D.C. Code § 2-534 – Exemptions from disclosure.

(a) The following matters may be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of this subchapter:
1. (1) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from outside the government, to the extent that disclosure would result in substantial harm to the competitive position of the person from whom the information was obtained;
2. (2) Information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
3. (2A) Any body-worn camera recordings recorded by the Metropolitan Police Department:
  1. (A) Inside a personal residence; or
  2. (B) Related to an incident involving domestic violence as defined in § 4-551(1), stalking as defined in § 22-3133, or sexual assault as defined in § 23-1907(a)(7).
4. (3) Investigatory records compiled for law-enforcement purposes, including the records of Council investigations and investigations conducted by the Office of Police Complaints, but only to the extent that the production of such records would:
  1. (A) Interfere with:
    1. (i) Enforcement proceedings;
    2. (ii) Council investigations; or
    3. (iii) Office of Police Complaints ongoing investigations;
  2. (B) Deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication;
  3. (C) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
  4. (D) Disclose the identity of a confidential source and, in the case of a record compiled by a law-enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, confidential information furnished only by the confidential source;
  5. (E) Disclose investigative techniques and procedures not generally known outside the government; or
  6. (F) Endanger the life or physical safety of law-enforcement personnel;
5. (4) Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters, including memorandums or letters generated or received by the staff or members of the Council, which would not be available by law to a party other than a public body in litigation with the public body.
6. (5) Test questions and answers to be used in future license, employment, or academic examinations, but not previously administered examinations or answers to questions thereon;
7. (6) Information specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than this section), provided that such statute:
  1. (A) Requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or
  2. (B) Establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;
8. (7) Information specifically authorized by federal law under criteria established by a presidential executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy which is in fact properly classified pursuant to such executive order;
9. (8) Information exempted from disclosure by § 28-4505;
10. (9) Information disclosed pursuant to § 5-417;
11. (10) Any specific response plan, including any District of Columbia response plan, as that term is defined in § 7-2301(1), and any specific vulnerability assessment, either of which is intended to prevent or to mitigate an act of terrorism, as that term is defined in § 22-3152(1);
12. (11) Information exempt from disclosure by § 47-2851.06;
13. (12) Information, the disclosure of which would reveal the name of an employee providing information under subchapter XV-A of Chapter 6 of Title 1 [§ 1-615.51 et seq.] and subchapter XII of Chapter 2 of this title [2-233.01 et seq.], unless the name of the employee is already known to the public;
14. (13) Information exempt from disclosure by § 7-2271.04;
15. (14) Information that is ordered sealed and restricted from public access pursuant to Chapter 8 of Title 16;
16. (15) Any critical infrastructure information or plans that contain critical infrastructure information for the critical infrastructures of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority or companies that are regulated by the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia;
17. (16) Information exempt from disclosure pursuant to § 38-2615;
18. (17) Information exempt from disclosure pursuant to § 50-301.29a(13)(C)(i);
19. (18) Information exempt from disclosure pursuant to § 24-481.07(a);
20. (19) Information exempt from disclosure under subchapter XIV of Chapter 1A of Title 41;
21. (20) Information withheld from disclosure under § 10-551.07e(e)(2);
22. (21) Information exempt from disclosure under § 3-1205.25;
23. (22) Information or data provided by any court, federal agency, or federally established agency to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, established by subchapter I of Chapter 42A of Title 22;
24. (23) Information or data provided by any court, federal agency, or federally established agency to the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission, established by Chapter 1 of Title 3; and
25. (24) Information exempt from disclosure under § 38-208(e)(3).
(a-1)
1. (1) The Council may assert, on behalf of any public body from which it obtains records or information, any exemption listed in subsection (a) of this section that could be asserted by the public body pertaining to the records or information.
2. (2) Disclosure of any public record, document, or information from a District of Columbia government agency, official, or employee to the following persons or entities shall not constitute a waiver of any privilege or exemption that otherwise could be asserted by the District of Columbia to prevent disclosure to the general public or in a judicial or administrative proceeding:
  1. (A) The Council;
  2. (B) A Council committee;
  3. (C) A member of the Council acting in an official capacity;
  4. (D) The District of Columbia Auditor;
  5. (E) An employee of the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor; or
  6. (F) The Ombudsperson for Children or an employee of the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children.
(b) Any reasonably segregable portion of a public record shall be provided to any person requesting the record after deletion of those portions which may be withheld from disclosure pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. In each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained fully in writing, and the extent of the deletion shall be indicated on the portion of the record which is made available or published, unless including that indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption in subsection (a) of this section under which the deletion is made. If technically feasible, the extent of the deletion and the specific exemptions shall be indicated at the place in the record where the deletion was made.
(c) This section does not authorize withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from the Council of the District of Columbia. This section shall not operate to permit nondisclosure of information of which disclosure is authorized or mandated by other law.
(c-1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no document or information described in § 2-536(a)(6A) that was created on or after December 7, 2004, shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant to subsections (a)(4) and (e) of this section.
(d)
1. [(1)] The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to vital records covered by Chapter 2 of Title 7 or Chapter 2A of Title 7.
2. [(2)] The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to:
  1. (A) The Violence Fatality Review Committee, established by § 5-1431.01;
  2. (B) The Child Fatality Review Committee, established by § 4-1371.03;
  3. (C) The Maternal Mortality Review Committee, established by § 7-671.02; and
  4. (D) The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, established by § 16-1052.
(d-1) Not Funded.
(d-2) Not Funded.
(e) All exemptions available under this section shall apply to the Council as well as agencies of the District government. The deliberative process privilege, the attorney work-product privilege, and the attorney-client privilege are incorporated under the inter-agency memoranda exemption listed in subsection (a)(4) of this section, and these privileges, among other privileges that may be found by the court, shall extend to any public body that is subject to this subchapter.

History

Oct. 21, 1968, Pub. L. 90-614, title II, § 204

as added Mar. 29, 1977, D.C. Law 1-96, § 2, 23 DCR 3744

Mar. 5, 1981, D.C. Law 3-169, § 3(c), 27 DCR 5368

Oct. 8, 1981, D.C. Law 4-34, § 29(i), 28 DCR 3271

June 19, 1982, D.C. Law 4-119, § 2(f), 29 DCR 1952

Apr. 27, 2001, D.C. Law 13-283, § 3(d), 48 DCR 1917

Oct. 17, 2002, D.C. Law 14-194, § 302, 49 DCR 5306

Oct. 28, 2003, D.C. Law 15-38, § 3(b), 50 DCR 6913

Mar. 17, 2005, D.C. Law 15-256, § 2(b), 52 DCR 1158

Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-354, § 83(a), 52 DCR 2638

Apr. 7, 2006, D.C. Law 16-91, § 132(b), 52 DCR 10637

Sept. 19, 2006, D.C. Law 16-152, § 2, 53 DCR 5371

Mar. 14, 2007, D.C. Law 16-262, § 231, 54 DCR 794

May 5, 2007, D.C. Law 16-307, § 3(a), 54 DCR 868

June 13, 2008, D.C. Law 17-176, § 5, 55 DCR 5390

Mar. 25, 2009, D.C. Law 17-353,§ 174, 56 DCR 1117

Mar. 11, 2010, D.C. Law 18-119, § 3, 57 DCR 906

Feb. 26, 2015, D.C. Law 20-160, § 2(a), 61 DCR 10735

Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 4063, 62 DCR 10905

Mar. 9, 2016, D.C. Law 21-83, § 2(b), 63 DCR 774

July 3, 2018, D.C. Law 22-118, § 201

Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-164, § 201

Oct. 30, 2018, D.C. Law 22-168

Dec. 13, 2018, D.C. Law 22-197, § 222

Apr. 5, 2021, D.C. Law 23-270, § 207

Nov. 13, 2021, D.C. Law 24-45, § 7094(b)

July 12, 2022, D.C. Law 24-147

Sept. 21, 2022, D.C. Law 24-167, § 1042(a)

Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-345, § 134

Sept. 6, 2023, D.C. Law 25-50, § 1033

June 8, 2024, D.C. Law 25-175, § 5

July 19, 2024, D.C. Law 25-191, § 206

Dec. 10, 2024, D.C. Law 25-230, § 2(a)

Dec. 6, 2025, D.C. Law 26-55

Applicability

Section 3 of D.C. Law 15-256 provided: “Sec. 3. Applicability. This act shall apply with respect to any requests for records pending on the effective date of this act, whether or not the request was made prior to that date, and shall apply to any civil action pending on that date.”

Applicability of D.C. Law 22-118: § 301 of D.C. Law 22-118 provided that the change made to this section by § 201 of D.C. Law 22-118 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

Section 7035 of D.C. Law 22-168 repealed § 301 of D.C. Law 22-118 removing the applicability restriction impacting this section. Therefore the amendments made to this section by D.C. Law 22-118 have been given effect.

Applicability of D.C. Law 23-270: § 301 of D.C. Law 23-270 provided that the change made to this section by § 207 of D.C. Law 23-270 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

Section 7208 of D.C. Act 24-159 repealed the applicability provision of section 301 of D.C. Law 23-270 that impacted this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by Law 23-270 has been implemented.

Section 7208 of D.C. Law 24-45 repealed the applicability provision of section 301 of D.C. Law 23-270 that impacted this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by Law 23-270 has been implemented.

Applicability of D.C. Law 24-345: § 301 of D.C. Law 24-345 provided that the change made to this section by § 134 of D.C. Law 24-345 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

Section 7097 of D.C. Law 25-50 amended section 301(a)(1) of D.C. Law 24-345 retaining the applicability provision impacting this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by section 134 of Law 24-345 still has not been implemented.

Applicability of D.C. Law 25-175: § 45 of D.C. Law 25-175 provided that the amendment of subsection (d-1) of this section by § 5 of D.C. Law 25-175 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

References in Text

The “Vital Records Act of 1981”, referred to in subsection (d), is D.C. Law 4-34.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(b) of the Body-Worn Camera Program Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-253, Dec. 30, 2015, 63 DCR 271).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4063 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Educator Evaluation Data Protection Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-35, Mar. 30, 2015, 62 DCR 4546, 21 DCSTAT 874).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Third Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-580, Jan. 13, 2015, 62 DCR 1264, 21 STAT 730).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Second Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-459, Oct. 24, 2014, 61 DCR 11374, 20 STAT 4364).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Educator Evaluation Data Collection Emergency Amendment Act of 2014, (D.C. Act 20-328, May 22, 2014, 61 DCR 5361).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Act 20-285, February 20, 2014, 61 DCR 1603).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Emergency Amendment Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-229, November 29, 2013, 60 DCR 16788, 20 DCSTAT 2630).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of Office of Police Complaints Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-524, November 7, 2006, 53 DCR 9273).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2 of Office of Police Complaints Emergency Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-379, May 19, 2006, 53 DCR 4403).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Freedom of Information Legislative Records Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-23, February 17, 2005, 52 DCR 2975).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Freedom of Information Legislative Records Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-591, November 1, 2004, 51 DCR 10729).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(a) of Freedom of Information Legislative Records Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-372, February 19, 2004, 51 DCR 2611).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see §§ 2(a) and 3 of Freedom of Information Legislative Records Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-190, October 24, 2003, 50 DCR 9499.)

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(b) of Streamlining Regulation Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-145, August 11, 2003, 50 DCR 6896).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Master Business Registration Second Delay Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-83, May 19, 2003, 50 DCR 4100).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Master Business Registration Delay Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-73, April 16, 2003, 50 DCR 3616).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of Master Business Registration Delay Emergency Act of 2002 (D.C. Act 14-595, January 7, 2003, 50 DCR 647).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3053 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3120 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 6133 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-434, July 30, 2018, 65 DCR 8200).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3053 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 3120 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 6133 of Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 (D.C. Act 22-458, Oct. 3, 2018, 65 DCR 11212).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 7094(b) of Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-159, Aug. 23, 2021, 68 DCR 008602).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1042(a) of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-470, July 13, 2022, 69 DCR 008707).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 (D.C. Act 25-201, July 26, 2023, 70 DCR 10754).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 (D.C. Act 25-278, Oct. 30, 2023, 70 DCR 14485).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Act 25-496, June 26, 2024, 71 DCR 7608).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1002 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-146, Sept. 3, 2025, 72 DCR 9623).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 5143 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-146, Sept. 3, 2025, 72 DCR 9623).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1002 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-210, Nov. 24, 2025, 72 DCR 13514).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 5143 of Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2025 (D.C. Act 26-210, Nov. 24, 2025, 72 DCR 13514).

Temporary Legislation

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Educator Evaluation Data Protection Temporary Amendment Act of 2015 (D.C. Law 21-6, June 4, 2015, 62 DCR 4562).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 3 of the Educator Evaluation Data Collection Temporary Amendment Act of 2014 (D.C. Law 20-132, Aug. 8, 2014, 61 DCR 6338).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(a) of the Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Temporary Amendment Act of 2013 (D.C. Law 20-71, February 22, 2014, 61 DCR 27).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(a) of the Freedom of Information Legislative Records Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2003 (D.C. Law 15-83, March 10, 2004, law notification 51 DCR 3375).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 3 of the Master Business Registration Delay Temporary Act of 2003 (D.C. Law 14-302, May 3, 2003, law notification 50 DCR 3776).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2023 (D.C. Law 25-78, Nov. 28, 2023, 70 DCR 13750).

For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2 of DC Water Critical Infrastructure Freedom of Information Clarification Temporary Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25-207, Sept. 4, 2024, 71 DCR 9330).

Prior Codifications

1973 Ed., § 1-1524.

1981 Ed., § 1-1524.

Editor's Notes

The Law Effective Date Notice for D.C. Law 1-96, published on April 8, 1977, was incorrect and was corrected on June 3, 1977, and published at 23 DCR 9532b.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 1-301.89a, § 1-309.13, § 1-610.64, § 2-532, § 2-533, § 2-537, § 8-105.09, § 8-634.03, and § 8-1321.

Cross References

Hazardous waste management, confidential or privileged information, exemption from disclosure, grounds for exemption, see § 8-1321.

Environmental controls, wastewater control, confidential or privileged information, exemption from disclosure, grounds for exemption, see § 8-105.09.