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FOIA Guide

2018 Local Government Officials' Guide to the Freedom of Information Act

Published by the
Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, Inc.
And
The University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service

The LGA, together with the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, publishes The Local Government Officials' Guide to the Freedom of Information Act every 4 or 5 years as a service to local government. The soft cover 6th edition of the guide, published in 2018, has been rewritten and expanded to include all of the changes to the Act effective July 1, 2017. The guide gives public officials the knowledge they need to ensure that public business is carried out with public access to the fullest extent permissible under the law.

Written and edited by a long-time local government practitioner Roger C. Wiley, Esq., The Local Government Officials' Guide to the Freedom of Information Act explains the Virginia Freedom of Information Act in a clear, readable format of over 100 questions and answers. Information is arranged under six broad categories:

Who is covered by the act?

What is considered a public "meeting"?

When are closed meetings permissible?

To what public records does the act apply?

What happens if someone violates the act?

What are other resources of FOIA information?

Each LGA member locality or law firm received one guide free of charge in 2018.  Additional copies are available for purchase online from the UVA bookstore. The price is $8.00 per copy plus shipping, or $7 per copy for orders of 25 or more copies.