Who Must File
Persons who hold or will hold the following positions as of February 1, 2024, must file an FDS with the Ethics Commission between January 1 - February 1, 2024:
- All elected state and county officials, members of county boards of education, and all county school board superintendents:
- Candidates for all state and county offices within 10 days of filing a certificate of announcement, unless the candidate has filed a Disclosure for the previous calendar year:
- Members of state boards, commissions, and agencies who are appointed by the Governor;
- State Executive Branch cabinet secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, department heads, deputy department heads, and assistant department heads, and
- Elected officials and candidates in Charleston, Fairmont, and Morgantown municipal elections.
If you will no longer hold one of these positions as of February 1, 2024, you do not need to file a Financial Disclosure Statement with the West Virginia Ethics Commission. Please email ellen.m.briggs@wv.gov so that your name is removed from the FDS database.
Candidates should note that the Financial Disclosure Statement required to be filed with the Ethics Commission is different from a form required by the Secretary of State’s Office. That form is a “State of West Virginia Campaign Financial Statement” and should be filed with the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at the Capitol Complex, Building 1, Suite 157-K, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Charleston, WV 25305.
How To file Your FDS
Click here for a blank, fillable Financial Disclosure form (Please sign and date this form.)
Click here for an FDS Information Sheet
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions
The preferred method of contact is via email to: rachel.y.carpenter@wv.gov.
- If you are filing online and have forgotten your username or are unable to reset your password, call West Virginia Interactive at (304) 414-0265 for assistance. The Commission does not have access to this information.
- If you are unable to email and need to contact us by telephone, call (304) 558-0664.
If you have previously filed online, click here.
- You may file online again this year using your username and password.
- If you have forgotten your username or are unable to reset your password, call West Virginia Interactive at (304) 414-0265 for assistance. Please do not call the Ethics Commission for your username or password. The Commission does not have access to this information.
- If your password has expired, you will be prompted to create a new one.
- If you have forgotten your password, you may use the “forgot password” feature to receive a temporary password via email.
- Several questions on the online form require you to click the “add” button to proceed to the next page.
If you have not previously filed online and would like to, click here.
- You will create your own username and password, answer security questions, and will receive instructions on how to proceed,
- Several questions on the online form require you to click the "add" button to proceed to the next page.
To file by paper:
- Blank, fillable FDS forms may be obtained by clicking here.
- If you are filing online during 2024, you do not also have to submit a paper copy.
- Filers should type directly onto the blank form; print the completed paper form; sign, and email a scanned version to rachel.y.carpenter@wv.gov. The filer must sign and date the Statement.
- FDSs also may be hand-delivered or sent through the U.S. Mail.
- Fax copies are not accepted.
- ALL questions on the FDS paper copy must be answered.
Searching for FDSs on this website
Completed Financial Disclosure Statements for the following filers for the report years 2018-2023 may be viewed here: --Members of the West Virginia Legislature; --Elected members of the executive department (Governor, Treasurer, Auditor, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Agriculture, Attorney General); --Members of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and --Candidates for these positions.
Failure to file
Any person who knowingly fails or refuses to file a required Financial Disclosure Statement is guilty of a misdemeanor pursuant to W. Va. Code § 6B-2-10(c).