WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
Enrolled
Senate Bill 208
By Senators Weld, Phillips, Woelfel, and Tarr
[Passed February 18, 2026; in effect 90 days from passage (May 19, 2026)]
AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §15-1B-28, relating to exempting certain classified military records from public release.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
While there is a presumption of public accessibility to all public records, the following types of records are specifically exempt from public disclosure, to include any disclosure under §29B-1-1 et seq. of this code:
(1) Information that is properly classified to protect national or state security;
(2) Those portions of records containing specific or unique vulnerability assessments or specific or unique response plans, data, databases and inventories of goods or materials collected or assembled to respond to terrorist acts; and communication codes or deployment plans of the Department of Defense, armed forces of the United States, the National Guard, or Department of Homeland Security;
(3) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records dealing with terrorist acts or the threat of a terrorist act shared by and between federal and international law-enforcement agencies, the National Guard, the armed forces of the United States, Department of Defense, state and local law enforcement, and other agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the W. Va. Department of Homeland Security; and
(4) Sensitive military information the public disclosure of which would threaten public safety, endanger military personnel, or provide a military advantage to an adversary. Such information includes, but is not limited to, deployment, operational or emergency response plans or operations, military tactics, techniques, or procedures, rules for the use of force, rules of engagement, critical infrastructure security information, offensive, defensive, force protection, cyberspace, stability, civil support, freedom of navigation, operations security, domestic operation, personnel and equipment strengths and location of the National Guard, armed forces, or the Department of Defense.
The Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates hereby certify that the foregoing bill is correctly enrolled.
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Clerk of the Senate
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Clerk of the House of Delegates
Originated in the Senate.
In effect 90 days from passage.
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President of the Senate
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Speaker of the House of Delegates
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The within is ................................................ this the...........................................
Day of ..........................................................................................................., 2026.
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Governor