West Virginia Code 48-28A-103 – Address Confidentiality Program
(a) On or after the effective date of the enactment of this article, the Secretary of State shall create an Address Confidentiality Program to be staffed by full time employees who have been subjected to a criminal history records search.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-28A-103
- Application assistant: means an employee of a state or local agency, or of a nonprofit program that provides counseling, referral, shelter or other specialized service to victims of domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault or stalking, and who has been designated by the respective agency or nonprofit program, and trained, accepted and registered by the Secretary of State to assist individuals in the completion of program participation applications. See West Virginia Code 48-28A-102
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Designated address: means the address assigned to a program participant by the Secretary of State pursuant to section one hundred three of this article. See West Virginia Code 48-28A-102
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Mailing address: means an address that is recognized for delivery by the United States Postal Service. See West Virginia Code 48-28A-102
- Program: means the Address Confidentiality Program established by this article. See West Virginia Code 48-28A-102
- Program participant: means a person certified by the Secretary of State to participate in the program. See West Virginia Code 48-28A-102
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- State: means a state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-14-601
(b) Upon recommendation of an application assistant, an adult person, a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor, or a guardian acting on behalf of an incapacitated person may apply to the Secretary of State to have a designated address assigned by the Secretary of State.
(c) The Secretary of State may approve an application only if it is filed with the office of the Secretary of State in the manner established by rule and on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State. A completed application must contain the following information:
(1) The application preparation date, the applicant's signature and the signature and registration number of the application assistant who assisted the applicant in applying to be a program participant;
(2) A designation of the Secretary of State as agent for purposes of service of process and for receipt of certain first-class mail;
(3) The mailing address where the applicant may be contacted by the Secretary of State or a designee and the telephone number or numbers where the applicant may be contacted by the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State's designee; and
(4) A residential or mailing address or both types of addresses that the applicant requests not be disclosed for the reason that disclosure will jeopardize the applicant's safety or increase the risk of violence to the applicant or members of the applicant's household.
(d) Upon receipt of a properly completed application, the Secretary of State may certify the applicant as a program participant. A program participant is certified for a period of four years following the date of initial certification unless the certification is withdrawn or invalidated before that date. The Secretary of State shall send notification of a lapsing certification and a reapplication form to a program participant at least four weeks prior to the expiration of the program participant's certification.
(e) The Secretary of State shall forward to the program participant first-class mail received at the program participant's designated address.
(f)(1) An applicant may not file an application knowing that it:
(A) Contains false or incorrect information; or
(B) Falsely claims that disclosure of either the applicant's residential or mailing address or both types of addresses threatens the safety of the applicant or the applicant's children or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made.
(2) An application assistant may not assist or participate in the filing of an application that the application assistant knows:
(A) Contains false or incorrect information; or
(B) Falsely claims that disclosure of either the applicant's residential or mailing address or both types of addresses threatens the safety of the applicant or the applicant's children or the minor or incapacitated person on whose behalf the application is made.
(g) A person who violates the provisions of subsection (f) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period of not more than one year.