Freedom of Information Act; designation of records, penalties for certain violations. (HB1722)

Introduced By

Del. Bob Marshall (R-Manassas)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); designation of records; penalties for certain violations.  Requires that at the time of creation of any public record, the custodian of such records that are subject to FOIA shall designate whether the record is subject to FOIA's mandatory disclosure provisions or otherwise exempt from disclosure. The bill requires that such designation shall appear on the face of the record and be updated by the custodian in a timely manner in the event of any changes. Failure to make the required designation shall, upon receipt of a request for such record, waive any charge authorized under FOIA. The bill also provides that in addition to the civil penalty under FOIA, a public employee found to have committed a willful and knowing violation of FOIA may be subject to other disciplinary action, including suspension, demotion, or termination of public employment. The bill contains technical amendments. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/10/2011Committee
01/10/2011Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/11 11100801D
01/10/2011Referred to Committee on General Laws
01/14/2011Assigned GL sub: #2 FOIA/Procurement
01/20/2011Subcommittee recommends passing by with letter
01/25/2011Passed by in General Laws with letter

Comments

Bruce Powell writes:

Government officials at all levels have been hiding information from the public more and more over the past several years. A number of organzations have had to file lawsuits to get meaningful responses to FOIA requests. I think it is time that Virginia tell its employees that they work for the taxpayers, not their supervisors or sugar daddies.

I urge this Assembly to pass a meaningful FOIA law with real teeth to encourage voluntary compliance. The proposed law seems to meet those common-sense criteria.