H*4578 Session 108 (1989-1990)
H*4578(Rat #0671, Act #0546 of 1990) General Bill, By H.H. Keyserling,
J.J. Bailey, H. Brown, J.H. Nesbitt and T.F. Rogers
A Bill to amend Chapter 1, Title 30, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to public records, reports, and official documents, so as to expand
the definition of "public body" and define "public record" as it is defined in
Section 30-4-20 (Freedom of Information), to designate the chief
administrative officer of an agency, subdivision, or public body as the legal
custodian of public records instead of the official in charge of the office
having the public record, to increase the penalty for removing a public record
from the office in which it is usually kept or altering, defacing, mutilating,
secreting, or destroying a record, to delete provisions relating to the
custodian of public records permitting their inspection and examination, to
require the legal custodian of public records to adequately provide protection
for these records, to require the Department of Archives and History to
develop standards, procedures, technique, and schedules for effective
management of public records and institute and maintain a training and
information program in all phases of records and information management for
the efficient and economical management of records and bring this program to
the attention of all agencies and subdivisions, to authorize the Department to
review all public records for the purpose of establishing records schedules
which may be issued by the Department as regulations which may set minimum and
maximum retention periods for public records with provisions for agencies or
subdivisions to opt out of general schedules, to authorize the Department to
waive its authority to review records under certain circumstances, to prohibit
the disposal or destruction of records without an approved records schedule,
to require the executive officer of each public agency or body and the
governing body of each subdivision to cooperate with the Department in
establishing a suitable medium for the retention of archival records, to
delete the authority of the Department to withhold from public inspection
certain records and authorize the Director to withhold from public access
records for specific reasons, to change the manner in which the determination
is made for the destruction of certain records, to allow the removal of
records for microfilming for preservation purposes, to increase the penalty
for the refusal or wilful neglect of a public official or custodian of public
records to perform any duty required of him by Sections 30-1-10 through
30-1-140, and delete provisions relating to county officials making reports on
uniform blanks.-amended title
02/06/90 House Introduced and read first time HJ-13
02/06/90 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-14
03/15/90 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-3
03/29/90 House Amended HJ-40
03/29/90 House Read second time HJ-41
04/03/90 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-13
04/04/90 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-10
04/04/90 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-10
05/16/90 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary SJ-16
05/22/90 Senate Amended SJ-10
05/22/90 Senate Read second time SJ-13
05/22/90 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-13
05/23/90 Senate Read third time and returned to House with
amendments SJ-2
05/30/90 House Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-44
06/05/90 Ratified R 671
06/11/90 Signed By Governor
06/11/90 Effective date 06/11/90
06/11/90 Act No. 546
07/06/90 Copies available
(A546, R671, H4578)
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 1, TITLE 30, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, RELATING TO PUBLIC RECORDS, REPORTS, AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, SO
AS TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF "PUBLIC BODY" AND DEFINE
"PUBLIC RECORD" AS IT IS DEFINED IN SECTION 30-4-20 (FREEDOM
OF INFORMATION), TO DESIGNATE THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OF AN
AGENCY, SUBDIVISION, OR PUBLIC BODY AS THE LEGAL CUSTODIAN OF PUBLIC
RECORDS INSTEAD OF THE OFFICIAL IN CHARGE OF THE OFFICE HAVING THE
PUBLIC RECORD, TO INCREASE THE PENALTY FOR REMOVING A PUBLIC RECORD
FROM THE OFFICE IN WHICH IT IS USUALLY KEPT OR ALTERING, DEFACING,
MUTILATING, SECRETING, OR DESTROYING A RECORD, TO DELETE PROVISIONS
RELATING TO THE CUSTODIAN OF PUBLIC RECORDS PERMITTING THEIR
INSPECTION AND EXAMINATION, TO REQUIRE THE LEGAL CUSTODIAN OF PUBLIC
RECORDS TO ADEQUATELY PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR THESE RECORDS, TO REQUIRE
THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY TO DEVELOP STANDARDS,
PROCEDURES, TECHNIQUES, AND SCHEDULES FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF
PUBLIC RECORDS AND INSTITUTE AND MAINTAIN A TRAINING AND INFORMATION
PROGRAM IN ALL PHASES OF RECORDS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR THE
EFFICIENT AND ECONOMICAL MANAGEMENT OF RECORDS AND BRING THIS PROGRAM
TO THE ATTENTION OF ALL AGENCIES AND SUBDIVISIONS, TO AUTHORIZE THE
DEPARTMENT TO REVIEW ALL PUBLIC RECORDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
ESTABLISHING RECORDS SCHEDULES WHICH MAY BE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT
AS REGULATIONS WHICH MAY SET MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM RETENTION PERIODS FOR
PUBLIC RECORDS WITH PROVISIONS FOR AGENCIES OR SUBDIVISIONS TO OPT OUT
OF GENERAL SCHEDULES, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT TO WAIVE ITS
AUTHORITY TO REVIEW RECORDS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, TO PROHIBIT
THE DISPOSAL OR DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS WITHOUT AN APPROVED RECORDS
SCHEDULE, TO REQUIRE THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF EACH PUBLIC AGENCY OR
BODY AND THE GOVERNING BODY OF EACH SUBDIVISION TO COOPERATE WITH THE
DEPARTMENT IN ESTABLISHING A SUITABLE MEDIUM FOR THE RETENTION OF
ARCHIVAL RECORDS, TO DELETE THE AUTHORITY OF THE DEPARTMENT TO
WITHHOLD FROM PUBLIC INSPECTION CERTAIN RECORDS AND AUTHORIZE THE
DIRECTOR TO WITHHOLD FROM PUBLIC ACCESS RECORDS FOR SPECIFIC REASONS,
TO CHANGE THE MANNER IN WHICH THE DETERMINATION IS MADE FOR THE
DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN RECORDS, TO ALLOW THE REMOVAL OF RECORDS FOR
MICROFILMING FOR PRESERVATION PURPOSES, TO INCREASE THE PENALTY FOR
THE REFUSAL OR WILFUL NEGLECT OF A PUBLIC OFFICIAL OR CUSTODIAN OF
PUBLIC RECORDS TO PERFORM ANY DUTY REQUIRED OF HIM BY SECTIONS 30-1-10
THROUGH 30-1-140, AND DELETE PROVISIONS RELATING TO COUNTY OFFICIALS
MAKING REPORTS ON UNIFORM BLANKS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Public records and reports, etc.
SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Title 30 of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"CHAPTER 1
Public Records, Reports, and Official Documents
Section 30-1-10. (A) For the purposes of Sections 30-1-10 to
30-1-140 'public record' has the meaning as provided in Section
30-4-20(c). Nothing herein authorizes the Archives to make records
open to the public in contravention of Sections 30-4-40, 30-4-50, and
30-4-70, respectively.
(B) 'Public body' means any department of the State, any state
board, commission, agency, and authority, any public or governmental
body or political subdivision of the State, including counties,
municipalities, townships, school districts, and special purpose
districts, or any organization, corporation, or agency supported in
whole or in part by public funds or expending public funds, including
committees, subcommittees, advisory committees, and the like of any
such body by whatever name known, and includes any quasi-governmental
body of the State and its political subdivisions, including, without
limitation, bodies such as the South Carolina Public Service Authority
and the South Carolina Ports Authority.
(C) 'Agency' means any state department, agency, or institution.
(D) 'Subdivision' means any political subdivision of the State.
(E) 'Archives' means the South Carolina Department of Archives
and History.
(F) 'Director' means the Director of the Department of Archives
and History.
Section 30-1-20. The chief administrative officer of any
agency or subdivision or any public body in charge of public records
or creating, filing, or keeping public records is the legal custodian
of these records and is responsible for carrying out the duties and
responsibilities of this chapter which are assigned to public
agencies, bodies, offices, or subdivisions. He may appoint a records
officer to act on his behalf.
Section 30-1-30. Any person who unlawfully removes a public
record from the office where it is usually kept, or alters, defaces,
mutilates, secretes, or destroys it is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor
more than five thousand dollars.
Section 30-1-40. A person having custody of public records, at
the expiration of his term of office or employment, shall deliver to
his successor, or if there is none, to the Archives, all public
records in his custody.
Section 30-1-50. Fifteen days after receipt of a certified
letter from the legal custodian of the record or the Director of the
Archives, a person in possession of a public record who refuses or
fails to deliver as required in this chapter the record to the
requesting party is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, is
fined not exceeding five hundred dollars. In addition, the legal
custodian of the public records or the Director of the Archives may
apply by verified petition to the court of common pleas in the county
of residence of the person withholding the records and the court shall
upon proper showing issue orders for the return of the records to the
lawful custodian or the Director of the Archives.
Section 30-1-60. (RESERVED)
Section 30-1-70. The legal custodian of public records shall
protect them against deterioration, mutilation, theft, loss, or
destruction and shall keep them secure in vaults or rooms having
proper ventilation and fire protection in such arrangement as to be
easily accessible for convenient use. They must be kept in the
buildings in which they are ordinarily used except in cases where they
may be transferred for retention or disposal in accord with Sections
30-1-10 to 30-1-140 or for special public display by the appropriate
authority. The director may order the removal of public records from
any facility which does not meet records storage standards approved by
regulations promulgated by the Archives. If public records of long
term or archival value are in danger of loss due to negligence,
deterioration, theft, or unauthorized disposal or destruction, the
director may order that the records be transferred to suitable storage
for the purpose of security microfilming or other necessary
preservation measures. Records must be maintained, copied, or
repaired, renovated, rebound, or restored in accordance with standards
required by regulation and approved by the department if they are
worn, mutilated, damaged, difficult to read, or in danger of loss at
the expense of the public body having custody or responsibility if
these records are of long term or archival value as determined under
the provisions of this chapter.
Section 30-1-80. A records management program directed to the
application of efficient and economical management methods and
relating to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention,
preservation, and disposal of public records must be established and
administered by the Archives. It is the duty of that department to
establish and develop standards, procedures, techniques, and schedules
for effective management of public records, to make continuing surveys
of recordmaking and recordkeeping operations, to recommend
improvements in current records management practices, including the
use of space, equipment, and supplies in creating, maintaining, and
servicing records, to institute and maintain a training and
information program in all phases of records and information
management to bring approved and current practices, methods,
procedures, and devices for the efficient and economical management of
records to the attention of all agencies and subdivisions. The head
of each agency, the governing body of each subdivision, and every
public records custodian shall cooperate with the Archives in
complying with the provisions of this chapter and to establish and
maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and
efficient management of the records of the agency or subdivision.
Section 30-1-90. (A) The Archives may examine the condition of
public records and give advice and assistance to public officials in
the solutions of their problems in creating, filing, preserving, and
making available the public records in their custody. When requested
by the Archives, agencies and subdivisions must assist the Archives in
preparing an inclusive inventory of records in their custody and
establishing records schedules mandating a time period for the
retention of each series of records. These schedules must be approved
by the governing body of each subdivision or the executive officer of
each agency or body having custody of the records, the Director of the
Archives, and in the case of state or regional agencies, the State
Budget and Control Board.
(B) In addition, general schedules for records series common to
agencies and subdivisions may be issued by the Archives as regulations
promulgated under the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act,
and these regulations must contain provisions allowing agencies or
subdivisions to opt out of the general schedules and proceed under the
provisions of subsection (A) in the establishment of a records
schedule.
(C) The Archives has express authority to review all public
records for appraisal and scheduling purposes, including those records
designated as closed, confidential, and restricted by law. However,
in certain cases the department may waive its authority to review
certain records after its approval of procedures developed by the
executive officer or public official in charge of the records to
provide the department with information needed for appraisal and
scheduling purposes.
(D) No records of long term or enduring value created, including
those filed, kept, or stored electronically, or those records
converted from paper to magnetic, optical, film, or other media in the
transaction of public business may be disposed of, destroyed, or
erased without an approved records schedule. All records disposals
that are carried out in accordance with duly approved records
schedules must be documented and reported in accordance with
procedures developed by the Archives.
Section 30-1-100. (A) In cooperation with the executive officer
of each public agency or body and the governing body of each
subdivision, the Archives shall establish and maintain a program for
the selection and preservation of public records considered essential
to the operation of government, for the protection of the interests of
the public, and for the preservation of the state's documentary
heritage. The Archives has the authority to determine in what medium
records or archival value must be retained and transferred to the
department. Within the limits of available funds, the Archives shall
require preservation duplicates to be made of essential or historical
records including those retained on electronic or optical disc systems
or designate as preservation duplicates existing copies of these
records including security copies on microfilm, computer output
microfilm, or other media acceptable by the department or select
certain original records for permanent preservation.
(B) In order to make public records more available for research
the Archives must honor reasonable requests for copies of public
records of research value by reproducing and selling them as provided
by Section 30-4-30. All monies received from the sale of such copies
must be deposited with the State Treasurer to be used for making
available copies of other public records of research value as
determined by the Archives; provided, that their reproduction is not
otherwise prohibited by law.
(C) Any public official having records and official
correspondence in his custody may turn over to the Archives any public
records no longer in current official use, and the Archives may in its
discretion receive the records and provide for their proper
administration, preservation, reproduction, or disposition; provided,
that any record placed in the custody of the Archives under special
terms or conditions restricting their use shall be made accessible
only in accordance with such terms and conditions. Upon receipt of
the records, unless otherwise prohibited by law, copies of them may be
made and certified under the seal of Archives, which certification has
the same force and effect as if made by the official or agency which
transferred them. The Archives may charge reasonable fees for such
copies.
(D) The Archives may promulgate such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of Sections 30-1-10 to 30-1-140.
The director may withhold from public access records restricted under
the provisions of Chapter 4 of this title or restrict use of original
records in danger of damage or loss from handling and use when in the
opinion of the director the physical condition of the public records
or other documents is such that they would be damaged by handling.
Any decision of the director to withhold public records or other
documents from inspection may be appealed to the Archives and History
Commission, or through the relief procedures outlined in Section
30-4-100.
(E) When any public records have been destroyed or otherwise
disposed of in accordance with the procedure authorized in Sections
30-1-90 and 30-1-110, any liability that the custodian of the records
might incur as a result of the official action shall cease.
Section 30-1-110. The director may approve the destruction or
other disposition of accessioned records of any agency or subdivision
which are in the custody of the department and which, after due
appraisal according to archival principles, are determined not to be
of archival or continuing administrative, legal, or fiscal value.
Section 30-1-120. (A) The Archives may execute a program of
inventorying, repairing, and microfilming for security purposes the
public records of the agencies and subdivisions which it determines
have permanent value, and of providing safe storage of microfilm
copies of those records.
(B) The legal custodian of public records may have records in
his custody removed from his office to be microfilmed by the
department for preservation purposes, provided the filming does not
interfere with the transaction of public business.
Section 30-1-130. Any custodian of public records as defined
by Sections 30-1-10 through 30-1-140 is authorized to photocopy,
microfilm, or reproduce on film or by electrostatic method any part of
the records kept by the office concerned unless otherwise prohibited
by law or withheld from reproduction in the public interest. These
copies may be used only in equipment or systems which accurately
reproduce and preserve the original record in all details in a durable
form. Each agency or subdivision shall preserve these photocopies,
electrostatic copies, or films in conveniently accessible files and
shall provide for preserving, examining, and using them. If the
records are of permanent value to the agency or subdivision concerned
or are determined to be of archival value by the Archives, one master
copy of each record filmed must meet standards approved by the
Archives and be deposited there. Custodians of public records may
destroy the original records from which the photographs,
microphotographs, films, or electrostatic copies have been made, or
any part of them if the records are of no value to the agency
concerned, and the Archives certifies that the records may be
destroyed through this procedure or retention schedules approved by
the Archives. The records microfilmed or reproduced and approved for
destruction must be reported to the Archives in such manner as it may
direct.
Section 30-1-140. A public official or custodian of public
records who refuses or wilfully neglects to perform any duty required
of him by Sections 30-1-10 through 30-1-140, including the transfer of
records to storage facilities approved by the Archives, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two
hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
Section 30-1-150. (VACANT)
Section 30-1-160. (VACANT)
Section 30-1-170. All officers of the State and of counties and
municipalities who are required to keep books of record may make use
of loose-leaf record books for these purposes. The loose-leaf record
book used must be one that can be locked and sealed when the book has
been filled to its capacity with the proper pages of records, and the
key to the book must always remain in the custody of the official in
charge of the books of record.
Section 30-1-180. Where the names of major religious faiths,
Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, are used in resolutions, acts, or
official papers of the State, or any of its political subdivisions,
the name of the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church must be
included."
Time effective
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 11th day of June, 1990.
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