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2010 SESSION
10102769DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 2.2-3703 and 2.2-3706 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 2.2-3703. Public bodies and records to which chapter inapplicable; voter registration and election records; access by persons incarcerated in a state, local, or federal correctional facility.
A. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:
1. The Virginia Parole Board, except that (i) information from the Virginia Parole Board providing the number of inmates considered by such Board for discretionary parole, the number of inmates granted or denied parole, and the number of parolees returned to the custody of the Department of Corrections solely as a result of a determination by such Board of a violation of parole shall be open to inspection and available for release, on a monthly basis, as provided by § 2.2-3704 and (ii) all records concerning the finances of the Virginia Parole Board shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter. The information required by clause (i) shall be furnished by offense, sex, race, age of the inmate, and the locality in which the conviction was obtained, upon the request of the party seeking the information;
2. Petit juries and grand juries;
3. Family assessment and planning teams established pursuant to § 2.2-5207;
4. The Virginia State Crime Commission; and
5. The records required by law to be maintained by the clerks of the courts of record, as defined in § 1-212, and courts not of record, as defined in § 16.1-69.5. However, other records maintained by the clerks of such courts shall be public records and subject to the provisions of this chapter; and
6. Records stored or maintained by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) on behalf of other state public bodies pursuant to the duties imposed by Chapter 20.1 (§ 2.2-2005 et seq.) of this title. Such records, however, shall be provided by VITA upon the request of any state public body for which VITA stores or maintains such agency's records in accordance with this chapter. However, other records of VITA shall be public records and subject to this chapter.
B. Public access to voter registration and election records shall be governed by the provisions of Title 24.2 and this chapter. The provisions of Title 24.2 shall be controlling in the event of any conflict.
C. No provision of this chapter or Chapter 21 (§ 30-178 et seq.) of Title 30 shall be construed to afford any rights to any person (i) incarcerated in a state, local or federal correctional facility, whether or not such facility is (a) located in the Commonwealth or (b) operated pursuant to the Corrections Private Management Act (§ 53.1-261 et seq.) or (ii) civilly committed pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predators Act (§ 37.2-900 et seq.). However, this subsection shall not be construed to prevent such persons from exercising their constitutionally protected rights, including, but not limited to, their right to call for evidence in their favor in a criminal prosecution.
§ 2.2-3706. Disclosure of criminal records; limitations.
A. As used in this section:
"Criminal incident information" means a general description of the criminal activity reported, the date and general location the alleged crime was committed, the identity of the investigating officer, and a general description of any injuries suffered or property damaged or stolen.
“Criminal investigative file” means any documents and information including complaints, court orders, memoranda, notes, diagrams, maps, photographs, correspondence, reports, witness statements, and evidence, either gathered or created by a law-enforcement agency relating to a criminal investigation or prosecution, other than criminal incident information.
B. Law-enforcement agencies shall make available upon request criminal incident information relating to felony offenses. However, where the release of criminal incident information 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, such information may be withheld until the above-referenced damage is no longer likely to occur from release of the information. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the release of those portions of such information that are not likely to cause the above-referenced damage.
C. Information in the custody of law-enforcement agencies relative to the identity of any individual, other than a juvenile, who is arrested and charged, and the status of the charge or arrest shall be released.
D. The identity of any victim, witness or undercover officer, or investigative techniques or procedures need not but may be disclosed unless disclosure is prohibited or restricted under § 19.2-11.2.
E. The identity of any individual providing information about a crime or criminal activity under a promise of anonymity shall not be disclosed.
F. The following records are excluded from the provisions of this chapter, but may be disclosed by the custodian, in his discretion, except where such disclosure is prohibited by law:
1. Complaints,
memoranda, correspondence, case files or reports, witness statements, and
evidence relating to a criminal investigation or prosecution, other than
criminal incident information as defined in subsection A Criminal investigative files as defined in
subsection A;
2. Adult arrestee photographs when necessary to avoid jeopardizing an investigation in felony cases until such time as the release of the photograph will no longer jeopardize the investigation;
3. Reports submitted in confidence to (i) state and local law-enforcement agencies, (ii) investigators authorized pursuant to § 53.1-16 or § 66-3.1, and (iii) campus police departments of public institutions of higher education established pursuant to Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23;
4. Portions of records of local government crime commissions that would identify individuals providing information about crimes or criminal activities under a promise of anonymity;
5. Records of local law-enforcement agencies relating to neighborhood watch programs that include the names, addresses, and operating schedules of individual participants in the program that are provided to such agencies under a promise of anonymity;
6. All records of persons imprisoned in penal institutions in the Commonwealth provided such records relate to the imprisonment;
7. Records of law-enforcement agencies, to the extent that such records contain specific tactical plans, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the safety or security of law-enforcement personnel or the general public;
8. All records of adult persons under (i) investigation or
supervision by a local pretrial services agency in accordance with Article 5 (§
19.2-152.2 et seq.) of Chapter 9 of Title 19.2; (ii) investigation, probation
supervision or monitoring by a local community-based probation services agency
in accordance with Article 9 (§ 9.1-173 et seq.) of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1; or
(iii) investigation or supervision by state probation and parole services in
accordance with Article 2 (§ 53.1-141 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 53.1; and
9. Records of a law-enforcement agency to the extent that they disclose the telephone numbers for cellular telephones, pagers, or comparable portable communication devices provided to its personnel for use in the performance of their official duties.
G. Records kept by
law-enforcement agencies as required by § 15.2-1722 shall be subject to the
provisions of this chapter except:
1. 10. Those portions of
noncriminal incident or other investigative reports or materials containing
identifying information of a personal, medical or financial nature provided to
a law-enforcement agency where the release of such information would jeopardize
the safety or privacy of any person;
2.11. Those portions of any records
containing information related to plans for or resources dedicated to
undercover operations or protective
details; or and
3.12. Records of background
investigations of applicants for law-enforcement agency employment or other
confidential administrative investigations conducted pursuant to law.
H.G. Records of the Sex Offender
and Crimes Against Minors Registry maintained by the Department of State Police
pursuant to Chapter 9 (§ 9.1-900 et seq.) of Title 9.1 are excluded from the provisions
of this chapter, including information obtained from state, local and regional
officials, except to the extent that information is required to be posted on
the Internet pursuant to § 9.1-913.
I.H. In the event of conflict
between this section as it relates to requests made under this section and
other provisions of law, this section shall control.