§30-42-17. Record keeping.

(a) The board shall keep a record of all actions taken and account for moneys received. All moneys shall be deposited in a special account in the State Treasury to be known as the “West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board Fund”. Expenditures from this fund shall be for the purposes set forth in this article and are not authorized from collections but are to be made only in accordance with appropriation by the Legislature and in accordance with the provisions of §12-3-1 et seq. of this code and upon the fulfillment of the provisions set forth in §5A-2-1 et seq. of this code. Amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed the funds needed for purposes set forth in this article may be transferred to other accounts or funds and redesignated for other purposes by appropriation of the Legislature.

(b) The board shall maintain at the principal office, open for public inspection during office hours, a complete indexed record of all applications, licenses issued, licenses renewed, and all revocations, cancellations, and suspensions of licenses. Applications shall show the date of application, name, qualifications, place of business, and place of residence of each applicant; and whether the application was approved or refused.

(c)(1) All investigations, complaints, reports, records, proceedings, and other information received by the board and related to complaints made to the board or investigations conducted by the board pursuant to this article, including the identity of the complainant or respondent, are confidential and may not be knowingly and improperly disclosed by any member or former member of the board or staff, except as follows:

(A) Upon a finding that probable cause exists to believe that a respondent has violated the provisions of this article, the complaint and all reports, records, nonprivileged, and nondeliberative materials introduced at any probable cause hearing held pursuant to the complaint are thereafter not confidential: Provided, That confidentiality of the information shall remain in full force and effect until the respondent has been served with a copy of the statement of charges.

(B) Any subsequent hearing held in the matter for the purpose of receiving evidence or the arguments of the parties or their representatives shall be open to the public and all reports, records, and nondeliberative materials introduced into evidence at the subsequent hearing, as well as the board’s orders, are not confidential.

(C) The board may release any information relating to an investigation at any time if the release has been agreed to in writing by the respondent.

(D) The complaint, as well as the identity of the complainant, shall be disclosed to a person named as respondent in any complaint filed immediately upon the respondent’s request.

(E) Where the board is otherwise required by the provisions of this article to disclose the information or to proceed in such a manner that disclosure is necessary and required to fulfill these requirements.

(2) If, in a specific case, the board finds that there is a reasonable likelihood that the dissemination of information or opinion in connection with a pending or imminent proceeding will interfere with a fair hearing or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice, the board shall order that all or a portion of the information communicated to the board to cause an investigation and all allegations of violations or misconduct contained in a complaint are confidential, and the person providing this information or filing a complaint shall be bound to confidentiality until further order of the board.

(d) If any person violates the provisions of subsection (c) of this section by knowingly and willfully disclosing any information made confidential by this section or by the board, that person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or confined in jail not more than one month, or both fined and confined.