WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
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to the Committee on the Judiciary.
A BILL to amend the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
§29-22-15a; and to amend and reenact §29B-1-4 of said code, all relating to
allowing Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto ticket winners to remain
anonymous; providing procedures by which such winners can request anonymity;
and providing an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act for Powerball,
Mega Millions and Hot Lotto ticket winner information.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §29-22-15a; and that §29B-1-4
of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 29. MISCELLANEOUS
BOARDS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 22. STATE
LOTTERY ACT.
§29-22-15a. Option
for winners of Powerball, Mega Millions, and Hot Lotto to remain anonymous.
If the person entitled
to collect proceeds from a winning Powerball, Mega Millions, or Hot Lotto ticket
desires to remain anonymous, he or she shall contact the State Lottery Director
in writing, concerning their desire to remain anonymous along with contact
information for that person, including any personal telephone number,
residential address or electronic mail address. Any request may be by certified
mail addressed to the West Virginia State Lottery Director, P.O. Box 2067,
Charleston, West Virginia 25327 or by electronic mail, to
mail@wvlottery.com. Upon receiving a
request in writing, the director shall contact the person requesting anonymity
and schedule an appointment to meet at any county, regional or state lottery
office to confirm the winning number and to otherwise secure the anonymity of
the requesting person.
CHAPTER 29B. FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION.
ARTICLE 1. PUBLIC
RECORDS.
§29B-1-4. Exemptions.
(a) There is a presumption
of public accessibility to all public records, subject only to the following
categories of information which are specifically exempt from disclosure under
the provisions of this article:
(1) Trade secrets, as used
in this section, which may include, but are not limited to, any formula, plan
pattern, process, tool, mechanism, compound, procedure, production data or
compilation of information which is not patented which is known only to certain
individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to fabricate, produce
or compound an article or trade or a service or to locate minerals or other
substances, having commercial value, and which gives its users an opportunity
to obtain business advantage over competitors;
(2) Information of a
personal nature such as that kept in a personal, medical or similar file, if
the public disclosure of the information would constitute an unreasonable
invasion of privacy, unless the public interest by clear and convincing
evidence requires disclosure in this particular instance: Provided, That
this article does not preclude an individual from inspecting or copying his or
her own personal, medical or similar file;
(3) Test questions, scoring
keys and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination,
examination for employment or academic examination;
(4) Records of law-enforcement
agencies that deal with the detection and investigation of crime and the
internal records and notations of such law-enforcement agencies which are
maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement;
(5) Information
specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;
(6) Records, archives,
documents or manuscripts describing the location of undeveloped historic,
prehistoric, archaeological, paleontological and battlefield sites or
constituting gifts to any public body upon which the donor has attached
restrictions on usage or the handling of which could irreparably damage the
record, archive, document or manuscript;
(7) Information contained
in or related to examination, operating or condition reports prepared by, or on
behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or
supervision of financial institutions, except those reports which are by law
required to be published in newspapers;
(8) Internal memoranda or
letters received or prepared by any public body ;
(9) Records assembled,
prepared or maintained to prevent, mitigate or respond to terrorist acts or the
threat of terrorist acts, the public disclosure of which threaten the public
safety or the public health;
(10) 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 law-enforcement or emergency response personnel;
(11) 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, state and local law-enforcement and other agencies
within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety;
(12) National security
records classified under federal executive order and not subject to public
disclosure under federal law that are shared by federal agencies and other
records related to national security briefings to assist state and local
government with domestic preparedness for acts of terrorism;
(13) Computing,
telecommunications and network security records, passwords, security codes or
programs used to respond to or plan against acts of terrorism which may be the
subject of a terrorist act;
(14) Security or disaster
recovery plans, risk assessments, tests or the results of those tests;
(15) Architectural or
infrastructure designs, maps or other records that show the location or layout
of the facilities where computing, telecommunications or network infrastructure
used to plan against or respond to terrorism are located or planned to be
located;
(16) Codes for facility
security systems; or codes for secure applications for facilities referred to
in subdivision (15) of this subsection;
(17) Specific engineering
plans and descriptions of existing public utility plants and equipment;
(18) Customer proprietary
network information of other telecommunications carriers, equipment
manufacturers and individual customers, consistent with 47 U.S.C. §222;
(19) Records of the
Division of Corrections, Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority and
the Division of Juvenile Services relating to design of corrections, jail and
detention facilities owned or operated by the agency, and the policy directives
and operational procedures of personnel relating to the safe and secure
management of inmates or residents, that if released, could be used by an
inmate or resident to escape a facility, or to cause injury to another inmate,
resident or to facility personnel ;
(20) Information related to
applications under section four, article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code,
including applications, supporting documents, permits, renewals, or any other
information that would identify an applicant for or holder of a concealed
weapon permit: Provided: That information in the aggregate that does not
identify any permit holder other than by county or municipality is not
exempted: Provided, however, That information or other records exempted
under this subdivision may be disclosed to a law enforcement agency or officer:
(i) To determine the validity of a permit; (ii) to assist in a criminal
investigation or prosecution; or (iii) for other lawful law-enforcement
purposes; and
(21) Personal information
of law-enforcement officers maintained by the public body in the ordinary
course of the employer-employee relationship. As used in this paragraph,
“personal information” means a law-enforcement officer’s social security
number, health information, home address, personal address, personal telephone
numbers and personal email addresses and those of his or her spouse, parents
and children as well as the names of the law-enforcement officer’s spouse,
parents and children; and
(22) Information
provided by a person when he or she elects to avail themselves of the
provisions of section fifteen-a, article twenty-two, chapter twenty-nine of
this code.
(b) As used in subdivisions
(9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section, the term "terrorist
act"
means an act that is likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to
property or the environment and is intended to:
(1) Intimidate or coerce
the civilian population;
(2) Influence the policy of
a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(3) Affect the conduct of a
branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(4) Retaliate against a
branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.
(c) The provisions of
subdivisions (9) through (16), inclusive, subsection (a) of this section do not
make subject to the provisions of this chapter any evidence of an immediate
threat to public health or safety unrelated to a terrorist act or the threat of
a terrorist act which comes to the attention of a public entity in the course
of conducting a vulnerability assessment response or similar activity.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to allow Powerball, Mega Millions and Hot Lotto ticket winners to remain
anonymous. It provides procedures by which such winners can request anonymity
and provides an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.