NEW FORM – Among business items before the Hancock County Commission Thursday was approval of a new, standardized form to be used for Freedom of Information Act requests to the county. Taking part in the meeting were, from front, Commissioner Paul Cowey, Commission President Eron Chek, and Commissioner Tommy Ogden. -- Craig Howell

NEW CUMBERLAND — Those wishing to request information from Hancock County governmental offices will now have a specific form to fill out.

As part of Thursday’s meeting of the Hancock County Commission, commissioners approved a proposal for an official form to be used when making requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

“We’ve never had a formalized, or standardized form,” explained Commission President Eron Chek.

West Virginia’s open records regulations can be found as part of Chapter 29B of the state code, with Chapter 29B-1-1 stating West Virginia’s policy on open records is “Pursuant to the fundamental philosophy of the American Constitutional form of representative government which holds to the principle that government is the servant of the people, and not the master of them, it is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of West Virginia that all persons are, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government they have created. To that end, the provisions of this article shall be liberally construed with the view of carrying out the above declaration of public policy.”

Further Chapter 29B-1-3 establishes policies for the inspection and copying of public records, fees associated with obtaining copies of records sought, timelines for providing the documents or an answer to any questions sought under a FOIA request.

Chapter 29B-1-4, meanwhile, establishes certain exemptions for records under open records policies, such as records which include trade secrets, information of a personal nature, test questions and scoring keys, certain internal law enforcement records, internal memoranda, documents describing vulnerability assessments or those detailing certain response plans for terror or emergency situations, engineering plans for existing public utility plants, proprietary network information, and more.

Under Hancock County’s new form, those seeking information through the Freedom of Information Act must submit a completed form to include the individual’s name, address, telephone number and e-mail address, an area to explain the request, as well as an area to mark whether the request is being made by a representative of a new agency, someone affiliated with an educational or non-commercial scientific institution, an individual seeking information for personal, and not commercial, use, or someone seeking information for use in a private corporation’s business.

“It has exactly what we need from the public,” she said.

This is the second time this year Hancock County commissioners have made adjustments to its public record policies.

In February, commissioners agreed to increase fees for receiving requested documents, going from 25 cents per page to $1.50 for the first two pages and $1 for each additional page.