Workman
CHARLESTON -– A group from the Republic of Georgia visited Monday with members of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the state Attorney General, among others, to discuss the Freedom of Information Act.
Chief Justice Margaret Workman, along with Justice Robin Jean Davis and Justice Thomas McHugh, talked with representatives of government agencies, nongovernment organizations and a regional journalist visiting West Virginia for one week to learn about FOIA and how it works on the federal, state and local levels.
"It was a wonderful opportunity for us to discuss how freedom of information works in our state, and to also learn about how the Republic of Georgia's judicial system operates," Workman said. "I hope we were able to help the group understand freedom of information under our legal system."
The main discussion focused on Supreme Court cases dealing with FOIA, costs associated with filing a FOIA, time limits for responding to FOIA requests and repercussions if someone does not give out public documents.
The group also has meet with members of Sen. Joe Manchin's staff and Congressman Nick Rahall's staff. They also met with West Virginia journalists, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, Attorney General Darrell McGraw, and a representative from Marshall University.
The rest of the week the group is staying in Bluefield and meeting with local government officials there and in Bluefield, Va.
Facilitator Natia Jikia said the goal of the trip to West Virginia is for the Georgians to get experience on how FOIA is implemented here because the Republic of Georgia is now adopting its own law.
"It is good to see the process, take these lessons back from experience," Jikia said. "It was extremely helpful to hear how FOIA works in the state, challenges that have come up, how it is dealt with and how it varies from state to state."
The visit was arranged by Sudhakar R. Jamkhandi, president of the Center for International Understanding in Princeton in Mercer County.
