Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of the Southside Network Authority

under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located in § 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 that consists of letters, words, or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostatting, photography, magnetic impulse, optical or magneto-optical form, mechanical or electronic recording, or other form of data compilation, however stored, and regardless of physical form or characteristics, 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 and afford every opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of government. 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.

 Please note that it is the policy of the Southside Network Authority to provide any and all information that we are in possession of unless it may be exempted under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3705.1 - § 2.2-3705.8 of the Code of Virginia). A list of commonly used exceptions can be found at the end of this policy. It is our responsibility to serve the public and provide any information that may be helpful to you-just ask.

 

Your FOIA Rights

  • Citizens of Virginia, representatives of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, and representatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth (“members of the media”) have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
  • Citizens of Virginia and members of the media have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
  • 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.

Making a Request for records from the Southside Network Authority

  • You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, email, 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 an oral request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect not to 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 Authority, nor does it require the Authority to create a record that does not exist.
  • You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by the Authority 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 USB flash drive, 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 Southside Network Authority, you may direct your request to the Authority’s FOIA Officer, Steven DeBerry. He can be reached at:

Steven DeBerry
Executive Director/FOIA Officer
Southside Network Authority
723 Woodlake Drive
Chesapeake, VA 23320(757) 420-8300
Email: sdeberry@hrpdcva.gov

You may also contact him with questions you have concerning requesting records from the Southside Network Authority. 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 foiacouncil@dls.virginia.gov, or by phone at (804) 698-1810 or [toll free] 1-866-448-4100.

Southside Network Authority Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request

  • The Authority 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.
  • Before beginning to process a request that may result in a charge to you, the Authority will contact you and obtain your prior authorization.
  • The reason behind your request for public records from the Authority 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 Authority to require you to provide your name and legal address.
  • FOIA requires that the Authority make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
    1. We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
    2. 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 response 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 records.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. If it is practically impossible for the Authority 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 twelve working days to respond to your request.
  • If you make a request for an extraordinary volume of records or that requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within twelve working days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we will ask you for additional time to respond to your request and, if necessary, may petition the court for additional time. FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production of the records before we petition the court for more time.

Costs

  • The Authority may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. The Authority may not 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 the Authority may not exceed the actual cost of duplication. All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen 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 Authority. FOIA allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This would include items such as 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.
  • The Authority will charge the hourly rate of pay for any time exceeding one (1) hour expended by its employees in searching for and reproducing the record. The Authority will also charge for printing or copying at the rate of $.05 per black and white page and $0.47 per color page. The Authority does not have the capability to print or copy pages larger than 11x17, and will charge for prints or copies of such pages in the same amount the Authority is required to pay to reproduce such pages. Electronic storage items, such as USD flash drives, will be charged at actual cost unless a comparable replacement is provided. Upon request and where feasible, we will provide records in an electronic format to reduce printing and copying costs; provided, however, we will only be required to produce records in a format that we regularly use.
  • 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 time 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 Authority may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.

Types of records

The following is a non-exhaustive, general description of the types of records held by the Southside Network Authority:

  • Minutes, agendas, and supporting documentation of the Board of Directors of the Authority
  • Records of contracts, agreements, deeds, permits, and leases which the Authority has entered into
  • Authority correspondence
  • Feasibility studies and consultant reports
  • Budget (Operational, Capital) and Appropriations
  • Insurance records
  • Procurement (purchasing) records

If you are unsure whether the Authority has the record(s) you seek, please contact the Authority’s FOIA Officer.

Commonly used exemptions

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. The Authority commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

  • Personnel information (§ 2.2-3705.1(1) of the Code of Virginia).
  • Records subject to attorney-client privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1(2)) or attorney work product doctrine (§ 2.2-3705.1(3)).
  • Records recorded in or compiled exclusively for use in closed meetings lawfully held pursuant to § 2.2-3711 (§ 2.2-3705.1(5)).
  • Vendor proprietary information software (§ 2.2-3705.1(6)) or computer software developed by or for the Authority (§ 2.2-3705.1(7))
  • Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded (§ 2.2-3705.1(12)) or records relating to a procurement transaction under the Virginia Public Procurement Act pursuant to Va. Code § 2.2- 4342
  • Confidential proprietary information and trade secrets developed by or for the Authority to provide qualifying communications services, where disclosure of such information would be harmful to the competitive position of the Authority (§ 2.2-3705.6(19))
  • Working papers of the Executive Director (§ 2.2-3705.7(2))

This listing of commonly used exemptions is not intended to limit the Authority’s use of any exemptions otherwise allowed or mandated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Policy regarding the use of exemptions

  • The general policy of the Southside Network Authority is to invoke the personnel records exemption in those instances where it applies in order to protect the privacy of employees and officials of the Authority.
  • The general policy of the Authority is to invoke the contract negotiations and confidential proprietary records exemptions whenever they apply in order to protect the Authority’s bargaining position and negotiating strategy. This protects the public purse.
  • The general policy of the Authority is to invoke exemptions when necessary for the protection and safety of the citizens it serves.
  • The general policy of the Authority is to release any records when the reason or legal basis for withholding them no longer applies.