Virginia Freedom of Information Act

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), §2.2-3700 et. seq., of the Code of Virginia, guarantees the following access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees:

• 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.

The Virginia Lottery also fulfills certain public records requests from:

• out-of-state Lottery prizewinners and

• out-of-state requestors of public information/a public record already posted to a Lottery-owned website/application and/or available at a Lottery venue or other agency website.

A public record is any writing or recording, whether in paper, electronic, or other format, that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of, a public body, its officers, employees and/or its agents which is used in the transaction of public business.

NOTE:

• A FOIA request does not apply to the asking of general questions about the Virginia Lottery and its work. Please refer to our Contact Us page for those types of inquiries.

• Any request for a public record, itself, becomes a public record once it has been submitted to an agency of the Commonwealth.

• You will be required to provide your name and physical address.

• While not required, it is very helpful to all parties if the request is in writing (e-mail, FAX, U.S. Mail) in order to avoid any misunderstanding about the record(s) being requested and/or fulfilled.

• We are not required to create a record that does not exist.

Charges

Pursuant to State law, "A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records and shall make all reasonable efforts to supply the requested records at the lowest possible cost. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. Prior to conducting a search for records, the public body shall notify the requester in writing that the public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for requested records and inquire of the requester whether he would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the supplying of the requested records as set forth in subsection F of §2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia."

• We do not charge requesters for the first hour of time spent by a FOIA Officer for producing requested records.

• Records already published to the Lottery’s website or social media platforms and/or contained in certain player databases may be provided by other designated staff members at no charge for the first hour of time spent.

• We do charge for all time spent by other staff, and for any time in excess of one (1) hour spent by a FOIA Officer or designated staff member(s). We use the current hourly wage or salary rate of each employee involved in producing records responsive to a FOIA request.

• We will require, prior to processing a request for records, payment of any past due amount owed to us for previous FOIA requests.

• We will require, for any estimated cost greater than $200, a deposit be made, not to exceed the amount of the estimate, before proceeding with your request.

Current rates for common record requests:

The Virginia Lottery will not reply to emails containing profanity or abusive, harassing, racist, or threatening content, and may redirect such emails to the appropriate law enforcement agency for further action.

Types of Records

The Virginia Lottery maintains a wide variety of public records including but not limited to:

• Game and promotion rules

• Winning numbers and drawing information

• Game sales data

• Prize validation information

• Procurement and contracts

• Retailer location and sales information

• Lottery publications

Commonly Used Exemptions

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

• Personnel records (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1.1).

• Lottery winner information other than name, hometown, amount won of $10 million or less (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.7.17 (if greater than $10 million, written winner consent to disclose is required).

• Personal information in connection with the voluntary exclusion program (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.7.36) or prohibited conduct (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.7.37).

• Lottery Board deliberations of certain casino gaming operator license actions (Va. Code § 2.2-3711.53) and certain sports betting license actions (Va. Code § 2.2-3711.54).

• Lottery Board deliberations in certain licensing appeal actions and certain matters relating to proprietary lottery game information, studies or investigations (Va. Code § 2.2-3711.17).

• Records subject to attorney-client privilege (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1.2) or attorney work product (Va. Code § 2.2-3701.1.3).

• Vendor proprietary information (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1.6).

• Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract prior to the contract being awarded (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1.12)

• Lottery proprietary information prior to first day of sales (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.7.11).

• Information relating to investigations of applicants for licenses and permits and of licensees and permittees (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.3.1).

• Information relating to studies and investigations of lottery agents, vendors, and crimes during an open investigation (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.3.6)