MORGANTOWN – A man is suing the Monongalia County assessor after he claims he has failed to respond to his request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
On Jan. 24, David L. McKain made a Freedom of Information Act request for “AP922WV Residential review documents in electronic format for residential property in Monongalia County for the 2012 and 2013 tax years,” according to a complaint filed Feb. 25 in Monongalia Circuit Court.
McKain claims since Mark Musick does not have the capacity to produce the data requests, McKain’s request specified that the defendant was to provide authorization to the State Tax Department, to excrete the electronic data and then deliver the data to him.
The defendant has failed to respond to the FOIA request, according to the suit.
McKain claims on Feb. 6, he sent an e-mail to Musick, reminding him of the West Virginia FOIA statute requiring that the custodian of the records respond to the request within five working days, but the defendant failed to respond to the e-nail.
Since making the request, McKain has sent Musick numerous e-mails and has left messages with his staff, but the defendant has failed to respond to any of the communications, according to the suit.
McKain is seeking a preliminary injunction enjoining Musick from withholding the requested records; a permanent injunction enjoining the defendant from withholding the requested records; a declaratory judgment finding that the defendant violated the state FOIA statute by not providing McKain with the non-exempt public records in his custody after receiving the FOIA request; and a declaratory judgment finding Musick violated the state FOIA statute by not providing him with a response to his request. McKain is representing himself.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number: 13-C-156
Man says Monongalia assessor ignored FOIA request
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