As Richmond officials continue to try to improve their process for handling public records and transparency, the city has launched a new online portal for filing and tracking Freedom of Information Act requests.

The new online platform will supplement the FOIA library the city is also close to finishing. The library will serve as a digital archive of documents the city has released under FOIA, making government records available to the wider public, not just the person who filed the request.

The new system, built on JustFOIA records management software, covers the “entire FOIA request lifecycle,” according to the city, including gathering records, reviewing them for possible redactions and payment by the requester.

“Sharing public information promptly with the media and our residents is a priority that I have made clear throughout the administration,” Mayor Danny Avula said in the news release. “We’ve increased training across the organization, hired a new FOIA manager, and I’ve communicated repeatedly to leadership in my cabinet meetings that FOIA is not only just a legal requirement but a responsibility we need to take seriously.”

City communications director Ross Catrow, whose office oversees public records requests, said the new platform will be a “game-changer for the way the city handles FOIA.”

The FOIA library has a July 1 launch deadline under an ordinance the City Council approved late last year.

Some FOIA-related headaches have persisted for the Avula administration. The city recently paid $549,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by former FOIA officer Connie Clay, who alleged she was fired after clashing with other city officials over the city’s past failures to comply with FOIA. 

The city did not admit fault in the lawsuit, but paid a private law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight the case for roughly two years.

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org