West Virginia Freedom of Information Act
From Sunshine Review
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The Freedom of Information Act is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels in West Virginia.
The West Virginia Open Meetings Act legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.
To learn more about how to make a public records request in this state, please see: West Virginia FOIA procedures
[edit] Recent news
[edit] Transparency blocking
- Chafin examines FOIA response
- Agency needs more time to respond to Chafin’s FOIA request
- FOIA request filed with Fayette schools
More transparency blocking news from across the country.
[edit] Litigation
- WVa Supreme Court Rules Personal Emails Not Subject to FOIA Requests
- Newspaper sues county clerk over FOIA
- WVU ordered to pay PG's legal costs in records fight
More FOIA litigation news from across the country.
[edit] Legislation
More FOIA legislation news from across the country.
[edit] Sunshine Guardians
No recent news. If you have news add it here
Other Sunshine Guardians from across the country.
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of lawsuits in West Virginia. For more information go the page or go to West Virginia sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
[edit] Transparency report card
A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked West Virginia #11 (along with Arizona and Illinois) in the nation with an overall percentage of 58.00%. [1]
A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave West Virginia 66 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "D", and a ranking of 10 out of the 50 states.[2]
A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked West Virginia's law as the 9th best in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C+".[3]
[edit] Features of the law
"The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government they have created." [4]
[edit] What records are covered?
West Virginia law defines records as "any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public's business, prepared, owned and retained by a public body". [4]
Notable exemptions include but are not limited to:
- Trade secrets
- Personal information
- Examinations,
- Law enforcement investigations
- Archaeological and historic sites
- Financial investigations
- Internal memoranda
- Security information for individuals infrastructure and electronics
[edit] What agencies are covered?
West Virginia law defines agencies as all branches of government at both the state and local levels and all bodys created by those branches or funded by public money. [4]
[edit] Who may request records?
Anyone may request public records in West Virginia. "Every person has a right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body in this state". [4]
[edit] Must a purpose be stated?
The law does not require a statement of purpose.
[edit] How can records be used?
The law does not restrict the use of open records.
[edit] Time allowed for response
- See also: Request response times by state.
West Virginia law allows for 5 business days for records request responses. [4]
[edit] Fees for records
West Virginia law allows for the charging of fees to reimburse the department for the cost of making the records but does not specify what factors affect those fees. [4]
[edit] Open meetings
"The people in delegating authority do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for them to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government created by them." [5]
[edit] Proposed changes to the law
- Main article: Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2009
- Senate Bill 252 [6] seeks to exempt certain disclosures under Freedom of Information Act. Same as HB2418.
- House Bill 2418 [7] - "Relating to exempting certain records of the Division of Corrections and Regional Jail Authority from the Freedom of Information Act that, if released, could aid inmates in committing unlawful acts". Same as SB252.
[edit] Notable requests
[edit] See also
- West Virginia FOIA procedures
- West Virginia transparency headlines
- West Virginia transparency advocates
- West Virginia transparency legislation
- West Virginia Open Governmental Proceedings Act
[edit] External links
- West Virginia Code Freedom of Information Act
- Open Meetings Act
- Open Government Guide to West Virginia
- West Virginia on WikiFOIA
[edit] References
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