§ 30-4-80 — Notice of meetings of public bodies.

South Carolina § 30-4-80

• Jurisdiction: South Carolina
• Title 30: PUBLIC RECORDS
• Ch. 4: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

Text

(A) All public bodies, except as provided in subsections (B) and (C) of this section, must give written public notice of their regular meetings at the beginning of each calendar year. The notice must include the dates, times, and places of such meetings. An agenda for regularly scheduled or special meetings must be posted on a bulletin board in a publicly accessible place at the office or meeting place of the public body and on a public website maintained by the body, if any, at least twenty-four hours prior to such meetings. All public bodies must post on such bulletin board or website, if any, public notice for any called, special, or rescheduled meetings. Such notice must include the agenda, date, time, and place of the meeting, and must be posted as early as is practicable but not later than twenty-four hours before the meeting. This requirement does not apply to emergency meetings of public bodies. Once an agenda for a regular, called, special, or rescheduled meeting is posted pursuant to this subsection, no items may be added to the agenda without an additional twenty-four hours notice to the public, which must be made in the same manner as the original posting. After the meeting begins, an item upon which action can be taken only may be added to the agenda by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting; however, if the item is one upon which final action can be taken at the meeting or if the item is one in which there has not been and will not be an opportunity for public comment with prior public notice given in accordance with this section, it only may be added to the agenda by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting and upon a finding by the body that an emergency or an exigent circumstance exists if the item is not added to the agenda. Nothing herein relieves a public body of any notice requirement with regard to any statutorily required public hearing. (B) Legislative committees must post their meeting times during weeks of the regular session of the General Assembly and must comply with the provisions for notice of special meetings during those weeks when the General Assembly is not in session. Subcommittees of standing legislative committees must give notice during weeks of the legislative session only if it is practicable to do so. (C) Subcommittees, other than legislative subcommittees, of committees required to give notice under subsection (A), must make reasonable and timely efforts to give notice of their meetings. (D) Written public notice must include but need not be limited to posting a copy of the notice at the principal office of the public body holding the meeting or, if no such office exists, at the building in which the meeting is to be held. (E) All public bodies shall notify persons or organizations, local news media, or such other news media as may request notification of the times, dates, places, and agenda of all public meetings, whether scheduled, rescheduled, or called, and the efforts made to comply with this requirement must be noted in the minutes of the meetings.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 593, SECTION 9; 1987 Act No. 118, SECTION 7; 2015 Act No. 70 (S.11), SECTION 1, eff June 8, 2015. Effect of Amendment 2015 Act No. 70, SECTION 1, changed the paragraph designators to upper case; in (A), substituted "An agenda for regularly scheduled or special meetings" for "Agenda, if any, for regularly scheduled meetings" in the third sentence, added references to websites, and added the text beginning with "Once an agenda for a regular ..."; and made other nonsubstantive changes.