West Virginia Code § 29B-1-4

Exemptions
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(a) There is a presumption of public accessibility to all public records, subject only to the
following categories of information which are specifically exempt from disclosure under this
article:
(1) Trade secrets, as used in this section, which may include, but are not limited to, any
formula, plan, pattern, process, tool, mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or
compilation of information which is not patented which is known only to certain individuals
within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce, or compound an article
or trade or a service or to locate minerals or other substances, huaving commercial value, and
which gives its users an opportunity to obtain business advantage over competitors;
(2) Information of a personal nature such as that kept in a personal, medical, or similar file,
if the public disclosure of the information would constitute an unreasonable invasion of
privacy, unless the public interest by clear and convincing evidence requires disclosure in
this particular instance: Provided, That this article ldoes not preclude an individual from
inspecting or copying his or her own personals, medical, or similar file;
(3) Test questions, scoring keys, and otheri examination data used to administer a licensing
examination, examination for emplogyment, or academic examination;
(4)(A) Records of law-enforcement agencies that deal with the detection and investigation of
crime and the internal records and notations of such law-enforcement agencies which are
maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement;
(B) Records identifying motor vehicles used, and the agencies using them, for undercover
investigation activitie s conducted by state law-enforcement agencies or other agencies that
are authorizedV by this code to use undercover or unmarked vehicles;
(5) Information specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;
(6) Records, archives, documents, or manuscripts describing the location of undeveloped
historic, prehistoric, archaeological, paleontological, and battlefield sites or constituting
gifts to any public body upon which the donor has attached restrictions on usage or the
handling of which could irreparably damage the record, archive, document, or manuscript;
(7) Information contained in or related to examination, operating or condition reports
prepared by, or on behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or
supervision of financial institutions, except those reports which are by law required to be
published in newspapers;
(8) Internal memoranda or letters received or prepared by any public body;
(9) Records assembled, prepared, or maintained to prevent, mitigate, or respond to terrorist
acts or the threat of terrorist acts, the public disclosure of which threaten the public safety
or the public health;
(10) Those portions of records containing specific or unique vulnerability assessments or
specific or unique response plans, data, databases and inventories of goods or materials
collected or assembled to respond to terrorist acts; and communication codes or deployment
plans of law-enforcement or emergency response personnel;
(11) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records dealing with terrorist
acts or the threat of a terrorist act shared by and between federal and international law-
enforcement agencies, state and local law-enforcement, and other agencies within the
Department of Homeland Security; u
(12) National security records classified under federal executive order and not subject to
public disclosure under federal law that are shared by federal agencies and other records
related to national security briefings to assist state anda local government with domestic
preparedness for acts of terrorism;
(13) Computing, telecommunications, and netswork security records, passwords, security
codes, or programs used to respond to or plan against acts of terrorism which may be the
subject of a terrorist act; i
(14) Security or disaster recovery plans, risk assessments, tests, or the results of those tests;
(15) Architectural or infrastructure designs, maps, or other records that show the location or
layout of the facilities where computing, telecommunications, or network infrastructure used
to plan against or respond to terrorism are located or planned to be located;
(16) Codes for facilit y security systems; or codes for secure applications for facilities
referred to inV subdivision (15) of this subsection;
(17) Specific engineering plans and descriptions of existing public utility plants and
equipment;
(18) Customer proprietary network information of other telecommunications carriers,
equipment manufacturers and individual customers, consistent with 47 U.S.C. §222;
(19) Records of the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority
and the Division of Juvenile Services relating to design of corrections, jail and detention
facilities owned or operated by the agency, and the policy directives and operational
procedures of personnel relating to the safe and secure management of inmates or residents,
that if released, could be used by an inmate or resident to escape a facility, or to cause injury
to another inmate, resident, or to facility personnel;
(20) Information related to applications under §61-7-4 of this code, including applications,
supporting documents, permits, renewals, or any other information that would identify an
applicant for or holder of a concealed weapon permit: Provided, That information in the
aggregate that does not identify any permit holder other than by county or municipality is
not exempted: Provided, however, That information or other records exempted under this
subdivision may be disclosed to a law-enforcement agency or officer: (i) To determine the
validity of a permit, (ii) to assist in a criminal investigation or prosecution, or (iii) for other
lawful law-enforcement purposes;
(21) Personal information of law-enforcement officers maintained by the pubelic body in the
ordinary course of the employer-employee relationship. As used in this paragraph, "personal
information" means a law-enforcement officer's Social Security numberr, health information,
home address, personal address, personal telephone numbers, and personal email addresses
and those of his or her spouse, parents, and children as well as the names of the law-
enforcement officer's spouse, parents, and children;
(22) Information provided by a person when he or she elects to remain anonymous after
winning a draw game prize, pursuant to §29-22-15a of this code; and
(23) Individually identifiable customer information lcreated or maintained by a city or county
or other public entity providing utility servicess in connection with the ownership or
operation of a publicly-administered utility enterprise, including, but not limited to, customer
names, addresses, and billing and usage records. Nothing contained herein is intended to
limit public disclosure by a city or cogunty of billing information:
(A) That the city or county determines will be useful or necessary to assist bond counsel,
bond underwriters, underwriters' counsel, rating agencies or investors or potential investors
in making informed decisions regarding bonds or other obligations incurred or to be
incurred with respect to the publicly-administered utility enterprise;
(B) That is necessary to assist the city, county, state, or public enterprise to maintain the
integrity and quality of services it provides; or
(C) That is necessary to assist law enforcement, public safety, fire protection, rescue,
emergency management, or judicial officers in the performance of their duties.
(b) As used in subdivisions (9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section, the term
"terrorist act" means an act that is likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to
property or the environment and is intended to:
(1) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;
(2) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(3) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(4) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the
government.
(c) The provisions of subdivisions (9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section do
not make subject to the provisions of this chapter any evidence of an immediate threat to
public health or safety unrelated to a terrorist act or the threat of a terrorist act which
comes to the attention of a public entity in the course of conducting a vulnerability
assessment response or similar activity.

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