2.2-3705.7 - Exclusions to application of chapter; records of specific public bodies and certain other limited exemptions.
§ 2.2-3705.7. Exclusions to application of chapter; records of specificpublic bodies and certain other limited exemptions.
The following records are excluded from the provisions of this chapter butmay be disclosed by the custodian in his discretion, except where suchdisclosure is prohibited by law:
1. State income, business, and estate tax returns, personal property taxreturns, scholastic and confidential records held pursuant to § 58.1-3.
2. Working papers and correspondence of the Office of the Governor;Lieutenant Governor; the Attorney General; the members of the GeneralAssembly, the Division of Legislative Services, or the Clerks of the House ofDelegates and the Senate of Virginia; the mayor or chief executive officer ofany political subdivision of the Commonwealth; or the president or otherchief executive officer of any public institution of higher education inVirginia. However, no record, which is otherwise open to inspection underthis chapter, shall be deemed exempt by virtue of the fact that it has beenattached to or incorporated within any working paper or correspondence.
As used in this subdivision:
"Office of the Governor" means the Governor; his chief of staff, counsel,director of policy, Cabinet Secretaries, and the Director of the VirginiaLiaison Office; and those individuals to whom the Governor has delegated hisauthority pursuant to § 2.2-104.
"Working papers" means those records prepared by or for an above-namedpublic official for his personal or deliberative use.
3. Library records that can be used to identify both (i) any library patronwho has borrowed material from a library and (ii) the material such patronborrowed.
4. Contract cost estimates prepared for the confidential use of theDepartment of Transportation in awarding contracts for construction or thepurchase of goods or services, and records and automated systems prepared forthe Department's Bid Analysis and Monitoring Program.
5. Lists of registered owners of bonds issued by a political subdivision ofthe Commonwealth, whether the lists are maintained by the politicalsubdivision itself or by a single fiduciary designated by the politicalsubdivision.
6. Records and writings furnished by a member of the General Assembly to ameeting of a standing committee, special committee or subcommittee of hishouse established solely for the purpose of reviewing members' annualdisclosure statements and supporting materials filed under § 30-110 or offormulating advisory opinions to members on standards of conduct, or both.
7. Customer account information of a public utility affiliated with apolitical subdivision of the Commonwealth, including the customer's name andservice address, but excluding the amount of utility service provided and theamount of money paid for such utility service.
8. Personal information, as defined in § 2.2-3801, (i) filed with theVirginia Housing Development Authority concerning individuals who haveapplied for or received loans or other housing assistance or who have appliedfor occupancy of or have occupied housing financed, owned or otherwiseassisted by the Virginia Housing Development Authority; (ii) concerningpersons participating in or persons on the waiting list for federally fundedrent-assistance programs; (iii) filed with any local redevelopment andhousing authority created pursuant to § 36-4 concerning persons participatingin or persons on the waiting list for housing assistance programs funded bylocal governments or by any such authority; or (iv) filed with any localredevelopment and housing authority created pursuant to § 36-4 or any otherlocal government agency concerning persons who have applied for occupancy orwho have occupied affordable dwelling units established pursuant to §15.2-2304 or 15.2-2305. However, access to one's own information shall not bedenied.
9. Records regarding the siting of hazardous waste facilities, except asprovided in § 10.1-1441, if disclosure of them would have a detrimentaleffect upon the negotiating position of a governing body or on theestablishment of the terms, conditions and provisions of the siting agreement.
10. Records containing information on the site specific location of rare,threatened, endangered or otherwise imperiled plant and animal species,natural communities, caves, and significant historic and archaeological sitesif, in the opinion of the public body that has the responsibility for suchinformation, disclosure of the information would jeopardize the continuedexistence or the integrity of the resource. This exemption shall not apply torequests from the owner of the land upon which the resource is located.
11. Records, memoranda, working papers, graphics, video or audio tapes,production models, data and information of a proprietary nature produced byor for or collected by or for the State Lottery Department relating tomatters of a specific lottery game design, development, production,operation, ticket price, prize structure, manner of selecting the winningticket, manner of payment of prizes to holders of winning tickets, frequencyof drawings or selections of winning tickets, odds of winning, advertising,or marketing, where such official records have not been publicly released,published, copyrighted or patented. Whether released, published orcopyrighted, all game-related information shall be subject to publicdisclosure under this chapter upon the first day of sales for the specificlottery game to which it pertains.
12. Records of the Virginia Retirement System, acting pursuant to §51.1-124.30, or of a local retirement system, acting pursuant to § 51.1-803,or of the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, acting pursuantto § 23-76.1, or of the Virginia College Savings Plan, acting pursuant to §23-38.77, relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of a securityor other ownership interest in an entity, where such security or ownershipinterest is not traded on a governmentally regulated securities exchange, tothe extent that: (i) such records contain confidential analyses prepared forthe Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, prepared by theretirement system or the Virginia College Savings Plan, or provided to theretirement system or the Virginia College Savings Plan under a promise ofconfidentiality, of the future value of such ownership interest or the futurefinancial performance of the entity; and (ii) disclosure of such confidentialanalyses would have an adverse effect on the value of the investment to beacquired, held or disposed of by the retirement system, the Rector andVisitors of the University of Virginia, or the Virginia College Savings Plan.Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prevent the disclosure ofrecords relating to the identity of any investment held, the amount invested,or the present value of such investment.
13. Names and addresses of subscribers to Virginia Wildlife magazine,published by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, provided theindividual subscriber has requested in writing that the Department notrelease such information.
14. Financial, medical, rehabilitative and other personal informationconcerning applicants for or recipients of loan funds submitted to ormaintained by the Assistive Technology Loan Fund Authority under Chapter 11(§ 51.5-53 et seq.) of Title 51.5.
15. Records of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authoritypertaining to any of the following: an individual's qualifications for orcontinued membership on its medical or teaching staffs; proprietaryinformation gathered by or in the possession of the Authority from thirdparties pursuant to a promise of confidentiality; contract cost estimatesprepared for confidential use in awarding contracts for construction or thepurchase of goods or services; data, records or information of a proprietarynature produced or collected by or for the Authority or members of itsmedical or teaching staffs; financial statements not publicly available thatmay be filed with the Authority from third parties; the identity, accounts oraccount status of any customer of the Authority; consulting or other reportspaid for by the Authority to assist the Authority in connection with itsstrategic planning and goals; the determination of marketing and operationalstrategies where disclosure of such strategies would be harmful to thecompetitive position of the Authority; and data, records or information of aproprietary nature produced or collected by or for employees of theAuthority, other than the Authority's financial or administrative records, inthe conduct of or as a result of study or research on medical, scientific,technical or scholarly issues, whether sponsored by the Authority alone or inconjunction with a governmental body or a private concern, when such data,records or information have not been publicly released, published,copyrighted or patented.
16. Records of the Department of Environmental Quality, the State WaterControl Board, State Air Pollution Control Board or the Virginia WasteManagement Board relating to (i) active federal environmental enforcementactions that are considered confidential under federal law and (ii)enforcement strategies, including proposed sanctions for enforcement actions.Upon request, such records shall be disclosed after a proposed sanctionresulting from the investigation has been proposed to the director of theagency. This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit the disclosure ofrecords related to inspection reports, notices of violation, and documentsdetailing the nature of any environmental contamination that may haveoccurred or similar documents.
17. As it pertains to any person, records related to the operation of tollfacilities that identify an individual, vehicle, or travel itineraryincluding, but not limited to, vehicle identification data, vehicleenforcement system information; video or photographic images; Social Securityor other identification numbers appearing on driver's licenses; credit cardor bank account data; home addresses; phone numbers; or records of the dateor time of toll facility use.
18. Records of the State Lottery Department pertaining to (i) the socialsecurity number, tax identification number, state sales tax number, homeaddress and telephone number, personal and lottery banking account andtransit numbers of a retailer, and financial information regarding thenonlottery operations of specific retail locations; and (ii) individuallottery winners, except that a winner's name, hometown, and amount won shallbe disclosed.
19. Records of the Board for Branch Pilots relating to the chemical or drugtesting of a person regulated by the Board, where such person has testednegative or has not been the subject of a disciplinary action by the Boardfor a positive test result.
20. Records, investigative notes, correspondence, and information pertainingto the planning, scheduling and performance of examinations of holder recordspursuant to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act (§ 55-210.1 etseq.) prepared by or for the State Treasurer, his agents, employees orpersons employed to perform an audit or examination of holder records.
21. Records of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management or a localgoverning body relating to citizen emergency response teams establishedpursuant to an ordinance of a local governing body, to the extent that suchrecords reveal the name, address, including e-mail address, telephone orpager numbers, or operating schedule of an individual participant in theprogram.
22. Records of state or local park and recreation departments and local andregional park authorities to the extent such records contain informationidentifying a person under the age of 18 years, where the parent or legalguardian of such person has requested in writing that such information not bedisclosed. However, nothing in this subdivision shall operate to prohibit thedisclosure of information defined as directory information under regulationsimplementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. §1232g, unless the public body has undertaken the parental notification andopt-out requirements provided by such regulations. Access shall not be deniedto the parent, including a noncustodial parent, or guardian of such person,unless the parent's parental rights have been terminated or a court ofcompetent jurisdiction has restricted or denied such access. For records ofsuch persons who are emancipated, the right of access may be asserted by thesubject thereof.
23. Records submitted for inclusion in the Statewide Alert Networkadministered by the Department of Emergency Management, to the extent thatthey reveal names, physical addresses, email addresses, computer or internetprotocol information, telephone numbers, pager numbers, other wireless orportable communications device information, or operating schedules ofindividuals or agencies, where the release of such information wouldcompromise the security of the Statewide Alert Network or individualsparticipating in the Statewide Alert Network.
24. Records of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission made confidentialby § 17.1-913.
25. Records of the Virginia Retirement System acting pursuant to §51.1-124.30, of a local retirement system acting pursuant to § 51.1-803(hereinafter collectively referred to as the retirement system), or of theVirginia College Savings Plan, acting pursuant to § 23-38.77 relating to:
a. Internal deliberations of or decisions by the retirement system or theVirginia College Savings Plan on the pursuit of particular investmentstrategies, or the selection or termination of investment managers, prior tothe execution of such investment strategies or the selection or terminationof such managers, to the extent that disclosure of such records would have anadverse impact on the financial interest of the retirement system or theVirginia College Savings Plan; and
b. Trade secrets, as defined in the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (§ 59.1-336 etseq.), provided by a private entity to the retirement system or the VirginiaCollege Savings Plan, to the extent disclosure of such records would have anadverse impact on the financial interest of the retirement system or theVirginia College Savings Plan.
For the records specified in subdivision b to be excluded from the provisionsof this chapter, the entity shall make a written request to the retirementsystem or the Virginia College Savings Plan:
(1) Invoking such exclusion prior to or upon submission of the data or othermaterials for which protection from disclosure is sought;
(2) Identifying with specificity the data or other materials for whichprotection is sought; and
(3) Stating the reasons why protection is necessary.
The retirement system or the Virginia College Savings Plan shall determinewhether the requested exclusion from disclosure meets the requirements setforth in subdivision b.
Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to authorize the withholdingof the identity or amount of any investment held or the present value andperformance of all asset classes and subclasses.
26. Records of the Department of Corrections made confidential by § 53.1-233.
27. Records maintained by the Department of the Treasury or participants inthe Local Government Investment Pool (§ 2.2-4600 et seq.), to the extent suchrecords relate to information required to be provided by such participants tothe Department to establish accounts in accordance with § 2.2-4602.
28. Personal information, as defined in § 2.2-3801, contained in the VeteransCare Center Resident Trust Funds concerning residents or patients of theDepartment of Veterans Services Care Centers, except that access shall not bedenied to the person who is the subject of the record.
29. Records maintained in connection with fundraising activities by theVeterans Services Foundation pursuant to § 2.2-2716 to the extent that suchrecords reveal the address, electronic mail address, facsimile or telephonenumber, social security number or other identification number appearing on adriver's license, or credit card or bank account data of identifiable donors,except that access shall not be denied to the person who is the subject ofthe record. Nothing in this subdivision, however, shall be construed toauthorize the withholding of records relating to the amount, date, purpose,and terms of the pledge or donation or the identity of the donor. Theexclusion provided by this subdivision shall not apply to protect fromdisclosure (i) the identities of sponsors providing grants to or contractingwith the foundation for the performance of services or other work or (ii) theterms and conditions of such grants or contracts.
(1999, cc. 485, 518, 703, 726, 793, 849, 852, 867, 868, 881, § 2.1-342.01;2000, cc. 66, 237, 382, 400, 430, 583, 589, 592, 594, 618, 632, 657, 720,932, 933, 947, 1006, 1064; 2001, cc. 288, 518, 844, § 2.2-3705; 2002, cc. 87,155, 242, 393, 478, 481, 499, 522, 571, 572, 633, 655, 715, 798, 830; 2003,cc. 274, 307, 327, 332, 358, 704, 801, 884, 891, 893, 897, 968; 2004, cc.426, 690, 832; 2005, cc. 165, 508; 2007, cc. 406, 652, 660, 737, 739; 2008,cc. 16, 739; 2009, cc. 223, 827, 845; 2010, c. 300.)