H 5133 General Bill, By Barrett
 A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 77, TITLE 15, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO SUITS INVOLVING THE STATE AND STATE AGENCIES, BY ADDING ARTICLE 7
 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PRIVATE ATTORNEY RETENTION SUNSHINE ACT", WHICH REQUIRES
 COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR ATTORNEY SERVICES RENDERED ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OR A
 STATE AGENCY, PROVIDES FOR THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS WHENEVER
 THE STATE OR A STATE AGENCY PROPOSES TO ENTER INTO AN ATTORNEY FEE CONTRACT
 WHICH MAY REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO EXCEED FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND
 DOLLARS, AND LIMITS THE HOURLY RATE WHEN CONTINGENT FEES ARE AWARDED TO
 ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING THE STATE OR ITS AGENCIES.

   05/24/00  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-63
   05/24/00  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-63

A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 77, TITLE 15, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO SUITS INVOLVING THE STATE AND STATE AGENCIES, BY ADDING ARTICLE 7 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PRIVATE ATTORNEY RETENTION SUNSHINE ACT", WHICH REQUIRES COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR ATTORNEY SERVICES RENDERED ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OR A STATE AGENCY, PROVIDES FOR THE OPPORTUNITY FOR LEGISLATIVE HEARINGS WHENEVER THE STATE OR A STATE AGENCY PROPOSES TO ENTER INTO AN ATTORNEY FEE CONTRACT WHICH MAY REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO EXCEED FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, AND LIMITS THE HOURLY RATE WHEN CONTINGENT FEES ARE AWARDED TO ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING THE STATE OR ITS AGENCIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 77, Title 15 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 7

Section 15-77-400. This article may be cited as the 'Private Attorney Retention Sunshine Act'.

Section 15-77-410. The Attorney General may not retain a lawyer or law firm to perform legal services on behalf of the State until an open and competitive bidding process has been undertaken.

Section 15-77-420. (A) The Attorney General may not enter into a contact for legal services exceeding four hundred fifty thousand dollars without following the procedures set forth in Section 15-77-430.

(B) A contract in excess of four hundred fifty thousand dollars is one in which the fee paid to an attorney or group of attorneys, either in the form of a flat, hourly, or contingent fee, and their expenses, exceeds or can be reasonably expected to exceed four hundred fifty thousand dollars.

Section 15-77-430. (A) The Attorney General must file a proposed contract for legal services in excess of four hundred fifty thousand dollars with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The President and Speaker shall refer the proposed contract to the appropriate standing committees.

(B) Within thirty days of the referral, either or both of the committees may hold a public hearing on the proposed contract and issue a report to the Attorney General. The report shall include any changes to the proposed contract voted on by the committees. The Attorney General shall review the report and adopt a proposed final contract as considered appropriate in view of the committees' findings and shall file the proposed final contract with the President and the Speaker.

(C) If the proposed final contract does not contain the changes proposed by the legislative committees, the Attorney General must send a letter to the President and the Speaker accompanying the final contract stating the reasons why the proposed changes were not adopted. The President and the Speaker shall refer the letter to the appropriate committees. No earlier than forty-five days after the filing of the letter and proposed final contract with the legislative committees, the Attorney General may enter into the final contact.

(D) If the legislative committees recommend no changes to the initial proposed contract within sixty days of its filing with the President and the Speaker, the Attorney General may proceed to finalize it.

(E) When the General Assembly is not in session and the Attorney General wishes to execute a contract for legal services, the Governor, with the consent of the Speaker and the President, may establish a five member interim committee consisting of five state legislators, one each to be appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate, and the minority party leader in the House and Senate, to execute the oversight duties as set forth in this section. The same deadlines and reporting requirements that apply for the standing committees apply for the interim committee.

Section 15-77-440. This article may not be construed to expand the authority of the Attorney General to enter into contracts where no such authority previously existed.

Section 15-77-450. (A) At the conclusion of a legal proceeding for which outside counsel has been retained on a contingent fee basis, the outside counsel must provide the Attorney General with a statement of the hours worked on the case, expenses incurred, the aggregate fee amount, and a breakdown of the hourly rate, calculated based on hours worked divided into fee recovered, less expenses.

(B) In no event may the State incur legal fees greater than one thousand dollars per hour for legal services. In cases where a disclosure submitted in accordance with this section indicates an hourly rate in excess of one thousand dollars per hour, the fee amount must be reduced to an amount equivalent to one thousand dollars per hour."

SECTION 2. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to all contracts between private lawyers and state agencies entered into after June 1, 2000.