Metal Detecting in West Virginia

1. The rule, in full

West Virginia – W. Va. Code R. 58-31-2.2

Re-read from the official source, 1 Oct 2026. This entry previously carried a paraphrase taken from law.cornell.edu, a mirror, which is below the standard of every other entry here and would not survive a reader following the citation (METHODOLOGY rule 11). It is now the verbatim subsection, from the rule as filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State: Title 58, Series 31, final filing of 4 May 2006, effective 1 June 2006, which the Secretary of State's rule index lists as the Active version.

Read from the West Virginia Code of State Rules published by the Secretary of State (apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr), series 58-31, the filed rule's Word original, DocId 16192, parsed locally. Re-read 4 Oct 2026 and both quotations are exact. 1.2 Authority: W. Va. Code 20-1-7. 1.3 Filing Date: 4 May 2006. 1.4 Effective Date: 1 June 2006.

Note the format trap, which is why this entry names the Word original. The same DocId served as Format=PDF, DOC, RTF or HTML returns an identical 206,536-byte image-only PDF with no text layer – it extracts to zero characters. Only Format=WORD returns a document with text in it.

And the three wrong formats do not error. They return a plausible file of a plausible size with a 200 beside it. Somebody who asks this system for the PDF of 58-31 receives 206,536 bytes and concludes they have the rule; what they have is a picture of it. A text search over that file reports that the rule says nothing, which is the same answer it would give if the rule did not exist. That is the shape of every transport failure this project has hit: the failure arrives looking like a success. See METHODOLOGY rule 5.

Operative text, 58-31-2.2:

"No person shall remove any man-made or natural object, material, substance, plant, animal or historical or archeological relic or artifact from a state park, state forest, or state wildlife management area, except those legally acquired through hunting and fishing in accordance with W. Va. Code 20-2-1 et seq. or upon proper authorization in writing by the Chief of Parks and Recreation, Division of Natural Resources."

Scope, 58-31-1.1:

"Scope. — This legislative rule governs the public use of West Virginia state parks, state forests, and recreation areas in state wildlife management areas under the jurisdiction of the Division of Natural Resources."

The rule never mentions metal detectors. Searched the filed text: zero occurrences of "detect" or "metal". There is also no beach permit provision of any kind – the only mentions of beaches are about subleasing facilities and pets. Any claim that West Virginia issues special detecting permits for designated beaches has no basis in this rule.

Determination: DNR state parks, forests and WMAs only. Does NOT reach municipal parks.

The rule targets REMOVAL, not detecting. Sweeping is not what it prohibits; taking anything out is. In practice a detectorist needs written authorisation from the Chief of Parks and Recreation to keep a find, which makes recreational detecting impractical rather than unlawful. The entry should say that plainly rather than flattening it to "prohibited" – it is the Kansas and Colorado shape again, one level down.

Separately, W. Va. Code 29-1-8a bars disturbing ruins, burial grounds, archaeological sites or graves without a Historic Preservation permit.

Sources: W. Va. C.S.R. 58-31, final filed rule, Word original from the West Virginia Secretary of State's Code of State Rules (apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr, DocId 16192), effective 1 June 2006, parsed locally. Note the Secretary of State's own PDF of this filing is a scan with no text layer; the Word original carries the text. First checked 19 Sep 2026 from a mirror; re-read from the official filing 1 Oct 2026.

2. Cities in West Virginia that publish a rule

1 city in West Virginia publishes a rule we can quote, out of 13 checked.

Of the 13 checked, 2 had pages on the city’s own site that we found and read. For the other 11 we could not locate a municipal source, so nothing is claimed about them either way.

3. County rules

Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.

4. Cities checked — no published rule

Awaiting review. None of the city or county rows publishes until its status is set and its quotation chosen by hand.