                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 2.2-3701)

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
		&#8220;All-virtual public meeting&#8221; means a public meeting (i) conducted
by a public body, other than those excepted pursuant to subsection C of §
2.2-3708.3, using electronic communication 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
electronic communication means.
		&#8220;Caregiver&#8221; means an adult who provides care for a person with a
disability as defined in § 51.5-40.1. A caregiver 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.
		&#8220;Closed meeting&#8221; means a meeting from which the public is
excluded.
		&#8220;Electronic communication&#8221; means the use of technology having
electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar
capabilities to transmit or receive information.
		&#8220;Emergency&#8221; means an unforeseen circumstance rendering the notice
required by this chapter impossible or impracticable and which circumstance
requires immediate action.
		&#8220;Information,&#8221; as used in the exclusions established by §§
2.2-3705.1 through 2.2-3705.7, 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.
		&#8220;Meeting&#8221; or &#8220;meetings&#8221; means the meetings including
work sessions, when sitting physically, or through electronic communication
means pursuant to § 2.2-3708.2 or 2.2-3708.3, 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 public business, 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 public business takes place
among the members of the public body or (b) at a public forum, informational
gathering, candidate appearance, 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 public business or to hold discussions relating to
the transaction of public business, where no discussion or transaction of public
business takes place among the members of the public body, even though the
performance of the members individually or collectively in the conduct of public
business may be a topic of discussion, debate, or question presented by others
at such public meeting, shall be deemed a &#8220;meeting&#8221; 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 &#8220;meeting&#8221; only, the term
&#8220;public business&#8221; means any activity a public body has undertaken or
proposes to undertake on behalf of the people it represents.
		&#8220;Official public government website&#8221; 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.
		&#8220;Open meeting&#8221; or &#8220;public meeting&#8221; means a meeting at
which the public may be present.
		&#8220;Public body&#8221; 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 (§ 38.2-5000 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 &#8220;public bodies&#8221; for
purposes of this chapter.
		For the purposes of the provisions of this chapter applicable to access to
public records, constitutional officers and private police departments as
defined in § 9.1-101 shall be considered public bodies and, except as otherwise
expressly provided by law, shall have the same obligations to disclose public
records as other custodians of public records.
		&#8220;Public records&#8221; 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 possession of a public body or its officers,
employees, or agents in the transaction of public business.
		&#8220;Regional public body&#8221; means a unit of government organized as
provided by law within defined boundaries, as determined by the General
Assembly, which unit includes two or more localities.
		&#8220;Remote participation&#8221; means 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.
		&#8220;Scholastic records&#8221; 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.
		&#8220;Trade secret&#8221; means the same as that term is defined in the
Uniform Trade Secrets Act (§ 59.1-336 et seq.).

HISTORY: 1968, c. 479, § 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.