Horton v. Jasper County School District

• Court: Court of Appeals of South Carolina
• Decided: March 30, 2016
• Docket: 2016-UP-151
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In The Court of Appeals

Randy Horton, Appellant,

v.

Jasper County School District, Respondent.

Appellate Case No. 2014-002612

Appeal From Jasper County Carmen T. Mullen, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2016-UP-151 Submitted December 1, 2015 – Filed March 30, 2016

AFFIRMED

James Ashley Twombley, of Twenge & Twombley, LLC, of Beaufort, for Appellant.

Dwayne Traynor Mazyck and Mary Allison Caudell, both of Childs & Halligan, PA, of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM: Affirmed pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: Sloan v. Friends of Hunley, Inc., 393 S.C. 152, 156, 711 S.E.2d 895, 897 (2011) ("The decision to award or deny attorney['s] fees under a state statute will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion." (quoting Kiriakides v. Sch. Dist. of Greenville Cty., 382 S.C. 8, 20, 675 S.E.2d 439, 445 (2009))); id. ("An abuse of discretion occurs when the conclusions of the [circuit] court are either controlled by an error of law or are based on unsupported factual conclusions." (quoting Kiriakides, 382 S.C. at 20, 675 S.E.2d at 445)); S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-100(b) (2007) ("If a person or entity seeking such relief prevails [under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)], he or it may be awarded reasonable attorney['s] fees and other costs of litigation. If such person or entity prevails in part, the court may in its discretion award him or it reasonable attorney['s] fees or an appropriate portion thereof."); Campbell v. Marion Cty. Hosp. Dist., 354 S.C. 274, 288-89, 580 S.E.2d 163, 170 (Ct. App. 2003) (stating under section 30-4-100, "the only prerequisite to an award of attorney's fees and costs is that the party seeking relief must prevail, in whole or in part"); Burton v. York Cty. Sheriff's Dep't, 358 S.C. 339, 357-58, 594 S.E.2d 888, 898 (Ct. App. 2004) ("The [FOIA attorney's fees] award, however, must be reasonable and supported by adequate findings."); Jackson v. Speed, 326 S.C. 289, 308, 486 S.E.2d 750, 760 (1997) ("[O]n appeal, an award for attorney's fees will be affirmed so long as sufficient evidence in the record supports each factor.").

AFFIRMED.1

HUFF, A.C.J, and WILLIAMS and THOMAS, JJ., concur.

1 We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.