§ 2.2-3704. Public records to be open to inspection; procedure for requestingrecords and responding to request; charges; transfer of records for storage,etc.
A. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all public records shallbe open to inspection and copying by any citizens of the Commonwealth duringthe regular office hours of the custodian of such records. Access to suchrecords shall not be denied to citizens of the Commonwealth, representativesof newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, andrepresentatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into theCommonwealth. The custodian may require the requester to provide his name andlegal address. The custodian of such records shall take all necessaryprecautions for their preservation and safekeeping.
B. A request for public records shall identify the requested records withreasonable specificity. The request need not make reference to this chapterin order to invoke the provisions of this chapter or to impose the timelimits for response by a public body. Any public body that is subject to thischapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly,but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide therequested records to the requester or make one of the following responses inwriting:
1. The requested records are being entirely withheld because their release isprohibited by law or the custodian has exercised his discretion to withholdthe records in accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identifywith reasonable particularity the volume and subject matter of withheldrecords, and cite, as to each category of withheld records, the specific Codesection that authorizes the withholding of the records.
2. The requested records are being provided in part and are being withheld inpart because the release of part of the records is prohibited by law or thecustodian has exercised his discretion to withhold a portion of the recordsin accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identify with reasonableparticularity the subject matter of withheld portions, and cite, as to eachcategory of withheld records, the specific Code section that authorizes thewithholding of the records. When a portion of a requested record is withheld,the public body may delete or excise only that portion of the record to whichan exemption applies and shall release the remainder of the record.
3. The requested records could not be found or do not exist. However, if thepublic body that received the request knows that another public body has therequested records, the response shall include contact information for theother public body.
4. It is not practically possible to provide the requested records or todetermine whether they are available within the five-work-day period. Suchresponse shall specify the conditions that make a response impossible. If theresponse is made within five working days, the public body shall have anadditional seven work days in which to provide one of the four precedingresponses.
C. Any public body may petition the appropriate court for additional time torespond to a request for records when the request is for an extraordinaryvolume of records or requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, and aresponse by the public body within the time required by this chapter willprevent the public body from meeting its operational responsibilities. Beforeproceeding with the petition, however, the public body shall make reasonableefforts to reach an agreement with the requester concerning the production ofthe records requested.
D. Subject to the provisions of subsection G, no public body shall berequired to create a new record if the record does not already exist.However, a public body may abstract or summarize information under such termsand conditions as agreed between the requester and the public body.
E. Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial ofthe request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
F. A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual costincurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requestedrecords. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary or surplusfees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating ormaintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body.Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual costof duplication. The public body may also make a reasonable charge for thecost incurred in supplying records produced from a geographic informationsystem at the request of anyone other than the owner of the land that is thesubject of the request. However, such charges shall not exceed the actualcost to the public body in supplying such records, except that the publicbody may charge, on a pro rata per acre basis, for the cost of creatingtopographical maps developed by the public body, for such maps or portionsthereof, which encompass a contiguous area greater than 50 acres. All chargesfor the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at therequest of the citizen.
G. Public records maintained by a public body in an electronic dataprocessing system, computer database, or any other structured collection ofdata shall be made available to a requester at a reasonable cost, not toexceed the actual cost in accordance with subsection F. When electronic orother databases are combined or contain exempt and nonexempt records, thepublic body may provide access to the exempt records if not otherwiseprohibited by law, but shall provide access to the nonexempt records asprovided by this chapter.
Public bodies shall produce nonexempt records maintained in an electronicdatabase in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including, wherethe public body has the capability, the option of posting the records on awebsite or delivering the records through an electronic mail address providedby the requester, if that medium is used by the public body in the regularcourse of business. No public body shall be required to produce records froman electronic database in a format not regularly used by the public body.However, the public body shall make reasonable efforts to provide records inany format under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requesterand public body, including the payment of reasonable costs. The excision ofexempt fields of information from a database or the conversion of data fromone available format to another shall not be deemed the creation, preparationor compilation of a new public record.
H. In any case where a public body determines in advance that charges forproducing the requested records are likely to exceed $200, the public bodymay, before continuing to process the request, require the requester to agreeto payment of a deposit not to exceed the amount of the advancedetermination. The deposit shall be credited toward the final cost ofsupplying the requested records. The period within which the public bodyshall respond under this section shall be tolled for the amount of time thatelapses between notice of the advance determination and the response of therequester.
I. Before processing a request for records, a public body may require therequester to pay any amounts owed to the public body for previous requestsfor records that remain unpaid 30 days or more after billing.
J. In the event a public body has transferred possession of public records toany entity, including but not limited to any other public body, for storage,maintenance, or archiving, the public body initiating the transfer of suchrecords shall remain the custodian of such records for purposes of respondingto requests for public records made pursuant to this chapter and shall beresponsible for retrieving and supplying such public records to therequester. In the event a public body has transferred public records forstorage, maintenance, or archiving and such transferring public body is nolonger in existence, any public body that is a successor to the transferringpublic body shall be deemed the custodian of such records. In the event nosuccessor entity exists, the entity in possession of the public records shallbe deemed the custodian of the records for purposes of compliance with thischapter, and shall retrieve and supply such records to the requester.
(1968, c. 479, § 2.1-342; 1973, c. 461; 1974, c. 332; 1975, cc. 307, 312;1976, cc. 640, 709; 1977, c. 677; 1978, c. 810; 1979, cc. 682, 684, 686, 689;1980, cc. 678, 754; 1981, cc. 456, 464, 466, 589; 1982, cc. 225, 449, 452,560, 635; 1983, cc. 372, 462, 607; 1984, cc. 85, 395, 433, 513, 532; 1985,cc. 81, 155, 502, 618; 1986, cc. 273, 291, 383, 469, 592; 1987, cc. 401, 491,581; 1988, cc. 39, 151, 395, 411, 891, 902; 1989, cc. 56, 358, 478; 1990, cc.217, 538, 721, 819, 968; 1991, cc. 213, 561; 1992, cc. 40, 150, 167, 200,203, 207, 593, 612; 1993, cc. 205, 270, 296, 537, 552, 638, 750, 883; 1994,cc. 485, 532, 606, 839, 853, 918; 1995, cc. 299, 362, 499, 562, 638, 722,812, 837; 1996, cc. 168, 469, 589, 599, 783, 786, 794, 855, 862, 902, 905,1001, 1046; 1997, cc. 198, 295, 439, 567, 636, 641, 777, 782, 785, 838, 861;1998, cc. 427, 891; 1999, cc. 438, 703, 726; 2001, c. 844; 2002, cc. 715,830; 2003, cc. 275, 981, 1021; 2007, c. 439; 2009, c. 626; 2010, c. 627.)
§ 2.2-3704. Public records to be open to inspection; procedure for requestingrecords and responding to request; charges; transfer of records for storage,etc.
A. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all public records shallbe open to inspection and copying by any citizens of the Commonwealth duringthe regular office hours of the custodian of such records. Access to suchrecords shall not be denied to citizens of the Commonwealth, representativesof newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, andrepresentatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into theCommonwealth. The custodian may require the requester to provide his name andlegal address. The custodian of such records shall take all necessaryprecautions for their preservation and safekeeping.
B. A request for public records shall identify the requested records withreasonable specificity. The request need not make reference to this chapterin order to invoke the provisions of this chapter or to impose the timelimits for response by a public body. Any public body that is subject to thischapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly,but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide therequested records to the requester or make one of the following responses inwriting:
1. The requested records are being entirely withheld because their release isprohibited by law or the custodian has exercised his discretion to withholdthe records in accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identifywith reasonable particularity the volume and subject matter of withheldrecords, and cite, as to each category of withheld records, the specific Codesection that authorizes the withholding of the records.
2. The requested records are being provided in part and are being withheld inpart because the release of part of the records is prohibited by law or thecustodian has exercised his discretion to withhold a portion of the recordsin accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identify with reasonableparticularity the subject matter of withheld portions, and cite, as to eachcategory of withheld records, the specific Code section that authorizes thewithholding of the records. When a portion of a requested record is withheld,the public body may delete or excise only that portion of the record to whichan exemption applies and shall release the remainder of the record.
3. The requested records could not be found or do not exist. However, if thepublic body that received the request knows that another public body has therequested records, the response shall include contact information for theother public body.
4. It is not practically possible to provide the requested records or todetermine whether they are available within the five-work-day period. Suchresponse shall specify the conditions that make a response impossible. If theresponse is made within five working days, the public body shall have anadditional seven work days in which to provide one of the four precedingresponses.
C. Any public body may petition the appropriate court for additional time torespond to a request for records when the request is for an extraordinaryvolume of records or requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, and aresponse by the public body within the time required by this chapter willprevent the public body from meeting its operational responsibilities. Beforeproceeding with the petition, however, the public body shall make reasonableefforts to reach an agreement with the requester concerning the production ofthe records requested.
D. Subject to the provisions of subsection G, no public body shall berequired to create a new record if the record does not already exist.However, a public body may abstract or summarize information under such termsand conditions as agreed between the requester and the public body.
E. Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial ofthe request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
F. A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual costincurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requestedrecords. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary or surplusfees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating ormaintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body.Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual costof duplication. The public body may also make a reasonable charge for thecost incurred in supplying records produced from a geographic informationsystem at the request of anyone other than the owner of the land that is thesubject of the request. However, such charges shall not exceed the actualcost to the public body in supplying such records, except that the publicbody may charge, on a pro rata per acre basis, for the cost of creatingtopographical maps developed by the public body, for such maps or portionsthereof, which encompass a contiguous area greater than 50 acres. All chargesfor the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at therequest of the citizen.
G. Public records maintained by a public body in an electronic dataprocessing system, computer database, or any other structured collection ofdata shall be made available to a requester at a reasonable cost, not toexceed the actual cost in accordance with subsection F. When electronic orother databases are combined or contain exempt and nonexempt records, thepublic body may provide access to the exempt records if not otherwiseprohibited by law, but shall provide access to the nonexempt records asprovided by this chapter.
Public bodies shall produce nonexempt records maintained in an electronicdatabase in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including, wherethe public body has the capability, the option of posting the records on awebsite or delivering the records through an electronic mail address providedby the requester, if that medium is used by the public body in the regularcourse of business. No public body shall be required to produce records froman electronic database in a format not regularly used by the public body.However, the public body shall make reasonable efforts to provide records inany format under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requesterand public body, including the payment of reasonable costs. The excision ofexempt fields of information from a database or the conversion of data fromone available format to another shall not be deemed the creation, preparationor compilation of a new public record.
H. In any case where a public body determines in advance that charges forproducing the requested records are likely to exceed $200, the public bodymay, before continuing to process the request, require the requester to agreeto payment of a deposit not to exceed the amount of the advancedetermination. The deposit shall be credited toward the final cost ofsupplying the requested records. The period within which the public bodyshall respond under this section shall be tolled for the amount of time thatelapses between notice of the advance determination and the response of therequester.
I. Before processing a request for records, a public body may require therequester to pay any amounts owed to the public body for previous requestsfor records that remain unpaid 30 days or more after billing.
J. In the event a public body has transferred possession of public records toany entity, including but not limited to any other public body, for storage,maintenance, or archiving, the public body initiating the transfer of suchrecords shall remain the custodian of such records for purposes of respondingto requests for public records made pursuant to this chapter and shall beresponsible for retrieving and supplying such public records to therequester. In the event a public body has transferred public records forstorage, maintenance, or archiving and such transferring public body is nolonger in existence, any public body that is a successor to the transferringpublic body shall be deemed the custodian of such records. In the event nosuccessor entity exists, the entity in possession of the public records shallbe deemed the custodian of the records for purposes of compliance with thischapter, and shall retrieve and supply such records to the requester.
(1968, c. 479, § 2.1-342; 1973, c. 461; 1974, c. 332; 1975, cc. 307, 312;1976, cc. 640, 709; 1977, c. 677; 1978, c. 810; 1979, cc. 682, 684, 686, 689;1980, cc. 678, 754; 1981, cc. 456, 464, 466, 589; 1982, cc. 225, 449, 452,560, 635; 1983, cc. 372, 462, 607; 1984, cc. 85, 395, 433, 513, 532; 1985,cc. 81, 155, 502, 618; 1986, cc. 273, 291, 383, 469, 592; 1987, cc. 401, 491,581; 1988, cc. 39, 151, 395, 411, 891, 902; 1989, cc. 56, 358, 478; 1990, cc.217, 538, 721, 819, 968; 1991, cc. 213, 561; 1992, cc. 40, 150, 167, 200,203, 207, 593, 612; 1993, cc. 205, 270, 296, 537, 552, 638, 750, 883; 1994,cc. 485, 532, 606, 839, 853, 918; 1995, cc. 299, 362, 499, 562, 638, 722,812, 837; 1996, cc. 168, 469, 589, 599, 783, 786, 794, 855, 862, 902, 905,1001, 1046; 1997, cc. 198, 295, 439, 567, 636, 641, 777, 782, 785, 838, 861;1998, cc. 427, 891; 1999, cc. 438, 703, 726; 2001, c. 844; 2002, cc. 715,830; 2003, cc. 275, 981, 1021; 2007, c. 439; 2009, c. 626; 2010, c. 627.)
§ 2.2-3704. Public records to be open to inspection; procedure for requestingrecords and responding to request; charges; transfer of records for storage,etc.
A. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all public records shallbe open to inspection and copying by any citizens of the Commonwealth duringthe regular office hours of the custodian of such records. Access to suchrecords shall not be denied to citizens of the Commonwealth, representativesof newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, andrepresentatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into theCommonwealth. The custodian may require the requester to provide his name andlegal address. The custodian of such records shall take all necessaryprecautions for their preservation and safekeeping.
B. A request for public records shall identify the requested records withreasonable specificity. The request need not make reference to this chapterin order to invoke the provisions of this chapter or to impose the timelimits for response by a public body. Any public body that is subject to thischapter and that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly,but in all cases within five working days of receiving a request, provide therequested records to the requester or make one of the following responses inwriting:
1. The requested records are being entirely withheld because their release isprohibited by law or the custodian has exercised his discretion to withholdthe records in accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identifywith reasonable particularity the volume and subject matter of withheldrecords, and cite, as to each category of withheld records, the specific Codesection that authorizes the withholding of the records.
2. The requested records are being provided in part and are being withheld inpart because the release of part of the records is prohibited by law or thecustodian has exercised his discretion to withhold a portion of the recordsin accordance with this chapter. Such response shall identify with reasonableparticularity the subject matter of withheld portions, and cite, as to eachcategory of withheld records, the specific Code section that authorizes thewithholding of the records. When a portion of a requested record is withheld,the public body may delete or excise only that portion of the record to whichan exemption applies and shall release the remainder of the record.
3. The requested records could not be found or do not exist. However, if thepublic body that received the request knows that another public body has therequested records, the response shall include contact information for theother public body.
4. It is not practically possible to provide the requested records or todetermine whether they are available within the five-work-day period. Suchresponse shall specify the conditions that make a response impossible. If theresponse is made within five working days, the public body shall have anadditional seven work days in which to provide one of the four precedingresponses.
C. Any public body may petition the appropriate court for additional time torespond to a request for records when the request is for an extraordinaryvolume of records or requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, and aresponse by the public body within the time required by this chapter willprevent the public body from meeting its operational responsibilities. Beforeproceeding with the petition, however, the public body shall make reasonableefforts to reach an agreement with the requester concerning the production ofthe records requested.
D. Subject to the provisions of subsection G, no public body shall berequired to create a new record if the record does not already exist.However, a public body may abstract or summarize information under such termsand conditions as agreed between the requester and the public body.
E. Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial ofthe request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter.
F. A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual costincurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requestedrecords. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary or surplusfees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating ormaintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body.Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual costof duplication. The public body may also make a reasonable charge for thecost incurred in supplying records produced from a geographic informationsystem at the request of anyone other than the owner of the land that is thesubject of the request. However, such charges shall not exceed the actualcost to the public body in supplying such records, except that the publicbody may charge, on a pro rata per acre basis, for the cost of creatingtopographical maps developed by the public body, for such maps or portionsthereof, which encompass a contiguous area greater than 50 acres. All chargesfor the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at therequest of the citizen.
G. Public records maintained by a public body in an electronic dataprocessing system, computer database, or any other structured collection ofdata shall be made available to a requester at a reasonable cost, not toexceed the actual cost in accordance with subsection F. When electronic orother databases are combined or contain exempt and nonexempt records, thepublic body may provide access to the exempt records if not otherwiseprohibited by law, but shall provide access to the nonexempt records asprovided by this chapter.
Public bodies shall produce nonexempt records maintained in an electronicdatabase in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including, wherethe public body has the capability, the option of posting the records on awebsite or delivering the records through an electronic mail address providedby the requester, if that medium is used by the public body in the regularcourse of business. No public body shall be required to produce records froman electronic database in a format not regularly used by the public body.However, the public body shall make reasonable efforts to provide records inany format under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requesterand public body, including the payment of reasonable costs. The excision ofexempt fields of information from a database or the conversion of data fromone available format to another shall not be deemed the creation, preparationor compilation of a new public record.
H. In any case where a public body determines in advance that charges forproducing the requested records are likely to exceed $200, the public bodymay, before continuing to process the request, require the requester to agreeto payment of a deposit not to exceed the amount of the advancedetermination. The deposit shall be credited toward the final cost ofsupplying the requested records. The period within which the public bodyshall respond under this section shall be tolled for the amount of time thatelapses between notice of the advance determination and the response of therequester.
I. Before processing a request for records, a public body may require therequester to pay any amounts owed to the public body for previous requestsfor records that remain unpaid 30 days or more after billing.
J. In the event a public body has transferred possession of public records toany entity, including but not limited to any other public body, for storage,maintenance, or archiving, the public body initiating the transfer of suchrecords shall remain the custodian of such records for purposes of respondingto requests for public records made pursuant to this chapter and shall beresponsible for retrieving and supplying such public records to therequester. In the event a public body has transferred public records forstorage, maintenance, or archiving and such transferring public body is nolonger in existence, any public body that is a successor to the transferringpublic body shall be deemed the custodian of such records. In the event nosuccessor entity exists, the entity in possession of the public records shallbe deemed the custodian of the records for purposes of compliance with thischapter, and shall retrieve and supply such records to the requester.
(1968, c. 479, § 2.1-342; 1973, c. 461; 1974, c. 332; 1975, cc. 307, 312;1976, cc. 640, 709; 1977, c. 677; 1978, c. 810; 1979, cc. 682, 684, 686, 689;1980, cc. 678, 754; 1981, cc. 456, 464, 466, 589; 1982, cc. 225, 449, 452,560, 635; 1983, cc. 372, 462, 607; 1984, cc. 85, 395, 433, 513, 532; 1985,cc. 81, 155, 502, 618; 1986, cc. 273, 291, 383, 469, 592; 1987, cc. 401, 491,581; 1988, cc. 39, 151, 395, 411, 891, 902; 1989, cc. 56, 358, 478; 1990, cc.217, 538, 721, 819, 968; 1991, cc. 213, 561; 1992, cc. 40, 150, 167, 200,203, 207, 593, 612; 1993, cc. 205, 270, 296, 537, 552, 638, 750, 883; 1994,cc. 485, 532, 606, 839, 853, 918; 1995, cc. 299, 362, 499, 562, 638, 722,812, 837; 1996, cc. 168, 469, 589, 599, 783, 786, 794, 855, 862, 902, 905,1001, 1046; 1997, cc. 198, 295, 439, 567, 636, 641, 777, 782, 785, 838, 861;1998, cc. 427, 891; 1999, cc. 438, 703, 726; 2001, c. 844; 2002, cc. 715,830; 2003, cc. 275, 981, 1021; 2007, c. 439; 2009, c. 626; 2010, c. 627.)
