The Supreme Court of Virginia addresses whether a demoted sheriff’s deputy can access internal affairs investigation records under state information laws.
Matthew Keil, a supervisor at Chesapeake City Jail, was demoted following an internal investigation into a jailhouse incident. He requested records under both the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) and the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (Government Data Act). The Sheriff’s Office produced his personnel file but withheld the internal affairs records, claiming VFOIA exemptions. Both the circuit court and Court of Appeals sided with the Sheriff’s Office on both claims.
The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Keil’s VFOIA claim. However, the Court reversed on the Government Data Act claim, finding Keil entitled to access records containing his personal information.
The Court focused on whether Keil qualified as a “data subject” under the Government Data Act, which covers individuals whose personal information “is indexed or may be located under his name, personal number, or other identifiable particulars.” The Sheriff argued the internal affairs files weren’t indexed by employee name but by year and number and were not part of personnel files.
The Court rejected this argument, emphasizing the disjunctive “or” in the statute. Even if records are not formally indexed, they must be produced if they “may be located” using the individual’s identifying information. The Court drew on its precedent in Hinderliter v. Humphries and the Act’s 1976 origins protecting privacy in the computer age. The Sheriff’s practice of keeping internal affairs records separate from personnel files to protect employees’ careers could not circumvent the Act’s broad “may be located” provision.
The Court remanded for the trial court to review the withheld records in camera, produce any containing Keil’s personal information, and redact portions not directly or indirectly about him.
A Virginia Appellate Law Blog 