South Carolina: Lawmakers half-hearted about FOI

A legislative session that was most notable for how little it accomplished followed suit on issues regarding open, transparent government.

In what should be considered a victory, a new South Carolina law will do what many thought was already called for and had thus been doing for years. It requires public bodies to have agendas. Further, the agenda may be changed only with proof of emergency circumstances and two thirds of the body agreeing to the changes.

Many public bodies were surprised when the S.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that those bodies didn’t need to announce agendas in advance of public meetings. It was an unfortunate recognition of a shortcoming in the state’s Freedom of Information Act.  Continue>>>

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