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![handle is hein.sag/sagsc0163 and id is 1 raw text is: ALAN WILSON
ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 11, 2021
The Honorable Shannon S. Erickson, Member
South Carolina House of Representatives
District No. 124
320-C Blatt Building
Columbia, SC 29201
Dear Representative Erickson:
Attorney General Alan Wilson has referred your letter to the Opinions section. The request
letter states the following:
As a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, I am seeking an
opinion as to the applicability of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-10, et seq. as it is being applied by boards and
commissions at the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
(SCLLR). More specifically, practicing Certified Public Accountants and others
who work with the profession South Carolina citizens are being told that it is
inconsistent with the spirit of FOIA to speak to individual members of the Board
of Accountancy (the Board) unless the communications take place when a
quorum of the Board is meeting.
In support of its position, SCLLR relies on the following statutory provisions:
Pursuant to Title 30, Chapter 10, the Board of Accountancy is a public body as
FOIA is applicable to any state board [or] commission. S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-
20(a). Every meeting of all public bodies shall be open to the public.... Id. at §
30-4-60. The business of a board or commission is conducted during a meeting
that means the convening of a quorum of the constituent membership of a public
body .. . to discuss or act upon a matter over which the public body has supervision,
control, jurisdiction or advisory power. Id. at § 30-4-20(d). Quorum is defined
as a simple majority of the constituent membership of a public body. Id. at § 30-
4-20(e). Based on these definitions contained in FOIA, SCLLR states that a South
REMBERT C. DENNIs BUILDING - PosT OFFICE Box 11549 . COLUMBIA, SC 29211-1549 * TELEPHONE 803-734-3970 - FACSIMILE 803-253-6283](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagsc0163&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)