MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In order to keep the city in line with recently adopted legislation, Morgantown will no longer include the cost of researching and compiling documents for FOIA, or Freedom of Information Act, requests as a part of the city’s schedule of fees.
“Due to the state making changes in the FOIA codes, we have to make a change to our request for public records,” Mikorski said. “Basically, the state is not allowing us to charge for the cost of researching and putting together any material for any FOIA requests.”
During the recent committee of the whole meeting, council moved a law removing FOIA charges for inclusion onto a regular meeting agenda.
He explained that if the city requires the assistance of a vendor or contractor to fulfill a FOIA request, the vendor’s cost can be passed on to the person making the request.
The changes were brought about by West Virginia House Bill 2636, passed in March. Mikorski said a reporting system for FOIA requests will be set up through the secretary of state’s office…
