West Virginia · Freedom of Information Act
West Virginia FOIA, on a five-day clock with no search fee
AccessPoint manages Freedom of Information Act requests under W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq. — the five-day response with weekends and holidays excluded, the § 29B-1-4(a) exemptions, reproduction-cost-only charges, and de novo circuit-court enforcement — pre-configured for West Virginia and running inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant.
West Virginia at a glance
- Response standard
- Within a maximum of 5 days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays — furnish copies, advise the time and place for inspection, or deny in writing with reasons (§ 29B-1-3(d))
- Enforcement
- Injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court, decided de novo with the burden on the public body; no administrative appeal and no filing window (§ 29B-1-5)
- Exemptions
- The § 29B-1-4(a)(1)–(23) exemptions
- Charges
- Fees reasonably calculated to reimburse the actual cost of reproduction only — no search or retrieval fee and no man-hour charge (§ 29B-1-3(e))
- Oversight
- Circuit courts; attorney fees and court costs to a requester who successfully sues (§ 29B-1-7)
- Languages
- English
Built for West Virginia
One platform for the whole access-and-privacy mandate, pre-configured for this regime and running in your own Microsoft 365 tenant.
FOIA request lifecycle
Intake to release under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq.) — the five-day response, the exemption review, and copies or inspection — all on Microsoft 365.
Five days, not counting weekends and holidays
Within a maximum of five days — Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excluded — furnish copies, advise the requester of the time and place for inspection, or deny in writing with reasons (§ 29B-1-3(d)). AccessPoint computes the date over West Virginia's holiday calendar and surfaces it before it expires.
Reproduction cost only
West Virginia forbids a search or retrieval fee and any charge on a man-hour basis. A public body may recover only fees reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost of making reproductions (§ 29B-1-3(e)) — and AccessPoint computes exactly that.
De novo, burden on the body
There is no administrative appeal. A denial goes to the circuit court, which decides de novo with the burden on the public body, may review the records in camera, and awards attorney fees and costs to a requester who successfully sues (§§ 29B-1-5, 29B-1-7). AccessPoint keeps the dated, cited file that carries that burden.
Redaction by exemption
Apply the § 29B-1-4(a)(1)–(23) exemptions line by line on a colour-coded, audit-trailed redaction record — each redaction tied to its numbered authority and the written reasons carried into the denial.
In your own tenant
Every request and record stays inside your own Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant — no third-party cloud, no cross-border transfers, and no per-user fees.
No search fee, no deference
In West Virginia, the public body cannot bill for the search — and cannot lean on its own judgment in court.
Two provisions set West Virginia apart. The first is about money: § 29B-1-3(e) lets a public body recover only fees reasonably calculated to reimburse its actual cost of making reproductions, and then says outright that it may not charge a search or retrieval fee or otherwise seek reimbursement on a man-hour basis. The second is about proof: there is no records commission or administrative appeal, so a denial goes straight to the circuit court, which under § 29B-1-5 determines the matter de novo — with the burden on the public body to sustain its action, the records available for in camera review, and the case heard at the earliest practicable date. A requester who successfully sues recovers attorney fees and court costs (§ 29B-1-7). With no fee to slow a request and no deference once it is contested, the quality of the body's own record is the whole defence — and AccessPoint writes that record as the work happens.
Configured out of the box
Installing the us-wv-foia jurisdiction pack seeds your tenant with everything this regime needs — a starting point you can adjust, not a lock-in.
Pack content last reviewed: 2026-09-03
Related guide: FOI Workflow Quick Check- The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq.) as the legal-authority and citation spine
- The West Virginia state-holiday calendar and the five-day due-date rule with Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excluded under § 29B-1-3(d)
- The three statutory responses — furnish copies, advise the time and place for inspection, or deny in writing with reasons
- The § 29B-1-4(a)(1)–(23) exemptions, colour-coded for redaction and citable line by line
- Reproduction-cost-only charges with the search, retrieval, and man-hour fee prohibition under § 29B-1-3(e) enforced in the fee calculator
- Circuit-court enforcement support — the de novo, burden-on-the-body record under § 29B-1-5 and the fee exposure under § 29B-1-7
- West Virginia timeliness tracking with the five-day limit surfaced before it expires
- FOIA correspondence templates with statutory wording
West Virginia Questions
When must a West Virginia public body respond?
What makes West Virginia different — no search fee?
Who reviews a West Virginia denial?
Where does data reside?
Go deeper
Flat annual pricing, published in full. Every feature in every size — access requests, privacy impact assessments, breach response, complaints, video & audio redaction, and AI Assist. No per-user or per-module fees.
- Under 500 employees$2,990/yr
- 500–2,000 employees$7,990/yr
- Over 2,000 employees$14,990/yr
Run West Virginia FOIA in One Platform
Try AccessPoint free for 30 days, pre-configured for West Virginia. No credit card required.