Freedom of Information Act Requests

Rights & Responsibilities

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), found under Code of Virginia §2.2-3700, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, officials, and employees.

A public record is any writing or recording related to public business that is prepared by, owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees, or agents - regardless of whether it is a paper record, electronic file, audio/video recording, or other format. All public records are presumed to be open and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption applies.

FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that, with some exceptions, all meetings of public bodies shall be open to the public and all public records open for public inspection. All public meetings and records are presumed open unless an exemption is properly invoked.

The Clerk's Office complies with the Virginia Freedom Information Act. There is no separate county policy that addresses FOIA.

Your FOIA Rights

You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records.
You 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 petitionin a district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA.
- Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.

Please Note

In many instances, the information you are searching for is already available online (from your home) or in person (at our office). It is recommended that you review the remainder of the Clerk's Office's website and/or visit our office in-person to determine if the information you need is readily available prior to submitting a FOIA request.

Making a Request for Records from the Clerk's Office

Format

You may request records from Henry County Circuit Court Clerk's Office 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 state that you are requesting records under FOIA.

Regardless of how you submit your request, it may be helpful to both you and the Clerk’s office staff if you put your request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your submission and provides to us a clear statement of what information you desire, helping to prevent any misunderstanding over a spoken request. Please note that we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect not to put it in writing.

Required Information

Your request must identify the records you are seeking with "reasonable specificity." This does not refer to or limit the volume/number of records that you are requesting but does require that you be specific enough for the Clerk's Office to identify and locate the records you are seeking.

Your request must ask for existing records or documents. FOIA gives you the right to inspect or copy records. It does not apply to general questions about the work of the Clerk's Office, nor does it require the Clerk's Office to create a record that does not exist.

When submitting your request, you must provide your name and legal address.

The reason behind your request for public records from the Clerk's Office is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records to get a response to your request.

If the Clerk's Office has questions about your request, please cooperate with the staff's efforts to clarify which records you are seeking and/or attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response if your request is large. Making a FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but the Clerk's Office may need to discuss your request with you to ensure that we understand what records you are seeking.

Submissions

To submit your request for records from the Clerk's Office or ask questions concerning records, you may contact Jennifer Ashworth, Clerk of the Circuit Court, via email. She can also be reached by mail at: 3160 Kings Mountain Road Suite B, Martinsville, VA 24112, or by phone at 276-634-4880.

The Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by email, by phone at 804-225-3056 or toll free at 1-866-448-410.

The Clerk's Office Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request

The Clerk's Office must respond to your request within five working days of receiving it. Day One is the day after your request is received. The five-day period does not include weekends or holidays.

FOIA requires that the Clerk's Office will make one of the following responses to you request within the five-day period:

Provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
Withhold all the records that you have requested. If all of the records are being withheld under a specific statutory exemption, the Clerk's Office will send you a response identifying 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.
Provide some of the records but withhold other records. The Clerk's Office 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 provide you with the remainder of the record. The Clerk's Office will provide you with a response stating the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld.
Inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist. The Clerk’s Office will inform you if we do not have the records you want. However, if we are aware that another public body has the requested records, we will include contact information for the other public body in our response to you.
Notify you that it is not practical to respond to your request within the five-day period. If the request is large or hard to gather, we will notify you and explain the conditions that make the five-day response time unattainable. This will allow the Clerk’s Office seven additional working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 12 working days to respond.

If the records cannot be provided to you within 12 working days without disrupting other organizational responsibilities, the Clerk's Office may petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. The Clerk's Office will make every reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production of the records before we go to court to ask for more time.

Costs

You may have to pay for the records that you request from the Clerk's Office. FOIA allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests, including items such as staff time, copy costs, and any other expenses directly related to supplying the requested records. General overhead costs will not be assessed with these charges.

Estimates

All charges shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen as set forth in Code of Virginia §2.2-3704(F). Requesting an estimate in advance will allow you to know about any costs upfront and/or give you the opportunity to modify your request to lower the estimated costs.

Deposits

If the cost is expected to exceed $200, the Clerk's Office may require you to pay a deposit before proceeding with your request. This deposit is not to exceed the amount of the estimate. The time between our office requesting a deposit and your response is not included in the five day time period we have to respond regarding your FOIA request.

If you owe the Clerk's Office money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, the Clerk's Office may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your new FOIA request.

Commonly Used Exemptions

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. The Clerk's Office commonly withholds records under the following exemptions:

Personnel records - Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.1(1)
Records subject to attorney-client privilege or attorney work product - Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.1(2-3)
Vendor proprietary information - Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.1(6)
Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded - Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.1(12)