COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 412
(By Senators Wooton and Chafin)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 9, 2001.]
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A BILL to amend article six, chapter twenty-four of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twelve, relating to local emergency telephone systems;
providing for the confidentiality of calls received by a
county answering point; and retention of records of calls.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six, chapter twenty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. LOCAL EMERGENCY TELEPHONE SYSTEM.
§24-6-12. Confidentiality of calls to county answering points and
records; retention of records.
(a) All calls for emergency service which are recorded
electronically, in writing or in any other form shall be kept
confidential by the county answering point receiving the call and
may only be released pursuant to an order entered by a court of
competent jurisdiction or valid subpoena requiring the release of
the information: Provided, That nothing contained in this section
may be construed as preventing the county answering point from
releasing information to a responding agency as may be necessary
for that agency's response on a call or the completion of necessary
reports relating to that call.
(b) All calls for emergency service which are recorded
electronically, in writing or in any other form shall be maintained
for a period of at least ninety days, or longer as required by an
order entered by a court of competent jurisdiction or a valid
subpoena.
(c) A county answering point may release information to
bonafide law-enforcement agencies, the prosecuting attorney of a
county or a United States attorney pursuant to a lawful criminal
investigation. However, nothing in this article may be construed
as prohibiting a request under chapter twenty-nine-b of this code
for information relating to the operation of the center.
(d) Nothing in this article requires disclosure of any
information that is specifically exempt from disclosure by statute.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require 911 centers to
keep confidential all information received on 911 calls.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)