Bill > HB4163

This bill, concerning the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), mandates that custodians of public records protect the identity of individuals making FOIA requests by treating their names and personally identifying details as confidential and exempt from public disclosure, with limited exceptions for government officials, cases where public interest outweighs privacy, or when the requester explicitly consents to disclosure. It also requires that any publicly accessible FOIA logs or databases maintained by the Secretary of State, including those updated within 90 days of the bill's enactment, must not include the requester's name or personally identifiable information, and that names of original requesters must be redacted from copies of previous FOIA requests or logs. Furthermore, the bill clarifies that failure to redact a requester's identity is a violation subject to penalties, and affected requesters may seek injunctive relief and damages up to $5,000 per violation if their personal information is unlawfully disclosed.

Justice

http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=4163&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill