{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/2.2-3704.2.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/2.2-3704.2.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/2.2-3704.2.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/2.2-3704.2.html"}],"law_id":71452,"edition_id":1,"section_id":71452,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3704.2","catch_line":"Public bodies to designate FOIA officer","history":"2016, c. 748; 2017, cc. 290, 778; 2020, c. 1141; 2025, c. 533.","full_text":"A\n\nAll state public bodies, including state authorities, that are subject to the provisions of this chapter and all local public bodies and regional public bodies that are subject to the provisions of this chapter shall designate and publicly identify one or more Freedom of Information Act officers (FOIA officer) whose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public in requesting public records and to coordinate the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter.B\n\nFor such state public bodies, the name and contact information of the public body’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records and who will oversee the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available to the public upon request and be posted on the respective public body’s official public government website at the time of designation and maintained thereafter on such website for the duration of the designation.C\n\nFor such local public bodies and regional public bodies, the name and contact information of the public body’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records and who will oversee the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public, including posting at the public body’s place of business, posting on its official public government website, or including such information in its publications.D\n\nFor the purposes of this section, local public bodies shall include constitutional officers.E\n\nAny such FOIA officer shall possess specific knowledge of the provisions of this chapter and be trained at least once during each consecutive period of two calendar years commencing with the date on which he last completed a training session by legal counsel for the public body or the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council (the Council) or through an online course offered or approved by the Council. Any legal counsel for a public body who is also designated as the public body’s FOIA officer shall complete a training session or online course offered or approved by the Council. Any such training shall document that the training required by this subsection has been fulfilled.F\n\nThe name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel of a public body shall be (i) submitted to the Council by July 1 of the year a FOIA officer is initially trained on a form developed by the Council for that purpose and (ii) updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such information.G\n\nThe Council shall maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers, including name, contact information, and the name of the public body such FOIA officers serve.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":257573,"text":"All state public bodies, including state authorities, that are subject to the provisions of this chapter and all local public bodies and regional public bodies that are subject to the provisions of this chapter shall designate and publicly identify one or more Freedom of Information Act officers (FOIA officer) whose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public in requesting public records and to coordinate the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":257574,"text":"For such state public bodies, the name and contact information of the public body’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records and who will oversee the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available to the public upon request and be posted on the respective public body’s official public government website at the time of designation and maintained thereafter on such website for the duration of the designation.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A","next_prefix":"C"},"2":{"id":257575,"text":"For such local public bodies and regional public bodies, the name and contact information of the public body’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records and who will oversee the public body’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public, including posting at the public body’s place of business, posting on its official public government website, or including such information in its publications.","type":"section","prefixes":["C"],"prefix":"C","entire_prefix":"C","prefix_anchor":"C","level":1,"prior_prefix":"B","next_prefix":"D"},"3":{"id":257576,"text":"For the purposes of this section, local public bodies shall include constitutional officers.","type":"section","prefixes":["D"],"prefix":"D","entire_prefix":"D","prefix_anchor":"D","level":1,"prior_prefix":"C","next_prefix":"E"},"4":{"id":257577,"text":"Any such FOIA officer shall possess specific knowledge of the provisions of this chapter and be trained at least once during each consecutive period of two calendar years commencing with the date on which he last completed a training session by legal counsel for the public body or the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council (the Council) or through an online course offered or approved by the Council. Any legal counsel for a public body who is also designated as the public body’s FOIA officer shall complete a training session or online course offered or approved by the Council. Any such training shall document that the training required by this subsection has been fulfilled.","type":"section","prefixes":["E"],"prefix":"E","entire_prefix":"E","prefix_anchor":"E","level":1,"prior_prefix":"D","next_prefix":"F"},"5":{"id":257578,"text":"The name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel of a public body shall be (i) submitted to the Council by July 1 of the year a FOIA officer is initially trained on a form developed by the Council for that purpose and (ii) updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such information.","type":"section","prefixes":["F"],"prefix":"F","entire_prefix":"F","prefix_anchor":"F","level":1,"prior_prefix":"E","next_prefix":"G"},"6":{"id":257579,"text":"The Council shall maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers, including name, contact information, and the name of the public body such FOIA officers serve.","type":"section","prefixes":["G"],"prefix":"G","entire_prefix":"G","prefix_anchor":"G","level":1,"prior_prefix":"F"}},"ancestry":[{"id":12976,"edition_id":1,"name":"Virginia Freedom of Information Act","identifier":"37","label":"chapter","depth":4,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12751,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:44:06","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:44:06","permalink":{"id":176447,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12976,"identifier":"37","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37","url":"\/2.2\/II\/B\/37\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12751,"edition_id":1,"name":"Transaction of Public Business","identifier":"B","label":"part","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12750,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":176445,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12751,"identifier":"B","token":"2.2\/II\/B","url":"\/2.2\/II\/B\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12750,"edition_id":1,"name":"Administration of State Government","identifier":"II","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12749,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":176253,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12750,"identifier":"II","token":"2.2\/II","url":"\/2.2\/II\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12749,"edition_id":1,"name":"Administration of Government","identifier":"2.2","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":171453,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12749,"identifier":"2.2","token":"2.2","url":"\/2.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":55569,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3700","catch_line":"Short title; 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exclusions of general application to public bodies","url":"\/2.2-3705.1\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3705.1","metadata":false},{"id":67553,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3705.2","catch_line":"Exclusions to application of chapter; records relating to public safety","url":"\/2.2-3705.2\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3705.2","metadata":false},{"id":77912,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3705.3","catch_line":"(Effective July 1, 2026) Exclusions to application of chapter; records relating to administrative investigations","url":"\/2.2-3705.3\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3705.3","metadata":false},{"id":69909,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3705.4","catch_line":"Exclusions to application of chapter; educational records and certain records of educational institutions","url":"\/2.2-3705.4\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3705.4","metadata":false},{"id":60253,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3705.5","catch_line":"Exclusions to application of chapter; 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assistance by the Freedom of Information Advisory Council","url":"\/2.2-3704.1\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3704.1","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":84504,"structure_id":12976,"section_number":"2.2-3704.3","catch_line":"Training for local officials","url":"\/2.2-3704.3\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3704.3","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/2.2-3704.2\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 2016. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 748<\/a> of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. It has been modified 3 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 2017, chapters 290<\/a> and 778<\/a>; in 2020, chapter 1141<\/a>; in 2025, chapter 533<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":85069,"section_number":"2.2-3704.1","catch_line":"Posting of notice of rights and responsibilities by state and local public bodies; assistance by the Freedom of Information Advisory Council","order_by":null,"url":"\/2.2-3704.1\/"}],"refers_to":false,"permalink":{"id":176481,"object_type":"law","relational_id":71452,"identifier":"2.2-3704.2","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3704.2","url":"\/2.2-3704.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/2.2-3704.2\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/37\/2.2-3704.2","dublin_core":{"Title":"Public bodies to designate FOIA officer","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 2.2-3704.2","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> All state public bodies<\/span>, including state authorities, that are subject to the provisions of this chapter and all local public bodies<\/span> and regional public bodies<\/span> that are subject to the provisions of this chapter shall designate and publicly identify one or more Freedom of Information Act officers (FOIA officer) whose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public in requesting public records<\/span> and to coordinate the public body<\/span>’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> For such state public bodies<\/span>, the name and contact information of the public body<\/span>’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records<\/span> and who will oversee the public body<\/span>’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available to the public upon request and be posted on the respective public body<\/span>’s official public government website<\/span> at the time of designation and maintained thereafter on such website for the duration of the designation. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

C.<\/span> For such local public bodies<\/span> and regional public bodies<\/span>, the name and contact information of the public body<\/span>’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for public records<\/span> and who will oversee the public body<\/span>’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made available in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public, including posting at the public body<\/span>’s place of business, posting on its official public government website<\/span>, or including such information in its publications. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

D.<\/span> For the purposes of this section, local public bodies<\/span> shall include constitutional officers. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

E.<\/span> Any such FOIA officer shall possess specific knowledge of the provisions of this chapter and be trained at least once during each consecutive period of two calendar years commencing with the date on which he last completed a training session by legal counsel<\/span> for the public body<\/span> or the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council (the Council) or through an online course offered or approved by the Council. Any legal counsel<\/span> for a public body<\/span> who is also designated as the public body<\/span>’s FOIA officer shall complete a training session or online course offered or approved by the Council. Any such training shall document that the training required by this subsection has been fulfilled. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

F.<\/span> The name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel<\/span> of a public body<\/span> shall be (i) submitted to the Council by July 1 of the year a FOIA officer is initially trained on a form developed by the Council for that purpose and (ii) updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such information. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

G.<\/span> The Council shall maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers, including name, contact information, and the name of the public body<\/span> such FOIA officers serve. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nPUBLIC BODIES TO DESIGNATE FOIA OFFICER (\u00a7 2.2-3704.2)\n\nA. All state public bodies, including state authorities, that are subject to the\nprovisions of this chapter and all local public bodies and regional public\nbodies that are subject to the provisions of this chapter shall designate and\npublicly identify one or more Freedom of Information Act officers (FOIA officer)\nwhose responsibility is to serve as a point of contact for members of the public\nin requesting public records and to coordinate the public body’s\ncompliance with the provisions of this chapter.\n\nB. For such state public bodies, the name and contact information of the public\nbody’s FOIA officer to whom members of the public may direct requests for\npublic records and who will oversee the public body’s compliance with the\nprovisions of this chapter shall be made available to the public upon request\nand be posted on the respective public body’s official public government\nwebsite at the time of designation and maintained thereafter on such website for\nthe duration of the designation.\n\nC. For such local public bodies and regional public bodies, the name and contact\ninformation of the public body’s FOIA officer to whom members of the\npublic may direct requests for public records and who will oversee the public\nbody’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be made\navailable in a way reasonably calculated to provide notice to the public,\nincluding posting at the public body’s place of business, posting on its\nofficial public government website, or including such information in its\npublications.\n\nD. For the purposes of this section, local public bodies shall include\nconstitutional officers.\n\nE. Any such FOIA officer shall possess specific knowledge of the provisions of\nthis chapter and be trained at least once during each consecutive period of two\ncalendar years commencing with the date on which he last completed a training\nsession by legal counsel for the public body or the Virginia Freedom of\nInformation Advisory Council (the Council) or through an online course offered\nor approved by the Council. Any legal counsel for a public body who is also\ndesignated as the public body’s FOIA officer shall complete a training\nsession or online course offered or approved by the Council. Any such training\nshall document that the training required by this subsection has been fulfilled.\n\nF. The name and contact information of a FOIA officer trained by legal counsel\nof a public body shall be (i) submitted to the Council by July 1 of the year a\nFOIA officer is initially trained on a form developed by the Council for that\npurpose and (ii) updated in a timely manner in the event of any changes to such\ninformation.\n\nG. The Council shall maintain on its website a listing of all FOIA officers,\nincluding name, contact information, and the name of the public body such FOIA\nofficers serve.\n\nHISTORY: 2016, c. 748; 2017, cc. 290, 778; 2020, c. 1141; 2025, c. 533.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}