                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PUBLIC RECORDS TO BE OPEN TO INSPECTION; PROCEDURE FOR REQUESTING RECORDS AND
RESPONDING TO REQUEST; CHARGES; TRANSFER OF RECORDS FOR STORAGE, ETC (§
2.2-3704)

A. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all public records shall be
open to citizens of the Commonwealth, representatives of newspapers and
magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, and representatives of radio and
television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth during the regular
office hours of the custodian of such records. Access to such records shall be
provided by the custodian in accordance with this chapter by inspection or by
providing copies of the requested records, at the option of the requester. The
custodian may require the requester to provide his name and legal address. The
custodian of such records shall take all necessary precautions for their
preservation and safekeeping.

B. A request for public records shall identify the requested records with
reasonable specificity. The request need not make reference to this chapter in
order to invoke the provisions of this chapter or to impose the time limits for
response by a public body. Any public body that is subject to this chapter and
that is the custodian of the requested records shall promptly, but in all cases
within five working days of receiving a request, provide the requested records
to the requester or make one of the following responses in writing:

   1. The requested records are being entirely withheld. Such response shall
   identify with reasonable particularity the volume and subject matter of
   withheld records, and cite, as to each category of withheld records, the
   specific Code section that authorizes the withholding of the records.

   2. The requested records are being provided in part and are being withheld in
   part. Such response shall identify with reasonable particularity the subject
   matter of withheld portions, and cite, as to each category of withheld
   records, the specific Code section that authorizes the withholding of the
   records.

   3. The requested records could not be found or do not exist. However, if the
   public body that received the request knows that another public body has the
   requested records, the response shall include contact information for the
   other public body.

   4. It is not practically possible to provide the requested records or to
   determine whether they are available within the five-work-day period. Such
   response shall specify the conditions that make a response impossible. If the
   response is made within five working days, the public body shall have an
   additional seven work days or, in the case of a request for criminal
   investigative files pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-3706.1, 60 work days in which to
   provide one of the four preceding responses.

C. Any public body may petition the appropriate court for additional time to
respond to a request for records when the request is for an extraordinary volume
of records or requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, and a response by the
public body within the time required by this chapter will prevent the public
body from meeting its operational responsibilities. Before proceeding with the
petition, however, the public body shall make reasonable efforts to reach an
agreement with the requester concerning the production of the records requested.

D. Subject to the provisions of subsection G, no public body shall be required
to create a new record if the record does not already exist. However, a public
body may abstract or summarize information under such terms and conditions as
agreed between the requester and the public body.

E. Failure to respond to a request for records shall be deemed a denial of the
request and shall constitute a violation of this chapter.

F. Except with regard to scholastic records requested pursuant to subdivision A
1 of &#xA7; 2.2-3705.4 that must be made available for inspection pursuant to
the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. &#xA7; 1232g)
and such requests for scholastic records by a parent or legal guardian of a
minor student or by a student who is 18 years of age or older, a public body may
make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing,
duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records and shall make
all reasonable efforts to supply the requested records at the lowest possible
cost. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees
or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining
records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating
fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication.
The public body may also make a reasonable charge for the cost incurred in
supplying records produced from a geographic information system at the request
of anyone other than the owner of the land that is the subject of the request.
However, such charges shall not exceed the actual cost to the public body in
supplying such records, except that the public body may charge, on a pro rata
per acre basis, for the cost of creating topographical maps developed by the
public body, for such maps or portions thereof, which encompass a contiguous
area greater than 50 acres. Prior to conducting a search for records, the public
body shall notify the requester in writing that the public body may make
reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing,
duplicating, supplying, or searching for requested records and inquire of the
requester whether he would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the
supplying of the requested records. The public body shall provide the requester
with a cost estimate if requested. The period within which the public body shall
respond under this section shall be tolled for the amount of time that elapses
between notice of the cost estimate and the response of the requester. If the
public body receives no response from the requester within 30 days of sending
the cost estimate, the request shall be deemed to be withdrawn. Any costs
incurred by the public body in estimating the cost of supplying the requested
records shall be applied toward the overall charges to be paid by the requester
for the supplying of such requested records. Any local public body that charges
for the production of records pursuant to this section may provide an electronic
method of payment through which all payments for the production of such records
to such locality may be made. For purposes of this subsection, &#8220;electronic
method of payment&#8221; means any kind of noncash payment that does not involve
a paper check and includes credit cards, debit cards, direct deposit, direct
debit, electronic checks, and payment through the use of telephonic or similar
communications.

G. Public records maintained by a public body in an electronic data processing
system, computer database, or any other structured collection of data shall be
made available to a requester at a reasonable cost, not to exceed the actual
cost in accordance with subsection F. When electronic or other databases are
combined or contain exempt and nonexempt records, the public body may provide
access to the exempt records if not otherwise prohibited by law, but shall
provide access to the nonexempt records as provided by this chapter.
			Public bodies shall produce nonexempt records maintained in an electronic
database in any tangible medium identified by the requester, including, where
the public body has the capability, the option of posting the records on a
website or delivering the records through an electronic mail address provided by
the requester, if that medium is used by the public body in the regular course
of business. No public body shall be required to produce records from an
electronic database in a format not regularly used by the public body. However,
the public body shall make reasonable efforts to provide records in any format
under such terms and conditions as agreed between the requester and public body,
including the payment of reasonable costs. The excision of exempt fields of
information from a database or the conversion of data from one available format
to another shall not be deemed the creation, preparation, or compilation of a
new public record.

H. In any case where a public body determines in advance that charges for
producing the requested records are likely to exceed $200, the public body may,
before continuing to process the request, require the requester to pay a deposit
not to exceed the amount of the advance determination. The deposit shall be
credited toward the final cost of supplying the requested records. The period
within which the public body shall respond under this section shall be tolled
for the amount of time that elapses between notice of the advance determination
and the response of the requester.

I. Before processing a request for records, a public body may require the
requester to pay any amounts owed to the public body for previous requests for
records that remain unpaid 30 days or more after billing.

J. In the event a public body has transferred possession of public records to
any entity, including but not limited to any other public body, for storage,
maintenance, or archiving, the public body initiating the transfer of such
records shall remain the custodian of such records for purposes of responding to
requests for public records made pursuant to this chapter and shall be
responsible for retrieving and supplying such public records to the requester.
In the event a public body has transferred public records for storage,
maintenance, or archiving and such transferring public body is no longer in
existence, any public body that is a successor to the transferring public body
shall be deemed the custodian of such records. In the event no successor entity
exists, the entity in possession of the public records shall be deemed the
custodian of the records for purposes of compliance with this chapter, and shall
retrieve and supply such records to the requester. Nothing in this subsection
shall be construed to apply to records transferred to the Library of Virginia
for permanent archiving pursuant to the duties imposed by the Virginia Public
Records Act (&#xA7; 42.1-76 et seq.). In accordance with &#xA7; 42.1-79, the
Library of Virginia shall be the custodian of such permanently archived records
and shall be responsible for responding to requests for such records made
pursuant to this chapter.

HISTORY: 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; 2011, c. 604; 2016, cc. 620, 716;
2017, c. 778; 2020, c. 1142; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 483; 2022, c. 756; 2023, c.
534.