Fairfax County School Board v. Judicial Watch, Inc.

By Judge Randy I. Bellows

This case presents an issue offirst impression associated with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), specifically, does the language of Va. Code § 2.2-3704(H) which states a “public body may, before continuing to process the [Virginia Freedom of Information Act] request, require the requester to agree to payment of a deposit. . .” mean the public body may require actual payment, or is a mere agreement to pay all that is required by statute? For the reasons stated below, the Court concludes that, when read in context, the phrase “agree to payment of a…