How the Freedom of Information Act Works in West Virginia

West Virginia's Act is Chapter 29B, Article 1 of the state code, and section 29B-1-3 gives every person the right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body except where the exemptions in section four apply. A request goes directly to the custodian of the record. The custodian must furnish proper and reasonable opportunities for inspection and examination in the office, and reasonable facilities for making memoranda or abstracts, during the usual business hours, and may make reasonable rules to protect the records and stop the work of the office being disrupted.

One sentence settles the format question in the requester's favour: where the records requested exist in magnetic, electronic or computer form, the custodian must make copies available on magnetic or electronic media if that is what is asked for. The duty on the requester is modest but real, since all requests for information must state with reasonable specificity the information sought. For West Virginia records held locally, see the West Virginia county pages.

  • Five days, excluding weekends: the custodian must act as soon as practicable and within five days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays.
  • No man hour charges: fees cover actual reproduction cost only, and a search or retrieval fee is forbidden outright.
  • Every request is logged: public bodies report each request and its outcome to the Secretary of State, who publishes the database online.
  • Fees follow success: a requester who wins a suit under the Act recovers attorney fees and court costs from the public body.

Written by SearchSystems.net from West Virginia's own systems: West Virginia Code 29B-1-3, inspection and copying, West Virginia Code 29B-1-3a, reports to the Secretary of State, West Virginia Code Chapter 29B, the Secretary of State's records request questions and answers, the Secretary of State's database of requests, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Five days, and the three things that can happen

The custodian, on demand for records, must act as soon as is practicable but within a maximum of five days, not including Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays. Three responses satisfy that duty. The custodian may furnish copies of the requested information. The custodian may advise the person making the request of the time and place at which they may inspect and copy the materials, which is the usual answer for bulky files. Or the custodian may deny the request, stating in writing the reasons for the denial.

A West Virginia denial has to do two further things that most state laws leave out: it must indicate that the responsibility of the custodian or the public body to produce the requested records is at an end, and it must afford the requester the opportunity to institute proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court in the county where the public record is kept. In other words, the refusal letter itself has to tell the requester that the administrative route is over and where the judicial one begins.

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The fee rule that leaves out labour

Subsection (e) allows a public body to establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for its actual cost in making reproductions of records, and then removes the largest component most states allow: a public body may not charge a search or retrieval fee, or otherwise seek reimbursement based on a man hour basis, as part of the costs associated with making reproductions. That makes West Virginia one of the cheaper states for a substantial request, because the only chargeable element is the physical reproduction, and a request for electronic copies of electronic records removes most of even that.

Any invoice that itemises staff hours spent locating or retrieving records is contrary to the statute on its face.

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A public register of requests

Since January 1, 2016, each public body in receipt of a request must report to the Secretary of State, giving at least the nature of the request, the nature of the body's response, the time frame that was necessary to comply in full, and the amount of reimbursement charged to the requester. The body does not send the records themselves. The Secretary of State maintains an electronic database of those notices, makes it available to the public over the internet, and lists each request received and its outcome, with a reporting form that records whether the request was granted and, where it was not, the exemption asserted.

For anyone preparing a request, the register is a practical research tool: it shows what has already been asked of a body, how long that body took, what it charged, and which exemptions it habitually relies on.

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Going to the circuit court

Section 29B-1-5 lets any person denied the right to inspect bring proceedings for injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court of the county where the record is kept. The court has jurisdiction to enjoin the custodian or body from withholding and to order production of records improperly withheld. It determines the matter de novo, and the burden is on the public body to sustain its action. It may view the documents in controversy in camera on its own motion.

A custodian who does not comply with an order to produce may be punished as being in contempt of court. And except as to causes the court considers of greater importance, these proceedings must be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable date, which keeps records cases near the front of the list.

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What a win is worth, and what a wilful refusal costs

Section 29B-1-7 is short and unqualified: a person who is denied access to public records and who successfully brings a suit under section five is entitled to recover attorney fees and court costs from the public body that denied access. There is no discretion dressed into it and no requirement to show bad faith. Separately, section 29B-1-6 keeps a criminal sanction aimed at the individual: any custodian who wilfully violates the article is guilty of a misdemeanour and, on conviction, is fined not less than two hundred and not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail for not more than twenty days, or both at the court's discretion.

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Making a West Virginia request work

Three habits match the statute. State the records sought with reasonable specificity, since that is the express condition on the duty to respond. Ask for electronic copies where the records exist in electronic form, because the custodian must then supply them on electronic media and the reproduction cost largely disappears. And diary the five day period, excluding weekends and legal holidays, because a custodian who has neither produced, nor scheduled an inspection, nor written a denial by that point has simply not complied.

If a denial arrives, read it for the two mandatory elements, the statement that the custodian's responsibility is at an end and the notice of the right to go to the circuit court; their absence is itself a defect worth raising, and the fee shifting provision means a successful challenge costs the requester nothing.

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Questions about public records requests in West Virginia

How long does a West Virginia custodian have?
As soon as practicable and within a maximum of five days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays, to furnish copies, arrange an inspection, or deny the request in writing with reasons.
Does West Virginia bill for search time?
No. Fees may only reimburse the actual cost of making reproductions, and the statute expressly forbids a search or retrieval fee or any reimbursement calculated on a man hour basis.
Can I insist on electronic copies?
Yes, where the records exist in magnetic, electronic or computer form the custodian must make copies available on magnetic or electronic media if that is requested.
What must a refusal include?
The reasons in writing, a statement that the custodian's responsibility to produce the records is at an end, and notice that the requester may seek injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court of the county where the record is kept.
Is there a public record of requests?
Yes. Public bodies must report each request, their response, the time taken and any reimbursement charged to the Secretary of State, who publishes a searchable database of requests and outcomes online.
What do I recover if I win?
Attorney fees and court costs from the public body that denied access, and a custodian who wilfully violates the Act also faces a fine of two hundred to one thousand dollars or up to twenty days in jail.

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West Virginia's other public records guides on this site are the West Virginia background check guide for the State Police criminal history service, the West Virginia court records guide for the circuit clerks, the West Virginia arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, and the West Virginia county pages for every county office.