Court sides with West Virginia TV station over records on top official’s firing

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A state appeals court termination letter involving a former top official of the now-defunct agency that ran West Virginia’s foster care and substance use support services is public information. The judges sided with a television station that was denied the information. West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Thomas E. Scarr says the public interest in the termination of former Department of Health and Human Resources Deputy Secretary Jeremiah Samples outweighs concerns about privacy violations. The judges demanded a lower court direct the department to release the letter penned by former department Secretary Bill Crouch to Huntington-based television station WSAZ.