Common Exemptions

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. Hampton commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold or redact certain records from public disclosure. The City commonly withholds and redacts records subject to the following exemptions:

• Virginia Code § 2.2-3703(C) which provides "[n]o provision of [the Freedom of Information Act]…shall be construed to afford any rights to any person (i) incarcerated in a state, local or federal correctional facility…."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3704(A) which mandates disclosure of public records under the Freedom of Information Act only to "citizens of the Commonwealth, representatives of newspapers and magazines with circulation in the Commonwealth, and representatives of radio and television stations broadcasting in or into the Commonwealth."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[p]ersonnel records containing information concerning identifiable individuals…."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(2) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[w]ritten advice of legal counsel to…local public bodies or the officers or employees of such public bodies, and any other records protected by the attorney-client privilege."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(3) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[l]egal memoranda and other work product compiled specifically for use in litigation or for use in an active administrative investigation concerning a matter that is properly the subject of a closed meeting under [Virginia Code] § 2.2-3711."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(6) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[v]endor proprietary information software that may be in the official records of a public body."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(12) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[r]ecords relating to the negotiation and award of a specific contract where competition or bargaining is involved and where the release of such records would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.1(13) which exempts from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[t]hose portions of records that contain account numbers or routing information for any credit card, debit card, or other account with a financial institution of any person or public body."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.2(10)-(11) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 911 caller information.
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.3(10) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[t]he names, addresses and telephone numbers of complainants furnished in confidence with respect to an investigation of individual zoning enforcement complaints or complaints relating to the Uniform Statewide Building Code or the Statewide Fire Prevention Code made to a local governing body."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.5(1) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[h]ealth records…."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.7(1) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[s]tate income, business, and estate tax returns, personal property tax returns, scholastic and confidential records…"
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3705.7(2) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure "[w]orking papers and correspondence of the…mayor or chief executive officer of any political subdivision of the Commonwealth…."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3706(A)(1)(a) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[criminal incident information] where the release of [such] is likely to jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution or the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee or evade detection, or result in the destruction of evidence…."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3706(A)(2)(a) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[c]riminal investigative files, defined as any documents, and information, including complaints, court orders, memoranda, notes, diagrams, maps, photographs, correspondence, reports, witness statements, and evidence relating to a criminal investigation or prosecution, other than criminal incident information [regarding felony offenses]."
• Virginia Code Section 2.2-3706(A)(2)(g) which exempts from mandatory disclosure "[r]ecords of a law-enforcement agency to the extent that they disclose the telephone numbers for cellular telephones, pages, or comparable portable communication devices provided to its personnel for use in the performance of their official duties."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3706(A)(2)(j) which exempts from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[t]he identity of any victim, witness, or undercover officer, or investigative techniques or procedures."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3706(B) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure "[t]hose portions of noncriminal incident or other noncriminal investigative reports or materials that contain identifying information of a personal, medical, or financial nature…where the release of such information would jeopardize the safety or privacy of any person."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3706(A)(2)(i) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "[r]ecords of (i) background investigations of applicants for law-enforcement agency employment, (ii) administrative investigations relating to allegations of wrongdoing by employees of a law-enforcement agency, and (iii) other confidential administrative investigations conducted by law-enforcement agencies that are made confidential by law."
• Virginia Code § 2.2-3815(A) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act "the first five digits of a social security number contained in a public record."
• Virginia Code § 16.1-301(C)(6) which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure law enforcement records concerning juveniles.
• Virginia Code § 19.2-389 which allows the City to exempt from mandatory disclosure VCIN records.

Specific to the Commissioner of the Revenue

• Federal tax returns and return information (Internal Revenue Code § 6103 (a)) and Virginia Code § 58.1-3
  Code of Virginia § 58.1-3 imposes stiff penalties on any person who discloses confidential taxpayer information. However, there is nothing in § 58.1-3 that prohibits the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information to the subject taxpayer. In other words, you may request and receive copies of your own tax returns.
  Also pursuant to Va. Code § 58.1-3, the Department cannot furnish aggregated tax information, by category, when the number of taxpayers within the category is minimal enough to potentially allow identification of the taxpayers.