The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

July 20, 2012

FOIA request called ‘legally defective’

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

BECKLEY — “Legally defective” and in conflict with West Virginia law is how Charleston attorney Bob Kiss has characterized the second Freedom of Information Act request by a Clarksburg consultant seeking to look at overtime records for two Raleigh County government bodies.

Michael Queen appeared Tuesday before the Raleigh County Commission to step up his effort to get copies of documents for both the Building Commission and Recreation Authority.

In a three-page letter, he cautioned the commission that unless he gets the records in hand by next week, he would take legal action.

Kiss informed Queen in a letter that his FOIA request was improperly delivered to his office May 1.

The former speaker of the House of Delegates pointed out that any such request must be made directly to the custodian of the records, not him as the attorney representing the government agency.

“Given your prior failure to take the steps I requested and/or respond to my office in any manner, I assumed you and your client had decided not to pursue this matter further,” Kiss wrote.

Kiss said the request is under review by his clients, the County Commission, and they are comparing it to earlier ones to decide if further documents are available to Queen.

“As you may be aware, the scope of your request and this comparison may involve reviewing and identifying numerous public records, perhaps duplicated in part or whole between the entities,” the attorney said.

“Further, we believe upon completion of our review and subsequent compilation for your review, the records may include some personal information (i.e., Social Security numbers, home addresses, etc.) which are exempt from disclosure pursuant to West Virginia Code 29B-1-4.”

Kiss said the consultant may inspect and get copies of the records he is seeking on Aug. 10 at the commission office during regular business hours.

“Given the nature of the request, it may take several weeks to compile the records and determine what records are, in fact, in the possession and custody of the County Commission, County Building Commission, or County Recreation Authority, pursuant to West Virginia law, and, in some instances, we may then need to undertake the necessary redacting of personal information.”

Queen said he collected some 2,500 documents from the commission in his first FOIA request.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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