FOIA Correspondence and Documents

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA)

documents

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA), found at § 2.2-3700 et seq., guarantees Virginia citizens and media access to public records and meetings, favoring disclosure and requiring narrow interpretation of exemptions. Public bodies must respond to requests within five working days, providing documents or citing legal exemptions.

  • On April 2, 2026, the Franklin County Community Coalition made a formal request to Franklin County for all documents relating to The Berkley Group.
  • We were quoted an estimated price of $902, with half down and the balance due when the records were ready.
  • We revised the request, scaling it down based solely on cost, and were then quoted an estimated cost of $583.  
  • On April 10, we filed a waiver of fee which was denied.
  • On April 13, we provided the county with a $310 deposit to begin the process.  
  • On April 17, we were notified that the documents were ready, with a balance due of $86 (much less than the estimated cost).  

We did not receive all the records requested, but we received close to 500 documents, which we are downloading to upload here. 

4-2-2026 Initial FOIA Request

First Response

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Scaled Down Request

Second Response

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Request to Waiver Fees

Refusal to Waive Fees

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The County responded….
What we received (and didn’t receive) raises serious concerns.
1. They admitted what they gave us is only a “portion” of the records — and then CLOSED the request anyway.
2. We received emails that reference attachments, but the attachments are missing.
3. There are NO procurement records showing how Berkley Group was hired to conduct a countywide zoning rewrite.
4. There are NO contracts, no RFPs, no bid documents, no evaluation records, no approvals — nothing you would expect for a project of this size. (Technically, we did receive one Berkley Contract for Pittsylvania County, but none for Berkley and Franklin County. On a side note, Franklin County’s own public documents state that they used Lexington City’s Contract with Berkley. Nothing related to that was received either.
5. We uncovered evidence that public officials are using personal email accounts to conduct government business — and those emails were NOT searched or produced.
6. We were told one official “does not have a county email” — despite evidence that emails do exist.
If the records don’t exist, that’s a problem……If they do exist and weren’t produced, that’s a bigger one.
 
Some other significant findings:
1. Large sums of money are being spent and reimbursed related to Summit View Business Park
2. Ongoing coordination with VDOT and infrastructure improvements
3. Utility planning and expansion tied to that area
4. A proposed autonomous aircraft / UAV (Drone Vertiport) initiative connected to Summit View
Let that sink in…….
 
Major development planning is moving forward, and public funds are being spent, but key records explaining how and why are missing.
This is the County’s official response when we received the FOIA documents:
“Attached please find a portion of records… we are still reviewing other potentially responsive documents… we reserve the right to withhold… Ms. Mitchell does not have a county email. We do not have access to those documents…”
A formal FOIA Deficiency Notice demanding full compliance under Virginia law has been filed.

FOIA Deficiency Notice

List of Documents Received

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The original intent was to put the documents in some semblance of order, but with so many to work through, it would take days to complete.  It’s more important to provide the information as promptly as possible.  Click the accessible Google Drive link below.  Currently, the documents are in no particular order.  We will work to organize them and provide a more efficient way to view them here as soon as possible.

See the documents

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