Opinion ID: 1057779
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Personnel Documents

Text: The Department declined Ewing's request to produce personnel records or conduct investigative records, stating that all such records were contained in personnel files and citing Code § 2.2- 3705.1(1). Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) exempts from VFOIA disclosure any [p]ersonnel records containing information concerning identifiable individuals, except for production to the individual who is the subject thereof or in the case of waiver by that individual. Ewing claims that, under Code § 2.2-3706 (entitled Disclosure of Criminal Records), subsections (G) and (I) combine to exempt personnel files of law enforcement officers from this provision. These subsections read as follows: G. Records kept by law-enforcement agencies as required by § 15.2-1722[ 1] shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter except that those portions of noncriminal incident or other investigative reports or materials that contain identifying information of a personal, medical or financial nature may be withheld where the release of 1 Code § 15.2-1722 provides for, among other things, the keeping of personnel records by law enforcement agencies. 3 such information would jeopardize the safety or privacy of any person. . . . . I. 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. Ewing argues that Code § 2.2-3706(G) is in conflict with Code § 2.2-3705.1 (entitled Exclusions to application of chapter; exclusions of general application to public bodies). Specifically, he argues that the personnel record exemption of Code § 2.2-3705.1(1) conflicts with Code § 2.2-3706(G), which requires that all applicable records, including law enforcement personnel records, are subject to VFOIA. This conflict, Ewing concludes, invokes the trumping provision of subsection (I) of Code § 2.2- 3706, rendering personnel records of law enforcement officers available to the public under VFOIA. No such conflict exists, however. Code § 2.2-3706(G) requires that applicable records shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter. (Emphasis added.) The provisions of this chapter, that is, all of VFOIA, include not only the disclosure provisions of VFOIA but also the exclusion provisions of the chapter set forth in Code § 2.2-3705.1. In the absence of a conflict, there is no reason to involve Code § 2.2-3706(I) in the analysis. Personnel records covered by subsection (G) are, like all public personnel records, subject to the protections of Code § 2.2-3705.1(1). The 4 request for personnel records and for information found therein was thus appropriately refused by the Department, and this Court reverses that portion of the order requiring their disclosure.