Virginia Freedom of Information Act

Response Timeline

Business days (excludes weekends and holidays). Agency must respond within 5 business days by providing records, denying request, or stating it needs up to 7 additional business days. 'Day One' is the day after request is received.

Virginia Code § 2.2-3704 limits access to 'citizens of the Commonwealth,' plus representatives of newspapers/magazines/broadcast media with Virginia circulation/broadcast. 'Citizen' includes those born in VA who haven't in good faith become citizens of another state, OR those born elsewhere/naturalized who 'may be or become a resident' of VA. This citizenship requirement was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court (does not violate Privileges and Immunities Clause or dormant Commerce Clause).

How to Submit a Request

Accepted Methods

• Email
• Mail
• In person
• Fax
• Portal

Most agencies accept email requests. Some use online portals. Requests should identify records with reasonable specificity. No formal form required, but many agencies provide sample templates.

Email or portal?

Requests may be made in any form, including orally, so a portal can never be the only accepted channel.

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act requires only that a request for public records identify the requested records with reasonable specificity, and states that the request need not make reference to the chapter in order to invoke it or to impose the time limits for response (Va. Code 2.2-3704(B)). VFOIA sets no writing requirement, prescribes no form, and nowhere authorizes a public body to designate a submission channel; the FOIA officer a body must designate under 2.2-3704.2 is a published point of contact, not a required destination. Because a requester cannot be compelled even to put a request in writing, a public body cannot lawfully make an online portal the only way to submit a request. Failure to respond to a request is itself a denial and a violation (2.2-3704(E)), which a portal-only refusal to accept an emailed request would produce.

• Va. Code 2.2-3704(B), (E)
• Va. Code 2.2-3704.2 (designated FOIA officer)

No controlling case law identified on the submission-channel question. The verdict rests on the plain text of 2.2-3704(B), which imposes no writing requirement and no form. McBurney v. Young, 569 U.S. 221 (2013), is the controlling decision on WHO may invoke VFOIA (citizens of the Commonwealth and in-state media) and is a separate question from HOW a request may be submitted.

Virginia bodies vary widely: large localities and universities run portals or web forms, while most towns, school boards and constitutional officers publish a FOIA officer email address. Our records data for Virginia lists email, mail, in person, fax and portal as accepted methods, consistent with a portal being optional. Separately, an out-of-state requester should expect some bodies to decline on standing under 2.2-3704(A) regardless of channel.

Last reviewed 2026-07-30.

Required Elements

• Description — Reasonably identify the requested records - must be specific enough for agency to locate
• Contact info — Provide way for agency to respond (name, address, phone, or email)

Optional Elements

• Preferred format — Request electronic format if preferred - may reduce or eliminate duplication costs
• Inspection vs copies — State whether you want to inspect records or receive copies - inspection has no cost

Fees

Unlike federal FOIA, Virginia explicitly prohibits '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.' Fees must reflect actual costs only. Requester may ask for advance estimate.

Fee Waivers

• Inspection (No Cost)
• Agency Discretionary Waiver

Virginia FOIA does not have formal fee waiver categories like federal FOIA. However, many agencies waive small fees as a matter of policy or practice. Inspection of records at the agency is always free.

Exemptions

• Personnel Records (§ 2.2-3705.1(1))
  Personnel records concerning identifiable individuals (except access not denied to the subject)
• Medical and Mental Health Records (§ 2.2-3705.5)
  Health and mental health records, social services records identifying clients/recipients
• Scholastic Records (§ 2.2-3705.4)
  Scholastic records containing information concerning identifiable individuals
• Criminal Investigative Files (§ 2.2-3706)
  Criminal investigative files and ongoing investigations - may be disclosed after case conclusion
• Administrative Investigation Work Product (§ 2.2-3705.1(3))
  Legal memoranda and work product compiled for litigation or active administrative investigation
• Attorney-Client Privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1(2))
  Records protected by attorney-client privilege or attorney work product
• Proprietary/Trade Secrets (§ 2.2-3705.6(3))
  Trade secrets, proprietary information, financial information submitted by business (if disclosure would harm competitive position)
• Public Safety/Security (§ 2.2-3705.2)
  Records relating to security measures, vulnerability assessments, emergency response plans
• Vendor Proprietary Information (§ 2.2-3705.1(6))
  Proprietary information of contractors or potential contractors submitted in procurement
• Donor Records (§ 2.2-3705.7(17))
  Donor information for public institutions of higher education

Virginia has over 100 exemptions scattered throughout § 2.2-3705.1 et seq. Many are agency-specific. Exemptions are discretionary ('may be withheld') unless statute says 'shall not be disclosed.' Burden is on agency to justify withholding.

Appeal Process

Virginia has NO formal administrative appeal process. You can go directly to court after a denial. The FOIA Advisory Council (created 2000) provides free mediation and advisory opinions but these are non-binding. Going to court does not require exhausting any administrative remedies first.

Request Templates

Records Retention

Va. Code 42.1-76 et seq.; 42.1-85

View retention law →

Retention schedule catalog →

The VPRA establishes uniform procedures for managing and preserving public records. No agency shall destroy records unless they appear on an approved retention schedule with an expired retention period. Records containing identifying information must be destroyed within six months of retention period expiration.

Sources & References

• Full text of law →
• Primary source →
• RCFP Open Government Guide — Virginia →
• NFOIC State FOI Resources →

Bodies Covered

Which kinds of public body this law applies to, with the statutory basis for each claim.

Coverage notes

• Requester standing: citizens of the Commonwealth only VFOIA opens public records to citizens of the Commonwealth and to representatives of newspapers and magazines with Virginia circulation or radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth (§ 2.2-3704(A)). The Supreme Court upheld that limit in McBurney v. Young, holding that access to public information is not a fundamental privilege or immunity of citizenship and that the Act neither prohibits access to an interstate market nor burdens one. A Virginia body may therefore refuse an out-of-state requester outright. Nothing obliges a requester to prove residency and many bodies answer anyway, but the refusal is lawful and cannot be appealed on constitutional grounds. Va. Code § 2.2-3704(A) (records open to citizens of the Commonwealth and in-state media) · McBurney v. Young, 569 U.S. 221 (2013)
• Five working days, in writing, with one of four responses A public body that is the custodian must respond promptly and in all cases within five working days: produce the records, or state in writing that they are being withheld entirely, withheld in part, could not be found or do not exist, or that a response is not practically possible in the period. A response of the last kind buys an additional seven work days (60 for criminal investigative files under § 2.2-3706.1). Failure to respond at all is itself a denial and a violation (§ 2.2-3704(E)). Our ask does not cite the deadline; it is raised only in the overdue follow-up. Va. Code § 2.2-3704(B) (respond within five working days; four enumerated responses)
• No wholesale withholding: the statutory duty to redact § 2.2-3704.01 forbids withholding a record in its entirety because some portion of it is excluded; only the excluded portions may be withheld and everything else must be disclosed. That section exists because Virginia Dept. of Corrections v. Surovell had read VFOIA to impose no redaction duty, and the General Assembly reversed the result in 2016 (2016 Acts ch. 620), narrowing the personnel exclusion to 'information' rather than whole records (Hawkins v. Town of South Hill). Pair the redaction duty with § 2.2-3704(B)(1) and (B)(2), which require the response to identify with reasonable particularity what is withheld and to cite the specific Code section for each category. Va. Code § 2.2-3704.01 (records containing both excluded and nonexcluded information; duty to redact) · Hawkins v. Town of South Hill, Record No. 210848 (Va. Oct. 20, 2022)
• Charges are capped at actual cost, and surplus fees are barred A public body may charge reasonable charges not exceeding its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the records, and may not impose extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees to recoup the general cost of creating or maintaining records or transacting its general business (§ 2.2-3704(F)). The body must tell the requester in advance that charges may apply and that an estimate may be requested; where it determines in advance that charges are likely to exceed $200 it may require a deposit before continuing (§ 2.2-3704(H)). VFOIA has no statutory fee-waiver category, so ask for a waiver as a matter of the body's own policy and always ask for the estimate. Va. Code § 2.2-3704(F), (H) (actual-cost charges; no surplus fees; advance estimate; $200 deposit)
• The designated FOIA officer is a contact, not a gate Every state, local and regional public body and every constitutional officer must designate one or more FOIA officers and publish the officer's name and contact information (§ 2.2-3704.2). The statute does not make that officer the only valid recipient and does not condition the five-working-day clock on reaching them, so a request to a general records mailbox is still a request. Discovery should nevertheless capture the published FOIA officer wherever one exists, because it is the address the body itself nominates. Va. Code § 2.2-3704.2 (public bodies to designate a FOIA officer)
• Court clerk records are outside VFOIA § 2.2-3703(A)(6) removes from the chapter the records maintained by clerks of the courts of record for which they are custodians under § 17.1-242, and by clerks of courts not of record under § 16.1-69.54, including records transferred for storage, maintenance, or archiving. Deeds, land records, and case files therefore come through Va. Code § 17.1-208 and the clerk's own access rules, not a VFOIA request. This matters for permit and land-use work, where the chain of title sits with the clerk while the permit file sits with the locality. Va. Code § 2.2-3703(A) (public bodies and records to which VFOIA is inapplicable)
• Enforcement: mandamus in seven days, burden on the body A person denied VFOIA rights may petition for mandamus or injunction, to be heard within seven days of the filing, and the public body bears the burden of proving an exclusion by a preponderance of the evidence (§ 2.2-3713). A petitioner who substantially prevails may recover costs and reasonable attorney fees unless special circumstances make an award unjust. There is no administrative appeal to exhaust first; the FOIA Advisory Council offers free, non-binding advisory opinions and mediation instead. Va. Code § 2.2-3713 (mandamus or injunction; burden on the public body; costs and fees) · Hawkins v. Town of South Hill, Record No. 210848 (Va. Oct. 20, 2022)
• Exclusions are discretionary and narrowly construed VFOIA is liberally construed and any exemption is narrowly construed; no record may be withheld unless specifically made exempt (§ 2.2-3700(B)). Most of Virginia's exclusions are permissive ('may be withheld'), so a body can release an excluded record and often will if asked. The pointed exception is criminal investigative files, where discretion is real and survives the closing of the case (Fitzgerald), so law-enforcement asks should target administrative rather than case records. Va. Code § 2.2-3700 (short title; policy of liberal construction) · Fitzgerald v. Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Record No. 141238 (Va. Apr. 16, 2015) · Hawkins v. Town of South Hill, Record No. 210848 (Va. Oct. 20, 2022)