Smyth County, Virginia
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located § 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth
and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.
A public record is any writing or recording -- regardless of whether it is a paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording,
or any other format -- that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the
transaction of public business. All public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption
applies.
The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental
activities. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that any exemption
allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.
The following is a general description of the types of records held by Smyth County:
·
Personnel records concerning employees and officials of Smyth County
· Records of
contracts which Smyth County has entered into
· General records that are generated by
county departments in the normal conduct of business
If you are unsure whether Smyth County has the record(s) you seek, please contact
Alicia Richardson, FOIA Officer, directly at 1-276-706-8305 or lrichardson@smythcounty.org. You
can learn more about the VFOIA by visiting the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council
website or by reading The Virginia Freedom of Information Act online.
You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be
in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting records under FOIA.
From a practical perspective, it
may be helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your request in writing. This allows you to create a
record of your request. It also gives a clear statement of what records you are requesting, so that there is no misunderstanding
over a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect to not put it in writing.
Your request must identify the records you are seeking with "reasonable specificity." This is a common-sense standard. It
does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough
so that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
Your request must ask for existing records or documents.
FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the
work of Smyth County, nor does it require Smyth County to create a record that does not exist.
You may choose to receive
electronic records in any format used by Smyth County in the regular course of business.
For example, if you are requesting
records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via e-mail or on a computer disk, or
to receive a printed copy of those records
If we have questions about your request, please cooperate with staff's efforts to
clarify the type of records that you are seeking, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to a large request.
Making a FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but we may need to discuss your request with you to ensure that we understand
what records you are seeking.
Smyth County must respond to your request within five working days of receiving it. "Day One" is considered the day after
your request is received. The five-day period does not include weekends or holidays.
The reason behind your request for
public records from Smyth County is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your
request. FOIA does, however, allow Smyth County to require you to provide your name and legal address.
FOIA requires
that Smyth County make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
1)
We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
2) We withhold all of
the records that you have requested, because all of the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. If all of the
records are being withheld, we must send you a response in writing. That writing must identify the volume and subject matter of
the records being withheld, and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the records.
3)
We provide some of the records that you have requested, but withhold other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only
a portion of it is subject to an exemption. In that instance, we may redact the portion of the record that may be withheld, and
must provide you with the remainder of the record. We must provide you with a written response stating the specific section of
the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld.
4) We inform
you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist (we do not have the records you want). However, if we
know that another public body has the requested records, we must include contact information for the other public body in our response
to you.
5) If it is practically impossible for Smyth County to respond to your request within
the five-day period, we must state this in writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This will allow
us seven additional working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 12 working days to respond to your request.
If you make a request for a very large number of records, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days
without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time to respond to your
request. However, FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production or the
records before we go to court to ask for more time.
You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
You have the right to request that any
charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
If you believe that your FOIA rights have been violated, you
may file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA.
The Code of Virginia allows Smyth County to withhold certain records from public disclosure. Smyth County commonly withholds
records subject to the following exemptions:
·Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the Code of Virginia
·Records subject to
attorney-client privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work product (§ 2.2-3705.1 (3))
·Vendor proprietary information (§
2.2-3705.1 (6))
·Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded (§ 2.2-3705.1 (12))
·Others exemptions may apply. For a full list of exemptions, please reference Virginia Code §2.2-3705.1 et seq.
The general policy of Smyth County is to invoke the personnel records exemption in those instances where it applies in order to
protect the privacy of employees and officials of Smyth County.
The general policy of Smyth County is to invoke the contract
negotiations exemption whenever it applies in order to protect Smyth County bargaining position and negotiating strategy.
The
County reserves the right to utilize any exemption provided under the Freedom of Information Act.
Exemptions are exercised on
a case by case basis.
Smyth County may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching
for the requested records. We shall not 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 county. Any duplicating fee charged shall
not exceed the actual cost of duplication. All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the
request of the citizen as set forth in subsection F of § 2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia.
You may have to pay for the records
that you request from Smyth County. FOIA allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This
would include items like staff time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs or any other costs directly related to
supplying the requested records. It cannot include general overhead costs.
If we estimate that it will cost more than
$200 to respond to your request, we may require you to pay a deposit, not to exceed the amount of the estimate, before proceeding with
your request. The five days that we have to respond to your request does not include the time between when we ask for a deposit
and when you respond.
You may request that we estimate in advance the charges for supplying the records that you have
requested. This will allow you to know about any costs upfront, or give you the opportunity to modify your request in an attempt
to lower the estimated costs.
If you owe us money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days,
Smyth County may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.
To request records from Smyth County, you may direct your request to:
Alicia Richardson, FOIA Officer
Smyth County
Administrator’s Office,
121 Bagley Circle, Suite 100, Marion, VA, 24354.
Google Map
Phone: 276-706-8305, Fax: 276-783-9314
or email: lrichardson@smythcounty.org.
Please call to verify receipt of your request. You may also contact the FOIA Officer with questions you have concerning requesting
records from Smyth County.
To request records pertaining to constitutional offices please contact the following:
Circuit Court Clerk
Commissioner of the Revenue
Commonwealth's Attorney
Sheriff
Treasurer
In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by e-mail at foiacouncil@dls.virginia.gov, or by phone at (804) 225-3056 or [toll free] 1-866-448-4100.