entities empowered to determine whether a violation occurred and sanction a remedy if appropriate.²⁵

Thank you for contacting this office. We hope that this opinion is of assistance.

Sincerely,

Joseph Underwood
Senior Attorney

Matteo Murrelle
Staff Attorney

Alan Gernhardt, Esq.
Executive Director

¹https://www.alexandriava.gov/real-estate/board-of-equalization (last accessed 5/21/2026).
²See Freedom of Information Advisory Opinion 05 (2009).
³Id.
⁴1983-1984 Op. Att'y Gen. Va. 442.
⁵Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3378, in relevant part, states: "Each board of equalization shall sit at and for such time or times as may be necessary to discharge the duties imposed and to exercise the powers conferred by this chapter. Of each sitting public notice shall be given at least seven days beforehand by publication in a newspaper having general circulation in the county or city and, in a county, also by posting the notice at the courthouse and at each public library, voting precinct or both. Such posting shall be done by the sheriff or his deputy. Such notice shall inform the public that the board shall sit at the place or places and on the days named therein for the purpose of equalizing real estate assessments in such county or city and for the purpose of hearing complaints of inequalities wherein the property owners allege a lack of uniformity in assessment, or errors in acreage in such real estate assessments. The board also shall hear complaints that real property is assessed at more than fair market value."
⁶https://www.alexandriava.gov/real-estate/board-of-equalization (last accessed 5/21/2026).
⁷See Freedom of Information Advisory Opinion 08 (2007).
⁸Id.
⁹See Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3378.
¹⁰https://www.alexandriava.gov/real-estate/board-of-equalization (last accessed 5/21/2026).
¹¹Berry v. Bd. of Supervisors, 302 Va. 114, 124, 884 S.E.2d 515 (2023); see also Freedom of Information Advisory Opinion 01 (2025).
¹²Id.
¹³Id. at 146; see 2020 Acts ch. 1283 § 4-0.01(g) (Reg. Sess.); 2020 Acts ch. 56 § 4-0.01(g) (Spec. Sess. I) ("budget language").
¹⁴Id. at 147–48; see, e.g., Glazebrook, 266 Va. at 557 (holding that certain "zoning ordinances passed pursuant to [defective] notices . . . are void ab initio"); Powell Valley Vill. Ltd. P'ship, 254 Va. at 74 (recognizing that a "[f]ailure to abide by the statutory prescriptions for the adoption of an ordinance renders the ordinance void ab initio"); City Council of City of Alexandria v. Potomac Greens Assocs. P'ship, 245 Va. 371, 378, 429 S.E.2d 225, 9 Va. Law Rep. 1185 (1993) (stating that, because the city "failed to give the requisite notices . . . , the TMP Ordinance is void ab initio").
¹⁵2009 Op. No. 08-078 Att’y Gen. and 2009 Op. No. 08-114 Att'y Gen.
¹⁶Id.
¹⁷https://www.alexandriava.gov/real-estate/board-of-equalization (last accessed 5/21/2026).
¹⁸Id.
¹⁹Freedom of Information Advisory Opinions 05 (2009) and 01 (2006).
²⁰Freedom of Information Advisory Opinion 05 (2009).
²¹See also 2009 Op. No. 08-114 Att'y Gen.
²²Freedom of Information Advisory Opinion 05 (2009).
²³Va. Code Ann. § 30-179.
²⁴See Freedom of Information Advisory Opinions 09 (2024), 04 (2024), 01 (2023), 01 (2022), 01 (2021), 05 (2017), 03 (2016), 04 (2015), 02 (2015), 02 (2013), and 09 (2005).
²⁵See Va. Code Ann. §§ 2.2-3713 and 2.2-3714.