Members of the Freedom of Information Advisory Council are conducting a meticulous review of the many exemptions to Virginia’s open-government laws. The exemptions prevent the public from having access to certain government records and meetings—usually on both the state and local levels.
State law permits roughly 170 exemptions, and many agencies say they don’t want to lose theirs. Those include active investigations by the Departments of Health Professions and Medical Assistance Services, by the Lottery, and under the Human Rights Act, military installation records, and even building construction plans. Attorney Craig Merritt represents the Virginia Press Association.
“It’s very difficult and very daunting for the average citizen trying to determine what they can get from a public agency, to open up the Code of Virginia, and to work their way through that and figure out what the rules are.”
He says it may be possible to streamline and adopt some general rules instead of carve-outs. Merritt says the group did address one concern about exemptions for the so-called “working papers” of public officials.
“And that is the ability to use that to protect all sorts of communications and correspondence without limiting that principle to the deliberative process. A recommendation came out of this work group that we’re going to try to get working papers corralled a little bit so that they’re not broadly defined.”
The members are soliciting public input as they continue their review.
The proposals still must be deliberated by the entire FOIA Council and the General Assembly.
