Virginia Freedom of Information Act - Requests
Rights & Responsibilities:
The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of the County of Northampton under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), § 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. The Northampton County Administrator’s Office (occasionally “Northampton County” or “the County”), on behalf of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors, responds to FOIA requests and ensures that public meetings comply with FOIA.
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 be withheld only if a specific, statutory exemption applies.
The purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased awareness 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 be interpreted narrowly.
Your FOIA Rights
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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. As of July 1, 2022, public bodies must 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 the requester whether they would like to request a cost estimate in advance of producing the requested records.
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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. Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.
Making a Request for records from Northampton County
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You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, email, in person, or over the phone - FOIA does not require that you use any particular method to convey your request. FOIA also does not require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to state that you are requesting records pursuant to 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 us 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.
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- 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 us 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 do not put it in writing.
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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.
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Your request must refer to 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 the County or the Northampton Board of Supervisors, nor does it require the County or the Northampton County Board of Supervisors to create a record that does not exist.
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You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the County in the regular course of business.
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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 flash drive, or to receive a printed copy of those records
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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.
To request records from Northampton County or the Northampton County Board of Supervisors], you may direct your request to Janice Williams, Deputy County Administrator, Post Office Box 66, Eastville, Virginia 23347. She can be reached at 757-678-0440 ext. 516, or via email at [email protected]. You may also contact her with questions you have concerning requesting records from the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.
For any constitutional office (Sheriff, Commissioner of the Revenue, County Treasurer, Clerk of Court and Commonwealth’s Attorney), please direct your request specifically to that office. Contact information for each office is contained on their respective pages of the County’s website (www.co.northampton.va.us)
For the Eastern Shore Regional Jail, please direct your request to the Sheriff, whose contact information is provided on the County’s website.
For the Voter Registration office, please direct your request specifically to that office. Contact information for this office is contained on its page on the County’s website.
For the Department of Social Services, please direct your request specifically to that office. Contact information for this office is contained on its page of on the County’s website.
For the Court System, please direct your request specifically to whichever Court is affected (General District Court, Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, Circuit Court). Contact information for the Circuit and General District Courts is contained on the County’s website. The Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court can be reached by calling 757-678-0440 ext. 650.
In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about how FOIA works. The Council was created in the legislative branch of state government to issue opinions on the operation and application of FOIA, to publish educational materials, and to provide training about FOIA. However, please be aware that the Council is not a records repository and does not process records requests on behalf of other public bodies, nor is the Council an investigative or enforcement agency. The Council may be contacted by email at [email protected], or by phone at (804) 698-1810 or toll-free at 1-866-448-4100.
The Northampton County's Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request
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Northampton 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, holidays or other days when Northampton County is closed for business.
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The reason behind your request for public records is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your request. FOIA does, however, allow the County to require you to provide your name and legal address.
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FOIA requires that the County make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
1) Provide you with the requested records in their entirety.
2) Withhold all of the requested records, 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 them.
3)Provide some of the requested records, 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) Inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist (i.e., 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 the 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. In the case of criminal investigative files requested pursuant to § 2.2-3706.1 of the Code of Virginia, we are allowed an additional 60 working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 65 working days to respond to your request.
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If you make a request for a very large number of records, and we find 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. 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.
Charges
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The County may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. The County cannot impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting its general business. Any duplicating fee charged shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. Prior to conducting a search for records, County will notify the requester in writing that it may impose reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for requested records, and inquire of the requester whether they would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the County’s producing the requested records.
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** Northampton County makes every effort to fill minor FOIA requests free of charge. The County does not have a fixed charge for accessing and searching for requested records. We base the charge on the hourly rate of the person searching for the records in question. To keep costs at a minimum, the County engages its clerical and administrative staff to search and retrieve the requested records for the specific request. There are no charges for any time spent by the County Attorney in responding to a FOIA request.
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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.
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You may request that we estimate in advance the charges for supplying the records 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. The five days that we have to respond to your request does not include the time between when we send you the estimate and when you respond. If you do not respond within 30 days to the estimate, your request will be deemed to be withdrawn.
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If you owe the County money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, the County may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.
Types of records
The following is a general description of the types of records held by the County Administration on behalf of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors:
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Personnel records concerning employees and officials of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.
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Records of contracts into which the Northampton County Board of Supervisors has entered.
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Records of policies, regulations and/or ordinances adopted by the governing body of the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.
If you are unsure whether the County has the record(s) you seek, please contact Janice Williams, Deputy County Administrator, directly at 16404 Courthouse Road, Post Office Box 66, Eastville, Virginia. Telephone: 757/678-0440 extension 516. Fax: 757/678-0483. Email: [email protected].
Commonly Used Exemptions
The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. The County commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:
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Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the Code of Virginia)
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Records subject to attorney-client privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work product (§ 2.2-3705.1 (3))
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Vendor proprietary information (§ 2.2-3705.1 (6))
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Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded (§ 2.2-3705.1 (12))
Policy Regarding the Use of Exemptions
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The County's general policy is to invoke the personnel records exemption in those instances where it applies in order to protect the privacy of County employees and officials.
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The County's general policy is to invoke the contract negotiations exemption whenever it applies in order to protect the County's bargaining position and negotiating strategy.