Va. Code » Title 42.1. Libraries » Chapter 7. Virginia Public Records Act
Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 42.1-77 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
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As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Agency" means all boards, commissions, departments, divisions, institutions, and authorities, and parts thereof, of the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions and includes the offices of constitutional officers.

"Archival record" means a public record of continuing and enduring value useful to the citizens of the Commonwealth and necessary to the administrative functions of public agencies in the conduct of services and activities mandated by law that is identified on a Library of Virginia approved records retention and disposition schedule as having sufficient informational value to be permanently maintained by the Commonwealth.

"Archives" means the program administered by The Library of Virginia for the preservation of archival records.

"Board" means the State Library Board.

"Conversion" means the act of moving electronic records to a different format, especially data from an obsolete format to a current format.

"Custodian" means the public official in charge of an office having public records.

"Disaster plan" means the information maintained by an agency that outlines recovery techniques and methods to be followed in case of an emergency that impacts the agency's records.

"Electronic record" means a public record whose creation, storage, and access require the use of an automated system or device. Ownership of the hardware, software, or media used to create, store, or access the electronic record has no bearing on a determination of whether such record is a public record.

"Essential public record" means records that are required for recovery and reconstruction of any agency to enable it to resume its core operations and functions and to protect the rights and interests of persons.

"Librarian of Virginia" means the State Librarian of Virginia or his designated representative.

"Lifecycle" means the creation, use, maintenance, and disposition of a public record.

"Migration" means the act of moving electronic records from one information system or medium to another to ensure continued access to the records while maintaining the records' authenticity, integrity, reliability, and usability.

"Original record" means the first generation of the information and is the preferred version of a record. Archival records should to the maximum extent possible be original records.

"Preservation" means the processes and operations involved in ensuring the technical and intellectual survival of authentic records through time.

"Public official" means all persons holding any office created by the Constitution of Virginia or by any act of the General Assembly, the Governor and all other officers of the executive branch of the state government, and all other officers, heads, presidents, or chairmen of boards, commissions, departments, and agencies of the state government or its political subdivisions.

"Public record" or "record" means recorded information that documents a transaction or activity by or with any public officer, agency, or employee of an agency. Regardless of physical form or characteristic, the recorded information is a "public record" if it is produced, collected, received, or retained in pursuance of law or in connection with the transaction of public business. The medium upon which such information is recorded has no bearing on the determination of whether the recording is a "public record."

For purposes of this chapter, "public record" does not include (i) nonrecord materials, meaning materials made or acquired and preserved solely for reference use or exhibition purposes, extra copies of documents preserved only for convenience or reference, or stocks of publications or (ii) records that are not related to or affect the carrying out of the constitutional, statutory, or other official ceremonial duties of a public official, including the correspondence, diaries, journals, or notes that are not prepared for, utilized for, circulated, or communicated in the course of the transaction of public business.

"Records retention and disposition schedule" means a Library of Virginia-approved timetable stating the required retention period and disposition action of a records series. The administrative, fiscal, historical, and legal value of a public record shall be considered in appraising its appropriate retention schedule. The terms "administrative," "fiscal," "historical," and "legal" value shall be defined as:

1. "Administrative value": Records shall be deemed of administrative value if they have continuing utility in the operation of an agency.

2. "Fiscal value": Records shall be deemed of fiscal value if they are needed to document and verify financial authorizations, obligations, and transactions.

3. "Historical value": Records shall be deemed of historical value if they contain unique information, regardless of age, that provides understanding of some aspect of the government and promotes the development of an informed and enlightened citizenry.

4. "Legal value": Records shall be deemed of legal value if they document actions taken in the protection and proving of legal or civil rights and obligations of individuals and agencies.

1976, c. 746; 1977, c. 501; 1981, c. 637; 1987, c. 217; 1990, c. 778; 1994, cc. 390, 955; 1998, cc. 427, 470; 2005, c. 787; 2006, c. 60; 2022, c. 355.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1977–2025 · leading case: Edgar Edmundo Moreno v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 775 S.E.2d 422 (Va. Ct. App. 2015).
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Edgar Edmundo Moreno v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 775 S.E.2d 422 (Va. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 10× “Appellant argues that the circuit court erred in finding that a purported accord and satisfaction agreement, which appellant presented as genuine to the Loudoun County General District Court in an earlier matter, was a public record, as defined by Code § 42.1-77 and as required…”
Hines v. Commonwealth, 576 S.E.2d 781 (Va. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 2× “Code § 42.1-77. A summons is one type of public record.”
Carraway v. Hill, 574 S.E.2d 274 (Va. 2003). · cites it 2× “, Code § 42.1-77 (defining “public official” to include any person holding office created by Constitution of Virginia).”
Clements v. Commonwealth, 596 S.E.2d 88 (Va. Ct. App. 2004). “2-201, -202 (codifying the appointment of the commissioner by the governor and his oath of office); § 42.1-77 (including in the definition of “public official” any person “holding any office created .”
Middlesex Cnty. v. Hamilton, 28 Va. Cir. 283 (Williamsburg and James Cir. Ct. 1992). · cites it 2× “” Va. Code Ann. § 42.1-77 (Michie 1991). This definition was enacted in 1976.”
Devan Elisa Koch v. Commonwealth (Va. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 6× “Code § 42.1-77 provides in pertinent part: “Public record” .”
McCullough (W.D. Va. 2025). · cites it 3× “1-77, holding that a forged accord and satisfaction letter submitted by the defendant to a court in his victim’s name qualified as a “public record” under the Virginia Public Records Act, Va. Code § 42.1-77); Bennett v. Commonwealth, 48 Va.”
Eugene Word v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 5× “” 2 2 The definition of “public records” in Code § 42.1-77 has since been amended. It now states, in pertinent part: “Public record” or “record” means recorded information that documents a transaction or activity by or with any public officer, agency or employee of an agency.”
Cecilia Alexis Ruiz v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 4× “She suggests that the definition in Code § 42.1-77 would have been appropriate, and she asks us to invoke the ends of justice exception of Rule 5A:18 and to reverse her conviction.”
Theodore Lee Hall v. Commonwealth of Virginia (Va. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “1 He argues (1) that the trial court erred in finding that a confirmation of insurance document was a public record under Code § 42.1-77 and (2) that the Commonwealth failed to prove he had the requisite intent to defraud.”
Jennifer L. Blake, s/k/a Jennifer Lynn Blake v. CW (Va. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 2× “1 See Code § 42.1-77; Cf. Reid v. Commonwealth, 16 Va.”
John L. Chellman v. Commonwealth (Va. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 2× “955 (codified at Code § 42.1-77) (defining "public record" as "recorded information that documents a transaction or activity by or with any public officer, agency or employee of the state government or its political subdivisions .”
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Va. Code Ann. § 42.1-77(H): 1 case
Holton v. Yudkin, 23 Va. Cir. 510 (1977).
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