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Commission hears FOIA guidance update; staff reminds commissioners to retain records three years
Summary
Planning commission received a staff briefing on new FOIA standard operating guidance requiring commissioners to maintain public records for three years, to use county accounts for public business, and to perform an initial sorting of retrieved emails with FOIA officer support.
At the March 14 work session staff briefed the Planning Commission on updated Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) standard operating guidance (SOG) and records-retention expectations.
Presenters told commissioners the SOG clarifies personal responsibilities for public-records requests: commissioners "must maintain their records for 3 years after the end of the calendar year" according to the Library of Virginia retention schedule, and they should conduct public-business communications on county email and Teams accounts to ensure those records are preserved and searchable. Staff noted that county servers retain emails and that the county's FOIA officer and Department of Planning and Zoning would assist with searches of county accounts; however, commissioners were reminded that the initial review and sorting of retrieved records is their responsibility before the county attorney's office conducts a secondary review.
Staff reviewed common questions raised during the SOG drafting: handwritten notes are public records and must be retained; verbal requests for records should be forwarded immediately to the FOIA officer; commissioners may not bill for personal time spent responding to FOIA searches; and the FOIA officer handles formal responses to requesters. The presenters named the FOIA officer as an office contact and said the FOIA officer would seek clarifications from requesters where necessary, which pauses FOIA response timetables.
Several commissioners expressed concern about the practical burden of sorting many emails and about receiving confirmation that they had met their responsibilities in a timely manner. Staff said that when the county issues a response they would also notify commissioners if additional documents or clarifications were still required. One commissioner and staff discussed the limited circumstances under which monopoles co-located with fire and rescue stations are by-right under the new zoning ordinance and therefore no longer trigger a commission permit review; staff said that change is limited to those specific co-location cases and reflected county policy to expedite certain public-safety co-locations.
No formal action was taken; staff said the revised SOG will be used in handling future requests and that staff will follow up on questions about retrieval procedures and notifications.
