H. B. 4611


(By Delegates Rowe, C. White, Hunt,

Webb, Wills and Hines)

[Introduced February 22, 2000; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend article five, chapter forty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, relating to standby guardianships; and providing that the petitions and records of these proceedings are not public records.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter forty-four-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. STANDBY GUARDIANSHIP.
ยง44A-5-9. Petition and other records pertaining to standby guardianship not public records.

The order approving standby guardianship shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and the clerk shall receive the same fees as in other cases. All records of proceedings in standby guardianship cases and all papers and records relating to these proceedings must be kept in the office of the clerk of the circuit court in a sealed file, which file shall be kept in a locked or sealed cabinet, vault or other container or may be kept with divorce and domestic relations records and may not be open to inspection or copy by anyone, except as otherwise provided in this article, or upon court order for good cause shown. Neither these records nor the petition or transcripts of hearings are to be considered public records. No person in charge of standby guardianship records may disclose the names of the parties involved, except as otherwise provided in this article, or upon court order for good cause shown. The clerk of the court keeping and maintaining the records in standby guardianship cases shall keep and maintain an index of the cases separate and distinct from all other indices kept or maintained by the clerk, and the index of standby guardianship cases shall be kept in a locked or sealed cabinet, vault or other container or may be kept with divorce and domestic relations cases and may not be open to inspection or copy by anyone, except as otherwise provided in this article, or upon court order for good cause shown.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to declare that Standby Guardian proceedings are to be protected from public disclosure and the documents and other papers filed in these proceedings are not open to the public.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.