West Virginia Code § 62-1-6a

Booking photographs of criminal defendants
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(a) Except as authorized by the provisions of this section, a law enforcement agency may not
share on social media the booking photograph of an individual arrested for the alleged
commission of a minor offense.
(b) As used in this section, unless context clearly indicates, otherwise:
"Booking photograph" means a photograph or still, non-video image of an individual taken,
generated, or otherwise created by a law enforcement agency pursuant to an arrest or while
an individual is in the agency's lawful custody. u
"Law enforcement agency" means any duly authorized state, county, or municipal
organization employing one or more persons whose responsibility is the enforcement of laws
of the state or any county or municipality of the state: aProvided, That the Division of
Corrections and Rehabilitation and its subordinate organizations may not be considered a
law enforcement agency for purposes of this sectioln.
"Social media" means a publicly available Internet-based platform that allows a user to
produce, post, or curate content and interaict with other users via text, images, video, and
audio, for the purpose of informing, sharing, promoting, collaborating, or networking.
"Minor offense" means an offense that:
Is a misdemeanor or nonviolent felony eligible for expungement as provided by §61-11-26(a)
of this code, and not excepted from eligibility for expungement under §61-11-26(c) of this
code: Provided, That, for purposes of this section, offenses under §17B-4-3 of this code and
misdemeanor offense s under §17C-5-2 of this code, shall be considered minor offenses for
purposes of thVis section.
(c) Exceptions. — A law enforcement agency may share on social media the booking
photograph of an individual arrested for the alleged commission a minor offense, if:
(1) The individual is convicted of a criminal offense based upon the conduct for which the
individual was in custody for at the time the booking photograph was taken;
(2) A law-enforcement agency has determined that the suspect is a fugitive or an imminent
threat to an individual or to public safety and reasonably believes that releasing or
disseminating the suspect's booking photograph will assist in locating or apprehending the
suspect or reducing or eliminating that threat; or
(3) A court of competent jurisdiction orders the release or dissemination of the booking
photograph based upon a finding that doing so is in furtherance of a legitimate interest.
(d) A law-enforcement agency may not be subject to civil action or be held liable when the
publication, release, or dissemination of a booking photograph was made by mistake of fact
or error, and that publication, release, or dissemination was done in good faith.
(e) A law-enforcement agency that shares on social media a booking photograph of an
individual arrested for the suspected commission of any crime shall remove the booking
photograph from its social media page within 14 days upon the request of the individual who
is the subject of the social media post, or that individual's authorized representative, if any
of the following have occurred: e
(1) The criminal charge for which the booking photograph was taken has been dismissed;
(2) A grand jury has declined to return an indictment on the charuge for which the booking
photograph was taken; or
(3) A circuit court or jury has entered a judgment of acquittal on the charge for which the
booking photograph was taken, or a court of competenat jurisdiction has issued an order or
opinion reversing, vacating, or otherwise nullifying the conviction for which the booking
photograph was taken. l

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