South Carolina Freedom of Information Act

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Contents

State Sunshine Laws
State Sunshine laws
State Open Meeting Laws
Transparency headlines
Statutory changes
Notable FOIA requests
How to ask for records
State sunshine lawsuits
State court cases
E-mail access
Private agency, public dollars
The WikiFOIA portal

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

[edit] Transparency blocking

More transparency blocking news from across the country.

[edit] Litigation

More FOIA litigation news from across the country.

[edit] Legislation

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)

We do not currently have any pages on litigation in South Carolina. To add some see our Sunshine litigation project page.

[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%. [1]

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.[2]

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".[3]

[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."[4]

[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"[5]

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" [5]
  • 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" [5]
  • 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. [5]

[edit] Who may request records?

See also: List of who can make public record requests by state.

Anyone may request public documents in South Carolina. "Any person has a right to inspect or copy any public record of a public body". [6]

[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. [5]

[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. [5]


[edit] Open meetings

With some exceptions, all meetings of public bodies must be open to the public.

[edit] Proposed changes

See also: Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2009

House Bill 3537 [7] 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. [8]

[edit] Notable requests

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Integrity Index available for download here
  2. ↑ Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, 2007
  3. ↑ Freedom of Information in the USA, 2002
  4. ↑ South Carolina Code of Laws, section 30-4-15.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 South Carolina FOIA 30-4-20
  6. ↑ South Carolina Code of Laws, 30-4-30
  7. ↑ Text and Status of HB3537
  8. ↑ Audits and information, Go Upstate, February 16, 2009
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