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Virginia Tech FOIA Responsibilities

Virginia Tech must respond to your request within five (5) working days of receipt. See Va. Code § 2.2-3704(B). "Day One" is considered the day after your request is received. The reason behind your request for public records is irrelevant, and Virginia Tech cannot ask you why you want the records before responding to your request. FOIA does allow Virginia Tech to require you to provide your name and legal address. Va. Code § 2.2-3704(A).

Va. Code § 2.2-3704(B) requires public bodies to provide the requested records or make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:

  • Records are being entirely withheld. If all of the records are being withheld, the University must send you a response in writing, identifying the volume and subject matter of the records being withheld, and stating the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the records.
  • Requested records are being provided in-part and withheld in-part. The University cannot withhold an entire record if only a portion of it is subject to an exemption. In that instance, Virginia Tech may redact the portion of the record that may be withheld, and must provide you with the remainder of the record, along with a written response stating the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld.
  • Requested records could not be found or do not exist. FOIA does not require the creation of records that do not exist, and it does not require the production of information that is not a part of records or documents.

If it is practically impossible to respond to your request or to determine whether the records requested are available within the five-day period, in accordance with Va. Code § 2.2-3704(B)(4), Virginia Tech must notify you in writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This will allow the university seven (7) additional working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 12 working days.

If your request is for an extraordinarily high volume of records, requires an extraordinarily lengthy search, or is of a nature that will disrupt the University’s operational responsibilities, FOIA requires the requesting party and the University to make reasonable efforts to reach an agreement concerning the production of the records. If an agreement cannot be reached, the University will petition the court for additional time to respond to your request.

NOTE: The FOIA Office is closed for all university observed holidays and for the university’s Winter Break. In addition, the FOIA Office may be closed for operational considerations. See the schedule of upcoming closure dates.