FAQ Page

What are my Freedom of Information Act Rights?

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Virginia Code Section 2.2-3700 et seq., guarantees residents of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.  All public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption applies.

Your FOIA Rights

1. You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
2. You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
3. 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.

What are the County of Augusta's responsibilities in responding to your request?

The County of Augusta 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 the County of Augusta 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 of Augusta to require you to provide your name and legal address.

FOIA requires that the County of Augusta 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 the County of Augusta 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.

Who can make a FOIA Request?

Anyone can make a FOIA request; however, Virginia FOIA laws only apply to requests made to Virginia agencies by Virginia citizens and representatives of media circulating/broadcasting in Virginia. Virginia agencies are under no obligation to extend benefits of FOIA to out-of-state requestors.

Do I have to be a Virginia resident to submit a FOIA request?

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act allows records access to citizens of Virginia and representatives of the media which circulates in or broadcasts into Virginia.

What information do I need to provide to submit a FOIA request?

The County requires that you provide your legal name and address. We may also require proof of your identity in the case of sensitive records. Requestors should also provide as much specific information about the records as possible. If a request is not sufficiently specific, County staff may need to contact the requestor to further identify the information sought. The requestor's contact information and preferred method of receiving the records is also needed.

What kind of information can I get through FOIA?

The Freedom of Information Act provides access to existing records. It does not apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the work of the County, nor does it require the County to create a record that does not exist. It also only applies to public records, which are those records created or received in the transaction of public business.

What is a public record?

A public record is a writing or recording, regardless of whether it is a paper record, electronic file, an audio or video recording, or in any other format that is owned or prepared by, or in possession of, a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. 

What are FOIA exemptions?

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. You will be informed of any exemptions that are claimed for the records responsive to your request, and you will also be informed of the approximate volume and subject matter of the withheld records.

How can I request records?

You may request records through the Public Records Request Portal, 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 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.

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 the County of Augusta, nor does it require the County of Augusta to create a record that does not exist.

You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the County of Augusta 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.

How long do I have to wait for my requested records?

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) requires that we provide a response within five business days. In the event that we need more time to compile your requested records, we will invoke an extension for an additional seven business days as authorized by FOIA.

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 of the records before we go to court to ask for more time.

What are the requirements for requesting documents about someone else?

Public records are available to anyone; however, some personal information may be redacted prior to providing the records pursuant to statutory exemptions. For example, general requirements where the release of criminal incident information, is likely to jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution or the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result in the destruction of evidence, such information may be withheld until the above-referenced damage is no longer likely to occur from release of the information. For requests pertaining to zoning or Uniform Statewide Building Code enforcement actions, the names, addresses and telephone numbers of complainants furnished in confidence will be redacted from responsive documents. There are other exceptions, and this is not a comprehensive list.

Where can I get acopy of County and Zoning Ordinances?

You can view the Augusta County Code here: https://www.co.augusta.va.us/government/county-code

How much does it cost to submit a FOIA request?

The County may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying or searching for the requested records. This includes staff time spent searching for the requested records and material costs. You have the right to request that the costs to fulfill your request be estimated in advance. If you would like your costs to be estimated in advance, please note this in your request.

What happens if I don't pay my FOIA invoice?

If you owe the County money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for 30 or more days, the County may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to any new FOIA requests from you.

How do I pay my FOIA invoice?

Checks must be payable to Augusta County. The payment can be mailed to PO Box 590, Verona, Virginia 24482 or brought into the Augusta County Treasurer's Office at 18 Government Center Lane, Verona, VA 24482. Please note that if you are mailing the payment, the envelope must be addressed to the Augusta County Treasurer's Office.

Where can I get more information about FOIA?

You can find more information about Virginia FOIA requests on the Virginia Freedom of Information Act Advisory Council's website at foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov or view the Freedom of Information Act itself at law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter37. 

The Virginia 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.

For questions about FOIA, please contact:

Augusta County Administrator’s Office

Address: P.O. Box 590, Verona, Virginia, 24482

Phone: 540-245-5610

Fax: 540-245-5621

E-mail: foia@co.augusta.va.us