Public Comment Policy
Revised July 1, 2024
Comment forums are designed to facilitate public participation in the state regulatory process. These comment forums are reviewed by the Department of Planning and Budget (DPB) for compliance with this Public Comment Policy. As described in this Public Comment Policy:
1. The Town Hall website will automatically “black out” certain words and disable “active” weblinks;
2. DPB staff may hide from public view any comments that violate this Public Comment Policy; and
3. Comments that appear to be posted in the wrong comment forum may be moved by DPB staff to the correct forum.
NOTICE: All comments are publicly viewable, so information that you do not want publicly disclosed should not be included in comments. Comments are public records posted on the Internet and can be found by most Internet search engines. Please review your comment before submitting it. Once you post a comment, it cannot be removed or edited other than the automatic changes described above.
1. Comments that are Automatically Modified by the Town Hall. Comments posted on Town Hall are automatically modified by the website in two instances.
First, Town Hall will automatically “black out” any words that are regarded as profane or vulgar.
Second, Town Hall will automatically disable any “active” links to other websites or any other HTML
code. If you wish to include a link to a website that is directly related to the comment forum, please
insert the full URL into the text of your comment, as shown in the first example below, but do not use an active (“clickable”) link.
· Inactive links like this are permitted: “For more information on public comment forums and policies, visit http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/UM/forums.cfm.”
· Active links like this are not permitted: “For more information on public comment forums visit our Comment Forums page.”
2. Comments that May be Hidden by DPB. At DPB’s discretion, comments that appear to violate this Public Comment Policy may be hidden from public view. Examples of comments that may be hidden include those that contain:
· Pictures;
· Information that is not related to the comment forum, such as advertising; or
· Threats or personal attacks, or are invasive of privacy.
If DPB hides a comment, it is removed from public view and the fact that a comment was hidden is noted at the bottom of the relevant public comment forum. Further, a hidden comment continues to be visible to the agency that created the forum, remains a part of the public record, and cannot be deleted.
3. Comments that May be Moved by DPB. If DPB notices that a comment appears to have been posted in the wrong forum, DPB may move that comment to the correct forum in consultation with the affected agencies.
If you notice a comment that appears to violate this Public Comment Policy, please Contact DPB.