FILE West Virginia’s Capitol dome is shown Friday, Oct.1 4, 2005, in Charleston, W.Va. A termination letter from the former secretary for the troubled agency that ran West Virginia’s foster care and substance use support services is public information, a state appeals court ruled this week in May 2024, siding with the television station that was denied the information via a records request. CHARLESTON, W.Va.
The appeals court judges demanded that the lower court direct the department to release the letter penned by former health and human resources Secretary Bill Crouch to Huntington-based television station WSAZ.Senators want limits on the government’s use of facial recognition technology for airport screening
WSAZ submitted a public records request seeking information regarding the resignation or termination of Samples, as well as email correspondence between Samples and Crouch.State lawyers argued releasing the letter constituted an invasion of privacy and that it was protected from public disclosure under an exemption to the state open records law.
He accuses Samples of actively opposing Crouch’s policy decisions and of trying to “circumvent those policy decisions by pushing” his own “agenda,” allegedly causing departmental “confusion” and resulting in “a slowdown in getting things accomplished” in the department.