LWVMCVA

League of Women Voters
of
Montgomery County, Virginia

Citizen Initiative for Transparency

F.O.I.A.

Contents:

• An Overview of the Study
• Some Thoughts on F.O.I.A.
• F.O.I.A.Freedom of Information Act: Sources of Information
• Important F.O.I.A. Links on the Internet
• Roanoke Times Articles Involving F.O.I.A.
• Using the Virginia Legislative Information System to obtain most recent version of Virginia F.O.I.A.
• State Freedom of Information Acts
• Virginia County Government Links
• Virginia City Government Links
• Virginia Town Government Links
• Steps in the Process --- Working with F.O.I.A

An Overview of the Study  (View the Final Report Here)

This is the home of the Citizen Initiative for Transparency in Virginia. Although initially part of a grant sponsored by the League of Women Voter's Education Fund. It was originally designed to provide information on F.O.I.A. and to offer tools for tracking of F.O.I.A. request made to the various Virginia government entities. Those tracking databases are no longer active, but the overall concepts remain the same.

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Some Thoughts on F.O.I.A.

Huntingdon College hosts a webpage of quotes relative to F.O.I.A. (Freedom of Information Act). Taking a look through these, one can clearly see that we face many of the same issues today that have been faced for decades. It is also clear that many of our Country's leaders acknowledge that F.O.I.A. /open government is at the core of good government. Here are a few samples of what can be found at that site:

"A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives." --James Madison

"Press releases tell us when federal agencies do something right, but the Freedom of Information Act lets us know when they do not." Sen. Patrick Leahy, 1996

"When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them, and - eventually - incapable of determining their own destinies." Pres. Richard Nixon, 1972

"...a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is afraid of its people." Pres. John F. Kennedy, 1962

Some of the ways that the use of F.O.I.A. are most clearly documented can be found at a PBS website hosting "NOW with David Brancaccio. Politics & Economy. Veil of Secrecy" in a table of court cases involving F.O.I.A.. If it had not been for individuals and groups exercising their F.O.I.A. rights, we could still be consuming Red Dye #2 in our foods, Agent Orange could still be used without any monitoring or supervision, medications would not have some of the warning labels that they are now required to post, and many more issues would not have been identified or corrective measures taken.

"When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people." Judge Damon Keith, U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

"Democratic governance involves public debate and open decision-making; hence, the organization of interest groups, the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information is essential. Addressing the information and communication needs of the poor is also essential - the poor often lack information that is vital to their lives – information on basic rights and entitlements, information on public services, health, education, employment etc. They also lack visibility and voice to enable them to define policy priorities and access resources." United Nations Development Programme, http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/citzpart.htm, accessed 7 Sep. 2004.

“The free exchange of information between the government and the people who create that government, the people who elect that government, is absolutely crucial to the democratic process. One of our greatest freedoms is to have a right to know what our government is doing.” -- Courtney Cox, a Benton, Ill. attorney who won an appellate court ruling affirming that a F.O.I.A. requester is not required to explain why the information is being sought, 2005.

“With the passage of the F.O.I.A., the burden of proof shifted from the individual to the government. Those seeking information are no longer required to show a need for information. Instead, the `need to know' standard has been replaced by a `right to know' doctrine. The government now has to justify the need for secrecy.” -- Introduction to the Citizens Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act, published by the House Committee on Government Reform, September 2005.

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F.O.I.A.Freedom of Information Act: Sources of Information

For an indepth review of Virginia F.O.I.A, please go to Virginia Coalition for Open Government. This organization works hard to maintain a site with the most current activities surrounding Virginia F.O.I.A. Along with The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, you can keep track of the most current changes in F.O.I.A., pending legislation that will change F.O.I.A., legal cases involving F.O.I.A., and a wealth of references.***

The Freedom of Information Act (F.O.I.A) is a federal law designed to bring transparency and accountability to federal agencies. It was passed into existence in 1966 and has been modified several times since then based upon Presidential or Congressional attitudes. For a good discussion on the history of changes to F.O.I.A. go to Wikipedia's Freedom of Information Act site

If you are someone trying to obtain information about your state and local government, then the Federal F.O.I.A will not be of any help. Since, Federal F.O.I.A. applies only to federal agencies, it will not help you find out about meetings of your local Town Council, land-use decisions, local and/or state finances.

For a list of the State Laws concerning F.O.I.A. and links to those laws PBS hosts a site called NOW that provides a great F.O.I.A. map. Here, you can find links to important F.O.I.A. information on a state by state basis. A quick look through some of those sites will clearly indicate to you that not all State F.O.I.A.'s are the same.

In Virginia, we are fortunate to have some very good F.O.I.A. laws. We are also fortunate that we have some great agencies, that are constantly striving to improve those laws. Virginia Coalition for Open Government and Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council are but two of these.

Federal and all 50 States F.O.I.A. information is available in one wonderful site! Open Government Guide (Published by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press) has a list of links to each of the states with all the information you are likely to need to accomplish any F.O.I.A. request.

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Important F.O.I.A. Links on the Internet

The White House:

• Transparency and Open Government: Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

The National Academy of Public Administration: Open Government Dialogue

• How can we strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness by making government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative?

Vital F.O.I.A. Links:

• Virginia Coalition for Open Government
• Current FOI Law & FAQs - (links to .pdf and print copies of F.O.I.A. and a link to an overview of F.O.I.A. that provides commentary explaining what is meant by the different state code sections involved.
• FOI Citizen's Guide (a general guide for citizen rights concering documents, meetings, etc. that are covered under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
• 2009 Legislative Roundup (a list of bills, with brief descriptions, that are 'on the table' for state elected officials to act upon)
• Look Up Opinions of the Advisory Council, Attorney General, and the Courts concerning F.O.I.A. can be researched here. The Virginia Coalition for Open Government is the only organization that maintains an online archive of ALL opinions!
• Ask Us a F.O.I.A. Question is a useful resource where you can ask questions and get back an answer that you can depend upon to be accurate.

Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council

• A .pdf file of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
• Records Exemptions of General Applicability
• Meeting Exemptions of General Applicability

The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

• Guides and Handbooks: Local Government Officials' Guide to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (at $5/each, with a discount for orders of 25 or more, this guide is well worth the cost. These are the documents that many government officials are provided at the time that they take office. However, as with any law, they are subject to change. Government officials using older versions may be missing information on some of the more recent changes.)

Other Useful Information:

• Open the Government.org (national focus)
• Code of Virginia: Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Checking the code will make sure that you are working with the most recent version of F.O.I.A.)
• The Library of Virginia Records Schedules (It takes a bit of work but you can locate information on what documents the locality is required to maintain and for how long by using the Retention Schedules link, then the General Schedules for Virginia Localities. From there, you will need to choose a category to access the retention and disposal records.)
• Sunshine Review (Virginia's transparency report card and proposed changes in State Code are offered here. A great deal of the information offered pertains to the websites of government agencies and how well they provide information to citizens.)National Freedom of Information CoalitionKCNN: Citizen Journalists' Guide to Open Government Federal FOI Resources

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Roanoke Times Articles Involving F.O.I.A.

• Take care with the public's records, Sunday, March 15, 2009
• Sunshine increases in the NRV, Sunday, March 15, 2009
• F.O.I.A.: the wedge that keeps government's door open, Sunday, March 15, 2009
• Blacksburg retailers clamor for theater, Friday, March 13, 2009
• Bedford Co. School Board admits inadequate F.O.I.A. disclosure in superintendent hiring, Friday, March 13, 2009
• Widow files $5 million negligence lawsuit, Saturday, March 07, 2009
• Blacksburg council discusses Myers' replacement, Wednesday, March 04, 2009
• Bedford Co. school board chairman defends decision not to identify superintendent hire, Saturday, February 28, 2009
• Bedford Co. names new head of schools, Saturday, February 28, 2009
• Roanoke legislators score wins in Richmond, Saturday, February 28, 2009
• Bedford board silent over new schools chief, Friday, February 27, 2009
• Gmail isn't suitable for public records, Sunday, September 28, 2008
• Va. would do well to revisit F.O.I.A., Tuesday, July 22, 2008
• Fate of historic mill in limbo, Wednesday, June 11, 2008
• An end to Christiansburg's secrets, Sunday, June 01, 2008
• Local officials prefer clouds to sunshine, Sunday, March 16, 2008
• Shutting the public out of the conversation, Sunday, March 16, 2008
• The NRV three go to Richmond, Sunday, January 27, 2008
• Virginia Tech gets OK to add lawyer, Wednesday, May 30, 2007
• Secrets survive in the New River Valley, Sunday, January 07, 2007
• Law keeps citizens engaged, Monday, January 01, 2007
• Official served both city, contractor, Sunday, October 15, 2006
• Who's to blame?, Thursday, August 31, 2006

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Using the Virginia Legislative Information System to obtain most recent version of Virginia F.O.I.A.:

Finding the Virginia Freedom of Information Act

Using LIS (this process can be made to work with any topic)

1. Go to the Virginia General Assembly Legislativie Information System site.

http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm

2. On this page you will need to clik on the Code of Virginia Link under Searchable Databases. This will bring you to this page:

3. Now, click on the Popular Names hyperlink on that page and you will be directed to a page that lists all Virginia State Codes by Popular Names:

4. You will want to go to the link that says "Virginia Freedom of Information Act" and click on it. Now, you are on the page that links you to all of the Virginia Code pertaining to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

5.Now you can decide whether to look at each section individually (by clicking on the links provided), or if you would like to obtain a copy of the full code to use for your research.

To obtain a full copy for your use use the 'reports' link at the top of the page:

Click on the 'reports' link and you will go to this page:

You will need to fill in the 'from section:' and 'thru section:' areas with the numbers of the range of codes that you want to obtain. Additionally, you will need to put your email address into the 'email to:' box. Then click on submit and wait for the report to be emailed to you. It usually only takes a few minuues.

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State Freedom of Information Acts

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Virginia County Government Links

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Virginia City Government Links

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Virginia Town Government Links

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Steps in the Process

• The Virginia Coalition for Open Government link (found on the “Helpful Virginia F.O.I.A. Links” page) will give you access to current F.O.I.A. Law and Facts, the F.O.I.A. Citizen's Guide, possible future changes in F.O.I.A. Law (2009 Legislative Roundup), search enabled data bases of opinions of the Advisory Council, Attorney General, and the Courts in the Look Up Opinions section.
• The Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council provides a .pdf file of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Records Exemptions, and Meeting Exemptions. The two Exemptions sections are important for understanding some of the limits of F.O.I.A

• Where can I obtain a copy of the Town Charter or Town Code?
• How can I find out what citizen input was used in developing the Town Comprehensive Plan?
• Can proffers for a rezoning be changed after the public meeting?
• What Town financial reports am I entitled to under F.O.I.A.?
• When was the zoning on a particular property changed?
• What soil tests were performed by the Town prior to authorizing a development?

• If you are interested in a rezoning request, the Minutes from the Meeting of the Town Council or Board of Supervisors may provide you with very little information. State Code requires that those minutes contain a minimum amount of information (as noted in F.O.I.A. §2.2-3707). Requesting those Minutes will not necessarily provide you with information that was provided to the Planning Commission in forming their recommendation to the Town Council. You may find that you need to specifically request minutes from both of those groups and specifically request copies of staff analysis, plats, proffers list, and other such documents. I will note here that there are many Virginia jurisdictions that go far beyond those minimum requirements and will provide you with all related information. In fact, many jurisdictions have those on their web pages for easy access by any citizen.
• The Library of Virgina has a website (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/agencies/records/sched_local/index.htm) that provides clear descriptions of documents and how long the jurisdiction is required to keep those documents. It also includes the specific state codes that establish those mandates.

(4). Identify the level of government and/or departments from which to obtain records. For instance, a review of a certain Town's Charter or Code is helpful only in determining if that Charter or Code is being applied. A closer look would require a review of the State Code that gives the power to the local jurisdiction. You may find that local Charter and/or Code are out of sync with State Codes. In those cases, it is the State Code that is applicable UNLESS there is a disclaimer statement in the State Code indicating that any changes do NOT supersede existing local Code.

(5). Once you have identified the appropriate agency, you will need to find out to whom you should submit your request. A simple phone call or email to the agency is likely to provide you with that information. Many jurisdictions have a specific person identified as the F.O.I.A. officer and all F.O.I.A. request go through that individual. This makes it much easier for the jurisdiction to insure that time lines are met and that the appropriate person is responsible for obtaining the information required.

(6). Write your F.O.I.A. request. We have provided a copy of the F.O.I.A. request form used by the Roanoke Times (with their permission) on our website. It is in a .pdf format that allows you to print it out and fill it in by hand, or fill out the form on your computer and print it for mailing, or send as an email attachment.

(7). Document your process. This can be done via index cards, a spreadsheet or by using the form we have provided to collect specific information:Level of government: State, County, City, or Town. The following is only a small sample of some of the types of information which can be tracked.

• Name of jurisdiction. (i.e., Town of Blacksburg or County of Montgomery)
• Brief description of the documents requested.
• Date request submitted.
• Did you receive the requested documents within the five (5) day time frame established by state code? (Please do not count the day actually submitted as that would not be a full working day. Weekends and holidays are also excluded from the count.)
• Did you receive notification of additional seven (7) days needed to comply with the request as allowed by state code within 5 days of the request? (Please do not count the day actually submitted as that would not be a full working day. Weekends and holidays are also excluded from the count.)
• Did you receive the requested documents within the extended time frame established by state code? (Please do not count the day actually submitted as that would not be a full working day. Weekends and holidays are also excluded from the count.)
• Please tell us about your experience with this quest for public documents. We want to hear about your perception of the process and any problems you may have found. (This can simply be a brief description of your experience or more detailed.)
• Do you have any suggestions for any other studies of this type or for expansions to this study?

Note: Work with other groups to form a primary data collection center where information from your tracking sheets can be submitted for analysis as an individual group or as one large group. Here is a F.O.I.A. audit tracking spreadsheet for use in storing your information. It is simply based upon length of time of response to request but can be expanded to cover any areas that you wish to cover. This is a copy of a .pdf version of that tracker for use on hand-entry of data. These are just examples of how data can be collected. If the .pdf version is used, it can be made into a form that allows computer entry which then stores the information in a data base. Perhaps the simplest internet based way to do this is to set up your criteria in a Survey Monkey survey. The online survey allows for some nice statistics run through their programs and provides a means of downloading all data for use with spreadsheet programs to analyze further.

Now, it is up to each of you to decide if you wish to participate. We hope that you do. Thank you for any help you can provide as we continue to monitor and report on the status of F.O.I.A. and open government in Virginia. If you are interested in using a blog or webpage in your jurisdiction, we will be happy to help you get started. For further assistance, support, or questions, please contact:

Carol Lindstrom
540-382-6431
630 Depot St. NE
Christiansburg, VA 24073
email: calindstrom@verizon.net

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