South Carolina Freedom of Information Act
From Sunshine Review
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The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of governmental bodies in South Carolina.
The South Carolina Open Meetings Law legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.
To learn more about how to make a public records request in this state, please see: South Carolina FOIA procedures
[edit] Recent news
- See also: South Carolina transparency headlines
[edit] Transparency blocking
- Swansea Wants Resident to Pay 10K for Info Aug 25, 2010
- Details hard to find at S.C. State Aug 19, 2010
- SC officials charged with violating FOIA Aug 18, 2010
More transparency blocking news from across the country.
[edit] Litigation
- SC officials charged with violating FOIA Aug 18, 2010
- FOI case in Anderson moves forward Jun 17, 2009
- Businessman adds lawsuit against Anderson County Jun 17, 2009
More FOIA litigation news from across the country.
[edit] Legislation
- Roll-Call Voting Bill Fizzles in Senate Jun 09, 2010
- SC Audits and information Jun 17, 2009
More FOIA legislation news from across the country.
[edit] Sunshine Guardians
No recent news. If you have news add it here
Other Sunshine Guardians from across the country.
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of lawsuits in South Carolina. For more information go the page or go to South Carolina sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
| Lawsuit | Year |
|---|---|
| Quality Towing Inc. v. City of Myrtle Beach | 2001 |
| Weston v. Carolina Research and Development Foundation | 1991 |
[edit] Proposed transparency legislation
[edit] 2010
Here is a list of transparency legislation for South Carolina in 2010:
| Rating | Bill | Current Status | Progress | Information | ||||||||||||||||||||
 A | Senate 907 | Current Status: Y (Effective date 05/11/2010) |
|
S907 was a bill introduced in order to repeal large portions of the states Emergency Medical Services act, including the section 44-61-160 which currently exempts "emergency, and critical care medical services personnel and emergency and critical care medical services" information from records requests. The act would open up all EMS records including response times and medical responses as well as 911 calls. It would still protect the patients identity and the names of ems technicians. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] 2009
[edit] House Bill 3537
House Bill 3537 [1] seeks to require South Carolina school districts to pay for random performance audits meant to ensure that district spending is consistent with stated district goals. This bill was inspired by a controversy in Spartenburg District 7 where the board secretly decided to pay a country club $325,000 so that district golf teams could play there. [2]
[edit] South Carolina's transparency report card
A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked South Carolina #30 in the nation with an overall percentage of 50.50%. [3]
A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave South Carolina 59 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "F", and a ranking of 15 out of the 50 states.[4]
A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked South Carolina's law as the 16th best in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C".[5]
[edit] Features of the law
"The General Assembly finds that it is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that citizens shall be advised of the performance of public officials and of the decisions that are reached in public activity and in the formulation of public policy. Toward this end, provisions of this chapter must be construed so as to make it possible for citizens, or their representatives, to learn and report fully the activities of their public officials at a minimum cost or delay to the persons seeking access to public documents or meetings."[6]
[edit] What records are covered?
South Carolina's definition of records includes all records, no matter their physical characteristics, that were "prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a public body"[7]
[edit] Exemptions
Notable exceptions include but are not limited to:
- "income tax returns, medical records, hospital medical staff reports, scholastic records, adoption records, records related to registration, and circulation of library materials which contain names or other personally identifying details" [7]
- Examinations
- Security information
- Trade secrets
- Law enforcement records
- Proposed contracts and land purchases/sales
- Attorney-Client information where the public agency acts as a client
- "Memoranda, correspondence, and working papers in the possession of individual members of the General Assembly or their immediate staffs" [7]
- Donor identities
- Applicant information
- Personal information of individuals who have made complaints
- Autopsy photos
[edit] What agencies are covered?
South Carolina's definition of agencies includes all branches of government at both the state and local levels as well as any organization that is supported by any public funds. [7]
[edit] Who may request records?
Anyone may request public documents in South Carolina. "Any person has a right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body". [8]
[edit] Must a purpose be stated?
South Carolina does not require a statement of purpose but does restrict the use of records implying the potential for requests of purpose.
[edit] How can records be used?
South Carolina law prohibits the use of police reports and employee information for commercial purposes.
[edit] Time allowed for response
- See also: Request response times by state.
South Carolina law allows for 15 business days to respond to records requests. [7]
[edit] Fees for records
South Carolina law allows for the charging of fees to include the cost of duplication as well as a reasonable hourly fee for the cost of search. However, the fee is not to include the cost of determining if the record is exempt or non-exempt. [7]
[edit] Open meetings
With some exceptions, all meetings of public bodies must be open to the public.
[edit] Notable requests
[edit] See also
- South Carolina FOIA procedures
- South Carolina transparency headlines
- South Carolina transparency advocates
- South Carolina transparency legislation
- Private agency, public dollars-South Carolina
- South Carolina Open Meetings Law
[edit] External links
- South Carolina Freedom of Information Act
- Open Government Guide to South Carolina
- Past articles on South Carolina
- South Carolina Press Association Guide to FOIA
[edit] References
- ↑ Text and Status of HB3537
- ↑ Audits and information, Go Upstate, February 16, 2009
- ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
- ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
- ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
- ↑ South Carolina Code of Laws, section 30-4-15.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 South Carolina FOIA 30-4-20
- ↑ South Carolina Code of Laws, 30-4-30
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 |
State of South Carolina Columbia (capital) |
|---|---|
| Transparency |
Freedom of Information Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations | |
| Divisions |
State |
List of Counties |
List of Cities |
List of Towns |
List of School Districts | |
| Government |
South Carolina State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate | |
| Judiciary |
South Carolina Supreme Court | Court of Appeals | Judicial selection process | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations | |
| Ballot Measures |
Ballot measures | List of 2008 ballot measures | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Campaign finance requirements | |
