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Freedom of Information Act

RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located at § 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.

YOUR FOIA RIGHTS

  • 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.  Pursuant to VA Code Section 2.2-3704, 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 they would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the supplying of the requested records. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter37/section2.2-3704/
  • 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.
  • FOIA Council Forms:

            http://foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov/sample%20letters/welcome.htm and

            https://www.vacourts.gov/forms/district/dc495.pdf

 

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR OTHER PUBLIC BODIES

The Prince William County Circuit Court, Sheriff’s Office, Commonwealth’s Attorney, and Adult Detention Center are separate legal entities, and have their own FOIA Officers assigned that are separate from the County and have their own FOIA Liaisons. Below is the information to contact these separate legal entities should you wish to submit a FOIA request:

 

MAKING A REQUEST FOR RECORDS FROM A PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY

  • 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 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, nor does it require the County to create a record that does not exist.
  • You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the 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.

To request records from the County, you may direct your request to a FOIA Officer or to one of the FOIA Liaisons listed below. We have provided separate FOIA Liaisons for specific Departments that receive frequent requests because you are likely to receive a reply to your request more quickly if you go through that Department directly. However, we also have designated as FOIA Officer for the County, Robert Skoff, Assistant County Attorney, at the Prince William County Attorney's Office.

FOIA LIAISONS

Department / Agency FOIA Liaison Email

Telephone

Area Agency on Aging

Laura Halo

[email protected]

703-792-7425

Budget

David Sinclair

 [email protected]

703-792-8114

Community Services

Gina Tamayo

 [email protected]

703-792-7754

Communications

Nicole Brown

[email protected]

703-792-6606

County Executive's Office

 Jessica Blankenship [email protected] 703-792-5904

Development Services

 

[email protected]

703-792-6830

DoIT

Steve Carwile

[email protected]

703-792-3648

Economic Development

Michelle Morris

[email protected]

703-792-5511

Equal Employment Opportunity

Stacey Allen

[email protected]

703-792-4665

Facilities and Fleet Management

 Matt Groff [email protected] 703-792-7183

Finance

 Tim Leclerc

[email protected]

703-792-6724

Tax Administration

Robin Bell

 

[email protected]

[email protected]

703-792-6767

703-792-6710

Fire & Rescue

Fire Marshal's Office

 [email protected]

703-792-6360

Personnel Records

 [email protected] 703-792-8392

Health

Phonthib Giles

 [email protected] 703-792-5695

Housing

Kim Sigafoo

[email protected]

703-792-7530

Human Resources

 

[email protected]

703-792-6640

Human Rights Commission

 Shelia Venning

[email protected]

703-792-4683

Juvenile Justice Services

Lara Jacobs-Todd

[email protected]

804-625-3392

Library

Karen Gates

[email protected]

703-792-8150

Office of Criminal Justice Services

Tomaudrie Thomas

tthomas2pwcgov.org

703-792-6065

Office of Elections

 Elections-FOIA [email protected] 703-792-6470

Parks, Recreation & Tourism

Shannon Jaenicke

[email protected]

703-792-7060

Planning

Dominika Bui

[email protected]

 703-792-6641

Police Department

Gina Lapihuska

Sarah Tama - PSCC (911 Calls)

[email protected]

[email protected] 

703-792-6559

703-792-4099

Public Works

Liane Blake

[email protected]

703-792-6820

          *     Neighborhood Services

          *     Environmental Management

Lee Stewart

 

[email protected]

[email protected]

703-792-5621

703-792-7070

Racial and Social Justice Commission

 Maria Burgos 

[email protected]

 

  

Social Services

 

Linda Meier

Julia Blakely

[email protected].

[email protected]

703-792-7521

703-792-4022

Transportation

 

Richelle Delinski

Kimberly Bibbee

[email protected]

[email protected]

703-792-6825

703-792-7441

 

If you do not see a FOIA Liaison for the Department that you believe has the records that you are looking for, or if you are unsure which Department has the records that you are seeking, then you should make your request to the FOIA Officer. If you have questions concerning requesting records from the County, contact one of Prince William County's FOIA Officers at One County Complex Court, Suite 240, Prince William, Virginia 22192, or by telephone at (703) 792-6620, or by facsimile at (703) 792-6633, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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 [email protected], or by phone at (804) 225-3056 or [toll free] 1-866-448-4100.

THE COUNTY'S RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPONDING TO YOUR REQUEST

  • The 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 the 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 the County to require you to provide your name and legal address.
  • FOIA requires that the County make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
  • We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
  • 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 record.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

COSTS

  • 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. 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 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 the 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, the County may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.
  • A written policy (i) explaining how the public body assesses charges for accessing or searching for requested records and (ii) noting the current fee charged, if any, for accessing and searching for such requested records is found at the following link for the Prince William County FOIA Policy.  https://www.pwcva.gov/assets/2021-04/foia_-_freedom_of_information_act_-_pwc_policy.pdf

TYPES OF RECORDS

The following is a general description of the types of records held by the County:

  • Personnel records concerning employees and officials of the County
  • Records of contracts which the County has entered into

If you are unsure whether the County has the record(s) you seek, or please contact Robert Skoff at (703) 792-6620, or by email at [email protected].

 

COMMONLY USED EXEMPTIONS

The following are a few of the most commonly used exemptions from the Code of Virginia, this is not an all-inclusive list. For all potential exemptions, please see Chapter 37 of the Code of Virginia

 https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter37/

  • Records requested by individuals who are not citizens of Virginia or representatives of the media § 2.2-3704(A)
  • Personnel records § 2.2-3705.1(1): Personnel records containing information concerning identifiable individuals, except that access shall not be denied to the person who is the subject thereof.
  • Records subject to attorney-client privilege § 2.2-3705.1(2): Written advice of legal counsel to state, regional or local public bodies or the officers or employees of such public bodies, and any other information protected by the attorney-client privilege.
  • Attorney-Client work product § 2.2-3705.1(3): Legal memoranda and other work product compiled specifically for use in litigation or for use in an active administrative investigation concerning a matter that is properly the subject of a closed meeting under § 2.2-3711.
  • Appraisals and cost estimates of real property subject to a proposed sale, purchase, or lease §2.2-3705.1 (8)
  • Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded § 2.2-3705.1(12)
  • Account numbers or routing information for any credit card, debit card, or other account with a financial institution of any person or public body. However, access shall not be denied to the person who is the subject of the information. For the purposes of this subdivision, "financial institution" means any organization authorized to do business under state or federal laws relating to financial institutions, including, without limitation, banks and trust companies, savings banks, savings and loan companies or associations, and credit unions. § 2.2-3705.1(13)
  • Health records § 2.2-3705.5(1)
  • Proprietary Information § 2.2-3705.6(3): Proprietary information, voluntarily provided by private business pursuant to a promise of confidentiality from a public body, used by the public body for business, trade, and tourism development or retention; and memoranda, working papers, or other information related to businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Virginia, prepared by a public body, where competition or bargaining is involved and where disclosure of such information would adversely affect the financial interest of the public body.
  • §2.2-3705.7(1): State income, business, and estate tax returns, personal property tax returns, and confidential records held pursuant to § 58.1-3.
  • Records of criminal investigations §2.2-3706(A)(2)(a)
  • §2.2-3706(F): Law Enforcement records, specifically complaints, memoranda, correspondence, case files or reports, witness statements, and evidence relating to a criminal investigation.
  • Tax records §58.1-3
  • Social service records §63.2-102 through §63.2-105

 

POLICY REGARDING THE USE OF EXEMPTIONS

Since exemptions exist in order to protect some compelling public interest (such as privacy of individuals, criminal investigations, or the County's bargaining position in an on-going negotiation or discussion), it is inevitable that the County will need to rely on exemptions in many cases. For that reason, it is the County's general practice to invoke all exemptions that are applicable to any request for records. This practice ensures that we treat all citizens the same way to the greatest extent possible.