Rights & Responsibilities:  The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of] Dickenson County, Virginia under  the Virginia Freedom of] Information Act  The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located $ 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 - regardless of whether it is aj paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other format - 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 ifa 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. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally in favor ofaccess, and that any exemption allowing  public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.  Your FOIA Rights  You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both. You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records by estimated Ifyou 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  in advance.  contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.  Making a Request for records from Dickenson County of Dickenson  You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be in writing, or 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 a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you  elect to not 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 ofrecords that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough SO 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 Dickenson County, or does it require Dickenson County You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by Dickenson  that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.  to create a record that does not exist. County in the regular course of business.  Fore example, if you are requesting records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via e-mail or ona a computer disk, or to receive a printed copy of those records.  Ifwel have questions about your request, please cooperate with staff's efforts to clarify the type ofr records that you are seeking, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to al 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 Dickenson County,you may direct your request to William J. Sturgill, County Attorney. He can be reached at PO Box 1098, Clintwood, Virginia 24228, or PO Box 3458, Wise, VA 24293, Phone: (276) 926-1676 or (276)328-8600, FAX: (276)926-1649, Email: wisturyll@gmail.om, You may also contact him with questions you have concerning requesting records from Dickenson County. In addition, the Freedom ofl Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by e-mail at oiacouncil@dis.virginia.goy, or by phone at (804)225-3056 or [toll free] 1-866-448-  4100.  Dickenson County's Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request  Dickenson County 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- The reason behind your request for public records from Dickenson County is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your request. FOIA does, however, allow Dickenson County to require you to  day period does not include weekends or holidays.  provide your name and legal address.    FOIA requires that Dickenson County make one oft the following responses to your 1) Wej provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety. 2) We withhold all oft the records that you have requested, because all oft the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. Ifall oft the records are being withheld, we must send you a response in writing. That writing must identify the volume and subject matter ofthe records being withheld and state the specific section oft the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the 3) We provide some oft the records that you have requested but withhold other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only aj portion ofi 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 oft the record. We must provide you with a written response stating the specific section oft the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld. 4) Wei inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do. not exist (we do not have the records you want). However, ifwe know that another public body has the requested records, we must include contact information for 5) Ifitis! practically impossible for Dickenson County 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 of12  request within the: five-day time period:  records.  the other public body in our response to you.  working days to respond to your request.  Ifyou make a request for a very large number ofrecords, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. However, FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production or the records before we, go to  court to ask for more time.  Costs  Aj public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. No public body shall 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 a public body shall 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 You may have to pay for the records that you request from Dickenson County. FOIA allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding tol FOIA requests. This would include items like stafft time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records. It cannot Ifwe 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. five days 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. Ify you owe us money from a previous FOIA: request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, Dickenson County may require payment of the past-due bill  forth in subsection F of$2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia.  include general overhead costs.  before it will respond to your new. FOIA request.  Types ofrecords  The following is a general description of the types of records held by Dickenson County: Personnel records concerning employees and officials of Dickenson County Records of contracts which Dickenson County has entered into Minutes of meetings of the Board of Supervisors  Ifyou are unsure whether Dickenson County has the record(s) you seek, please contact William J. Sturgill, County Attorney. He can be reached at PO Box 1098, Clintwood, Virginia 24228, or POI Box 3458, Wise, VA 24293, Phone: (276)926-1676 or (276)328-  8600, FAX: (276)926-1649, Email: wsturgll@gmal.com,    Commonly used exemptions  The Code of Virginia allows any. public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. Dickenson County commonly withholds records subject to the following  exemptions:  Personnel records (S 2.2-3705.1 (1) ofthe Code of Virginia)  Records subject to attorney-client privilege (S 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work  product (8 2.2-3705.1(3)  Vendor proprietary information (S 2.2-3705.1 (6))  Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being  awarded (S 22-3705.1(12)) Other exemptions as allowed by FOIA.  Policy regarding the use of exemptions invoked to withhold. records. Fore example:  State any written policy, your agency. may have regarding when. statutory exemptions will be  The. general policy of] Dickenson County is to invoke all exemptions permitted by the Virginia Freedom ofInformation Act, including but not limited to the personnel records exemption in those instances where it applies in order to protect the privacy of employees and officials of] Dickenson County, contract negotiations whenever it applies in order to protect Dickenson County's bargaining position and negotiating strategy, and records subject to attorney-client privilege or attorney work product.