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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>62411</law_id><section_number>2.2-3701</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>2.2-3803</reference><reference>2.2-3815</reference><reference>22.1-287.04</reference><reference>23.1-307</reference><reference>24.2-107</reference><reference>30-179</reference><reference>55.1-1209</reference><reference>59.1-480</reference><reference>8.01-420.7</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="2.2">Administration of Government</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="II">Administration of State Government</unit><unit label="part" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="B">Transaction of Public Business</unit><unit label="chapter" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="37">Virginia Freedom of Information Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">All-virtual public meeting</span>&#x201D; means a public meeting (i) conducted by a public body, other than those excepted pursuant to subsection C of &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Meetings held through electronic communication means; situations other than declared states of emergency" href="/2.2-3708.3/">2.2-3708.3</a>, using <span class="dictionary">electronic communication</span> means, (ii) during which all members of the public body who participate do so remotely rather than being assembled in one physical location, and (iii) to which public access is provided through <span class="dictionary">electronic communication</span> means.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Caregiver</span>&#x201D; means an adult who provides care for a person with a disability as defined in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/51.5-40.1/">51.5-40.1</a>. A <span class="dictionary">caregiver</span> shall be either related by blood, marriage, or adoption to or the legally appointed guardian of the person with a disability for whom he is caring.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Closed meeting</span>&#x201D; means a meeting from which the public is excluded.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Electronic communication</span>&#x201D; means the use of technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities to transmit or receive information.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Emergency</span>&#x201D; means an unforeseen circumstance rendering the notice required by this chapter impossible or impracticable and which circumstance requires immediate action.
		&#x201C;Information,&#x201D; as used in the exclusions established by &#xA7;&#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Exclusions to application of chapter; exclusions of general application to public bodies" href="/2.2-3705.1/">2.2-3705.1</a> through <a class="law" title="Exclusions to application of chapter; records of specific public bodies and certain other limited exclusions" href="/2.2-3705.7/">2.2-3705.7</a>, means the content within a public record that references a specifically identified subject matter, and shall not be interpreted to require the production of information that is not embodied in a public record.
		&#x201C;Meeting&#x201D; or &#x201C;<span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">meetings</span></span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">meetings</span></span> including work sessions, when sitting physically, or through <span class="dictionary">electronic communication</span> means pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Meetings held through electronic communication means during declared states of emergency" href="/2.2-3708.2/">2.2-3708.2</a> or <a class="law" title="Meetings held through electronic communication means; situations other than declared states of emergency" href="/2.2-3708.3/">2.2-3708.3</a>, as a body or entity, or as an informal assemblage of (i) as many as three members or (ii) a quorum, if less than three, of the constituent membership, wherever held, with or without minutes being taken, whether or not votes are cast, of any public body. Neither the gathering of employees of a public body nor the gathering or attendance of two or more members of a public body (a) at any place or function where no part of the purpose of such gathering or attendance is the discussion or transaction of any <span class="dictionary">public business</span>, such gathering or attendance was not called or prearranged with any purpose of discussing or transacting any business of the public body, and no discussion or transaction of <span class="dictionary">public business</span> takes place among the members of the public body or (b) at a public forum, informational gathering, candidate <span class="dictionary">appearance</span>, meeting of another public body, or debate, the purpose of which is to inform the electorate or to gather information from the public and not to transact <span class="dictionary">public business</span> or to hold discussions relating to the transaction of <span class="dictionary">public business</span>, where no discussion or transaction of <span class="dictionary">public business</span> takes place among the members of the public body, even though the performance of the members individually or collectively in the conduct of <span class="dictionary">public business</span> may be a topic of discussion, debate, or question presented by others at such public meeting, shall be deemed a &#x201C;meeting&#x201D; subject to the provisions of this chapter. The appointment of more than two members of a public body to another public body does not constitute a meeting of the first public body. For purposes of this definition of &#x201C;meeting&#x201D; only, the term &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">public business</span>&#x201D; means any activity a public body has undertaken or proposes to undertake on behalf of the people it represents.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Official public government website</span>&#x201D; means any Internet site controlled by a public body and used, among any other purposes, to post required notices and other content pursuant to this chapter on behalf of the public body.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Open meeting</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;public meeting&#x201D; means a meeting at which the public may be present.
		&#x201C;Public body&#x201D; means 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. It shall include (i) the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program and its board of directors established pursuant to Chapter 50 (&#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Short title" href="/38.2-5000/">38.2-5000</a> et seq.) of Title 38.2 and (ii) any committee, subcommittee, or other entity however designated of the public body created to perform delegated functions of the public body or to advise the public body. It shall not exclude any such committee, subcommittee, or entity because it has private sector or citizen members. Corporations organized by the Virginia Retirement System are &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">public bodies</span>&#x201D; for purposes of this chapter.
		For the purposes of the provisions of this chapter applicable to access to <span class="dictionary">public records</span>, constitutional officers and private police departments as defined in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="(Effective July 1, 2026) Definitions" href="/9.1-101/">9.1-101</a> shall be considered <span class="dictionary">public bodies</span> and, except as otherwise expressly provided by <span class="dictionary">law</span>, shall have the same obligations to disclose <span class="dictionary">public records</span> as other custodians of <span class="dictionary">public records</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Public records</span>&#x201D; means all writings and recordings that consist of letters, words, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostatting, photography, magnetic impulse, optical or magneto-optical form, mechanical or electronic recording, or other form of data compilation, however stored, and regardless of physical form or characteristics, prepared or owned by, or in the <span class="dictionary">possession</span> of a public body or its officers, employees, or agents in the transaction of <span class="dictionary">public business</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Regional public body</span>&#x201D; means a unit of government organized as provided by <span class="dictionary">law</span> within defined boundaries, as determined by the General Assembly, which unit includes two or more localities.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Remote participation</span>&#x201D; means participation by an individual member of a public body by <span class="dictionary">electronic communication</span> means in a public meeting where a quorum of the public body is otherwise physically assembled.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Scholastic records</span>&#x201D; means those records containing information directly related to a student or an applicant for admission and maintained by a public body that is an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Trade secret</span>&#x201D; means the same as that term is defined in the Uniform <span class="dictionary">Trade Secrets</span> Act (&#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Short title and definitions" href="/59.1-336/">59.1-336</a> et seq.).</p></section></text><history>1968, c. 479, &#xA7; 2.1-341; 1970, c. 456; 1974, c. 332; 1975, c. 307; 1977, c. 677; 1978, cc. 573, 826; 1979, cc. 369, 687; 1980, c. 754; 1984, c. 252; 1989, c. 358; 1990, c. 538; 1993, cc. 270, 720; 1994, cc. 845, 931; 1996, c. 609; 1997, c. 641; 1999, cc. 703, 726; 2001, c. 844; 2002, c. 393; 2003, c. 897; 2007, c. 945; 2008, cc. 233, 789; 2010, c. 706; 2011, c. 242; 2015, cc. 131, 195, 224; 2016, cc. 620, 716; 2017, cc. 616, 778; 2018, cc. 54, 55; 2019, c. 358; 2022, cc. 325, 597; 2024, cc. 610, 617, 733, 756.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
