The Town of Smithfield operates under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements. All town records including records from the following offices and boards: Planning, Engineering, Treasurer’s, Town Manager’s, Town Clerks, Council, Board of Zoning Appeals, Board of Historic and Architectural Review, Planning Commission, Public Works (excluding police department) are managed through the Town Manager's office. FOIA requests are filled by the Town Manager's office with the assistance of other department staff to make sure all requests are thoroughly filled. The town makes every reasonable effort to provide requested records in a timely manner. 

Town Records can be obtained in the following way. The first step would be to contact the Town Manager’s office at 757-365-9505 or email lgreer@smithfieldva.gov  or drop by the office at 315 Main Street, Smithfield, Virginia 23430. Once a request is received, staff has five days to fill the request or to submit in writing to the requestor the reason why such records cannot be supplied. Requests do not have to be in writing but it is very helpful for staff to have specific details to help speed up the retrieval process. The five day period begins the day after the request is made. At the end of the five days either the records will be provided or a letter giving a reason why it is going to take longer or cannot be provided due to FOIA exempt reasons. If records are available but will take longer than five working days (does not include holidays and weekends) staff must give the written reason and FOIA then allows staff seven additional days.

Records can be requested in any media such as paper copy, floppy diskette, CD, or recorded audio copy. The following charges will apply.

                Paper copy - Black and White (8-1/2x 11 and 8-1/2 x 14) $0.25 each

                Paper copy – Color                                                                          $1.00 each

                Floppy Diskette or CD                                                                    $2.00 each

                Audio media                                                                                      Cost of media and time to copy

In addition to the above listed charges, if a request requires over one hour of staff time to research and retrieve there will be an hourly charge. Staff will notify the requestor of any potential charges prior to filling the request. 

If the requestor feels they are denied records that they feel should be available they can file an appeal with the FOIA Council or Circuit Court.