West Virginia Freedom of Information Act: Requests and Fees (2026)

The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act, W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq., gives every person the right to inspect or copy public records. Custodians must answer within five business days, and the statute expressly forbids charging a search or retrieval fee.

This page covers West Virginia state law only. Records held by a federal agency are requested under the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, which West Virginia's statute is named after but is separate from. See our federal FOIA request guide, and the public records laws by state hub for the other states.

State FOIA is not federal FOIA. West Virginia borrowed the federal name for its own statute. The federal Act reaches federal executive branch agencies on a 20 working day clock with its own fee categories and administrative appeal. West Virginia FOIA reaches West Virginia public bodies on a five business day clock, has no administrative appeal at all, and bars search fees the federal law permits. Send a request to the right law and the right body.

Who Can Request West Virginia Public Records

W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(a) is direct:

"Every person has a right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body in this state, except as otherwise expressly provided by section four of this article."

"Every person" carries no residency limit, and none appears elsewhere in §§ 29B-1-3 through 29B-1-5. An out-of-state journalist, researcher, or business may file in West Virginia on the same footing as a resident.

That is worth contrasting with the neighboring state that shares part of the name. Virginia FOIA opens records only to citizens of the Commonwealth, a limit the Supreme Court upheld against a Privileges and Immunities Clause and dormant Commerce Clause challenge in McBurney v. Young, 569 U.S. 221 (2013). West Virginia has no comparable clause, and the two states' FOIA laws should never be treated as interchangeable despite the shared name.

The exemptions live in W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4, which lists the categories a public body may withhold, including certain law enforcement records, personal information whose disclosure would constitute an unreasonable invasion of privacy, and records made confidential by another statute.

The Five Business Day Deadline

W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(d) requires the custodian to act within five business days of receiving the request. Business days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. Within that window the custodian must do one of three things:

1. Furnish copies of the requested information;
2. Advise the requester of the time and place at which the records may be inspected; or
3. Deny the request, stating in writing the reasons for the denial.

Note that the third option is a written denial with reasons. A custodian who simply stops responding has not satisfied the statute, and the absence of any of the three responses is what a requester documents before going to circuit court.

Section 29B-1-3 also places a duty on the requester. A request must be made directly to the custodian and must state with reasonable specificity the information sought. A vague request is both slower and easier for a public body to push back on.

What a West Virginia Records Request Costs

This is where West Virginia is genuinely better than most states, and requesters routinely do not know it.

W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(e) provides that a public body may not charge a search or retrieval fee, or otherwise seek reimbursement based on a man-hour basis. In most states, staff time hunting for records is the charge that turns a modest request into a several-hundred-dollar quote. West Virginia removes that lever entirely by statute.

What remains is reproduction. A public body may establish fees reasonably calculated to reimburse it for its actual cost in making reproductions of records. As of August 2026 that means copy cost, and not the labor of finding the records in the first place.

If a West Virginia public body quotes you an hourly figure for search, review, or staff time, the statutory language is the answer, and it is worth quoting § 29B-1-3(e) back in writing.

Watch out: no fee waiver exists. Sections 29B-1-3 through 29B-1-5 contain no public-interest or hardship waiver of the kind federal FOIA provides. In practice the search-fee bar does more for a West Virginia requester than a discretionary waiver would, but if reproduction cost is still the obstacle, ask to inspect the records in person rather than to buy copies. Inspection is one of the three responses the statute expressly contemplates.

How to File a West Virginia FOIA Request

West Virginia has no central portal. Section 29B-1-3(b) is explicit that a request is made directly to the custodian, so identifying the right custodian is the first task.

1. Find the custodian. For state agencies, the agency's FOIA or records officer. For county and municipal records, the county clerk, city clerk, or department head.
2. Put it in writing. A written request fixes the receipt date that starts the five business day clock.
3. State the information sought with reasonable specificity, as the statute requires. Name a custodian, a date range, a subject, and a record type.
4. Choose inspection or copies. Ask for inspection where volume is large and cost matters.
5. Note the search-fee bar. A short line citing § 29B-1-3(e) heads off a man-hour quote before it is issued.

West Virginia also keeps a public record of the requests themselves, which is a research tool most requesters never use. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3a requires every public body that receives a FOIA request to report to the Secretary of State at minimum the nature of the request, the nature of the body's response, the time it took to comply in full, and the amount charged to the requester, while expressly barring the body from sending the underlying records. The same section directs the Secretary of State to maintain a publicly accessible database of that reporting on its website. Because the database reflects completed requests rather than pending ones, it is best used before you file, to see how a particular body has handled comparable requests and what it billed.

Our free FOIA request generator builds a West Virginia request letter with the correct citation and the search-fee language. It runs in your browser and nothing you type is stored or transmitted.

If West Virginia Denies Your Request

West Virginia has no administrative appeal and no attorney general review of records denials. The remedy is judicial, under W. Va. Code § 29B-1-5.

A person denied the right to inspect a public record may seek injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court of the county where the public record is kept. The features that matter:

• De novo review. The circuit court determines the matter itself rather than deferring to the public body.
• Burden on the public body. The public body must sustain its denial, not the requester disprove it.
• In camera review. The court may examine the contested documents privately to decide whether the exemption claim holds.
• Contempt. A public body that fails to comply with a court order to produce may be punished for contempt.

Attorney fees and court costs are recoverable, and the statute makes that mandatory. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-7 provides that any person who is denied access to public records requested under the article, and who successfully brings a suit filed under section five, shall be entitled to recover his or her attorney fees and court costs from the public body that denied access. That is a fee-shifting clause written into the Act itself, and it changes the economics of a West Virginia records suit: a requester with a strong claim is not automatically funding the case out of pocket. West Virginia sits with states such as Wisconsin that put fee recovery in the statute rather than leaving it to a court's general discretion.

Read the trigger carefully. Recovery is tied to successfully bringing a suit under § 29B-1-5, so it follows a win in circuit court rather than the mere act of filing, and it does not reach a dispute the parties settle before suit.

A willful violation is also a crime. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-6 makes any custodian of public records who willfully violates the article guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable on conviction by a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $1,000, imprisonment in the county jail for not more than twenty days, or, in the court's discretion, both. Whether to charge is a prosecutor's decision, not the requester's, so this is not a remedy you pursue on your own. It is still worth knowing, particularly where a custodian is ignoring the Act outright rather than asserting an exemption.

Police Records and Body Camera Footage in West Virginia

West Virginia FOIA handles law enforcement material through the general exemptions in W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4 rather than through a dedicated release track.

The general FOIA procedure, exemption, and enforcement sections contain no body-worn camera provision. That is an honest gap rather than an answer: West Virginia has not built the kind of detailed camera-access framework that Washington codified at RCW 42.56.240(14) or that Wyoming created at Wyo. Stat. § 16-4-203(d)(xviii). A West Virginia footage request is therefore analyzed as an ordinary FOIA request against the § 29B-1-4 exemptions, and departments may also apply their own release and retention policies.

Two practical steps follow. Ask the department in writing which exemption it relies on if it refuses, since a written denial with reasons is what the statute requires anyway. And ask about the retention schedule early, because footage is often overwritten on a fixed cycle regardless of any pending request.

If the goal is to learn whether charges or a warrant exist rather than to obtain the file, court records are the faster route. See West Virginia warrant search.

Records West Virginia FOIA Does Not Reach

Vital records. Birth, death, and marriage certificates come from the West Virginia Vital Registration Office and county clerks under eligibility rules limiting certified copies, not from a FOIA request. See West Virginia death records.

Land records. Deeds, mortgages, and liens are recorded and searched at the county clerk level. See West Virginia property records.

Emergency call audio turns on separate considerations, particularly where an investigation is open; see are 911 calls public records.

This article is general legal information about the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act as of August 2026. It is not legal advice, and RecordingLaw.com is not a law firm. Statutes and agency fee practices change. Consult an attorney licensed in West Virginia about a specific records dispute.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to live in West Virginia to file a FOIA request there?

No. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(a) gives every person the right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body in the state, and no residency limitation appears in the Act.

Is West Virginia FOIA the same as the federal FOIA?

No. West Virginia named its own statute after the federal Act, but W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq. governs West Virginia public bodies, uses a five business day clock, has no administrative appeal, and bars search fees. The federal Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, governs federal executive branch agencies on a 20 working day clock.

How long does a West Virginia custodian have to respond?

Five business days from receipt, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. Within that period the custodian must furnish copies, advise of a time and place for inspection, or deny the request in writing with the reasons stated (§ 29B-1-3(d)).

Can a West Virginia agency charge me for the time it spends searching?

No. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(e) provides that a public body may not charge a search or retrieval fee or otherwise seek reimbursement based on a man-hour basis. Charges are limited to fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the body for its actual cost of making reproductions.

Is there a fee waiver in West Virginia?

No public-interest or hardship waiver appears in §§ 29B-1-3 through 29B-1-5. As of August 2026 the statutory search-fee bar is the main cost protection, and inspecting records in person rather than buying copies avoids reproduction charges entirely.

How do I appeal a West Virginia FOIA denial?

There is no administrative appeal. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-5 allows a denied requester to seek injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court of the county where the record is kept. Review is de novo, the public body bears the burden of sustaining its denial, the court may review documents in camera, and failure to obey a production order may be treated as contempt.

Will West Virginia pay my attorney fees if I win?

Yes. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-7 provides that any person who is denied access to public records requested under the article and who successfully brings a suit filed under section five shall be entitled to recover his or her attorney fees and court costs from the public body that denied access. The wording is mandatory rather than discretionary, and the recovery runs against the public body. It is tied to a successful suit under § 29B-1-5, so it does not apply to a request resolved before litigation.

What happens to a West Virginia custodian who ignores the Act?

W. Va. Code § 29B-1-6 makes a custodian who willfully violates the article guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable on conviction by a fine of $200 to $1,000, up to twenty days in the county jail, or both in the court's discretion. Charging is a prosecutor's decision, not something a requester can initiate, so the practical remedy remains a § 29B-1-5 suit with fees recoverable under § 29B-1-7.

Does West Virginia FOIA cover police body camera video?

The Act contains no body-worn camera provision. Footage requests are analyzed as ordinary FOIA requests against the exemptions in W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4, and individual departments may apply their own release and retention policies. Ask early, because retention schedules can overwrite footage.