§ 11-58-70 — South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board; creation; membership; terms; vacancies; meetings.

(A) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board is hereby created as an independent, quasi-governmental agency responsible for the purpose of managing the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund. The board is not an "agency" or "state agency" as defined in Chapter 23, Title 1. (B) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall be comprised of nine members, who shall be appointed as follows: (1) the Governor shall appoint one member, who shall serve as chairperson; (2) the President of the Senate shall appoint one member; (3) the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one member; (4) the Governor shall appoint three members, the Speaker one member, and the President of the Senate one member from a list provided by the South Carolina Association of Counties, with at least one member selected from each of the South Carolina public health regions as defined by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control; and (5) the Governor shall appoint one member from a list provided by the Municipal Association of South Carolina. The members appointed by the Governor, other than the chairperson, shall select one of themselves to serve as vice chairperson. (C)(1) All members of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall be academic, medical, licensed health, or other professionals with significant experience in opioid prevention, treatment, or intervention or who can represent the interest of the victims and families of victims of opioid overuse or misuse. Members of the board must not have been convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. (2) In making appointments, race, gender, national origin, and other demographic factors should be considered by the appointing authority to ensure nondiscrimination to the greatest extent possible as to all segments of the population of the State. (D) Members of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall not be compensated for their services except as provided in Section 11-58-80(C). (E) All members of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall be appointed within thirty days of the board's creation. (F) The terms of appointment as a member of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall be as follows: (1) for the initial term of the chairperson and four of the members selected by the Governor from the list provided by the South Carolina Association of Counties, six years; (2) for the initial term of all other members of the board, four years; and (3) for all subsequent members of the board, four years. All terms of members are deemed to commence on May first of the appointing year and expire on April thirtieth of the ending year. Members of the board may continue to serve upon the expiration of their terms until either reappointed or a new appointment is made. Any vacancy on the board caused by the death, incapacity, or resignation of a member shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment. (G) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall hold at least four regular meetings each year, and the board may hold additional meetings as scheduled by the chairperson or by request of at least five members. The board shall conduct its first meeting within sixty days of its creation or thirty days after all members have been appointed, whichever comes first. At that meeting, the board shall, at a minimum: (1) allocate all funds in the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund to the Administrative Subfund, the Discretionary Subfund, and the Guaranteed Political Subdivision Subfund pursuant to the terms of an agreement between the Attorney General and the participating political subdivisions; (2) develop and publish the process under which entities may apply for funds from the Discretionary Subfund or the Guaranteed Political Subdivision Subfund and, in the case of the Discretionary Subfund, the necessary qualifications of any applicants; and (3) adopt bylaws that shall include, among other things, a conflicts of interest policy. (H) All members of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall be required to attend all meetings unless notice and justification for the absence is provided to the chairperson. Absences are subject to Section 1-3-245. (I) The board shall have the power to adopt, promulgate, amend, and repeal regulations and bylaws. The board shall not enact regulations, bylaws, or other items that are inconsistent with the terms of any court order or opioid-related settlement, or any agreement between the Attorney General and participating political subdivisions that pertains to any opioid-related settlement. (J) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall prepare and publish, on or before July first of each year, an annual report of all funds spent from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund. (K) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. In addition to the provisions of Section 30-4-70, the board may enter into executive session to receive legal advice or to address a potential conflict of interest by a member. (L) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board may obtain services in accordance with the procedures, guidelines, and criteria established by the board for that purpose and are not restricted by Chapter 35, Title 11 or any successor provision. (M) Membership on the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall not constitute holding an "office" for the purpose of the prohibition on dual office holding in Section 3, Article VI and Section 1A, Article XVII of the South Carolina Constitution, 1895. (N) The State of South Carolina, its participating political subdivisions, the Office of Attorney General, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, and the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board are not liable for a loss resulting from the performance of any duty related to the service of the members of the board. (O) The South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund Board shall remain in existence until all funds in the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund have been exhausted, no new funds are expected, and the board has satisfied all reporting obligations in any settlement that has provided funds to the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund. (P) Before authorizing payments from the Discretionary Subfund to a requesting entity, the board may require that the entity has the appropriate financial, material, equipment, facility, and personnel resources and expertise, or the ability to obtain them, necessary to indicate its ability to meet all requirements established by the board; a satisfactory record of performance; and a satisfactory record of integrity. (Q) The board has the duty and authority to regulate the expenditure by requesting entities of authorized payments from the Discretionary Subfund to ensure authorized payments are used only for approved purposes, to facilitate accountability for their use, and to prevent fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and misconduct. (R) The board may enter assistance agreements with each requesting entity approved to receive authorized payments from the Discretionary Subfund. These agreements are enforceable. Without limitation, such agreements may impose restrictions on the appropriate use of payments and penalties for the misuse of such payments. In addition, such agreements may impose payment, purchasing, accounting, auditing, record keeping, performance and financial reporting, and compliance requirements. Without limitation, the application requirements adopted by the board may include the acceptance of such agreements by the requesting entity. The board may inspect, audit, and examine any requesting entity receiving authorized payments from the Discretionary Subfund. (S) Without limitation, a participating political subdivision may, but is not required to, enter into an assistance agreement, as referenced in subsection (R), with any entity receiving payments from the Guaranteed Political Subdivision Subfund as a result of the entity having received written authorization from the governing body of the participating political subdivision to submit the request pursuant to Section 11-58-50(B)(1).

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2022 Act No. 222 (H.5182), SECTION 1, eff May 23, 2022.