SECTION 29 - H950 - STATE MUSEUM COMMISSION

29.1. (MUSM: Removal From Collections) The commission may remove accessioned objects from its museum collections by gift to another public or nonprofit institution, by trade with another public or nonprofit institution, by public sale, by transfer to the commissions education, exhibit, or study collections or to its operating property inventory; or as a last resort, by intentional destruction on the condition that the objects so removed meet with one or more of the following criteria: (1) they fall outside the scope of the South Carolina Museum Commissions collections as defined in the Collection Policy; (2) they are unsuitable for exhibition or research; (3) they are inferior duplicates of other objects in the collection; or (4) they are forgeries or were acquired on the basis of false information; funds from the sale of such objects will be placed in a special revolving account for the commission to use solely for the purpose of purchasing objects for the collections of the State Museum.

29.2. (MUSM: Museum Store) The Museum Commission shall establish and administer a museum store in the State Museum. This store may produce, acquire, and sell merchandise relating to historical, scientific, and cultural sources. All profits received from the sale of such merchandise shall be retained by the Museum Commission in a restricted fund to be carried forward into the following fiscal year. These funds may be used for store operations, publications, acquisitions, educational programs, exhibit production and general operating expenses provided that the expenditures for such expenses are approved by the General Assembly in the annual Appropriation Act.

29.3. (MUSM: Retention of Revenue) The Museum Commission may retain revenue received from admissions, program fees, facility rentals, professional services, donations, food service, exhibits and exhibit components, and other miscellaneous operating income generated by or for the museum and may expend such revenue for general operating expenses provided that such expenditures are approved by the General Assembly in the annual Appropriation Act. Any unexpended revenue from these sources may be carried forward into the current fiscal year to be expended for the same purposes.

29.4. (MUSM: School Tour Fee Prohibition) The commission may not charge admission fees to groups of children from South Carolina who have made reservations that are touring the museum as part of a school function.

29.5. (MUSM: Dining Area Rent) Of the space currently vacant in the Columbia Mills Building, space large enough for the museum to have dining space for school-aged children shall be provided to the State Museum at no cost.

29.6. (MUSM: Remittance to General Services) The State Museum is directed to remit not less than $1,800,000 to the Department of Administration as compensation for expenses associated with the premises it leases in the Columbia Mills Building. In the event the General Assembly or the Executive Budget Office implements a mid-year across-the-board budget reduction, the rent that the State Museum remits to the Department of Administration shall be reduced by the same percentage as the assessed budget reduction.