CLARENDON COUNTY VOTER REGISTRATION & ELECTIONS
POLICY REGARDING REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC RECORDS
UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

Policy Statement: It shall be the policy of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office to comply with both the letter and the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), as codified at §§ 30-4-10 et seq. of the Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976, as amended, in regard to the processing of requests for access to public records.

Making a FOIA Request: All requests for public documents pursuant to FOIA, except for those described below, must be made in writing and submitted either: in person at the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office, 411 Sunset Dr, Manning, SC 29102; by mail to Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office Attn: Executive Director, 411 Sunset Dr. Manning, SC 29102 or by email to sanderson@clarendoncountygov.org. Ideally, requests shall be made using the Freedom of Information Act Request Form (the “Request Form”) provided by Clarendon County Administration and made available to the public, a copy of which is attached hereto: Clarendon County Freedom of Information Act Request Form.

Requests made by letter or in some other written form shall contain substantially the same information provided for on the Request Form. When requests are submitted by fax the requesting individual will be instructed to submit the request using one of the approved methods set forth in this Policy. In order to ensure the most accurate and prompt response, requests should be as detailed, specific, and descriptive as possible.

Processing FOIA Requests: The executive director is designated as the staff member to be responsible for and familiar with any FOIA request. Where any Board member of staff member receives any written request for public records, the request should be stamped with the date of receipt and immediately delivered to the Executive Director. Routine FOIA requests may be handled directly by the Executive Director. The Executive Director is authorized to and shall consult with the county attorney, agency attorney and/or State Election Commission on non-routine FOIA requests and on any questions of law involving FOIA. Where an exemption, restriction or limitation to FOIA possibly exists, the executive director should consult with the county attorney and/or the agency attorney to determine if an exemption, restriction or limitation applies and whether the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office should decline to disclose the records based upon the exemption, restriction or limitation. However, the presumption in evaluating FOIA requests should be in favor of disclosing the requested records.

Initial Response Deadlines: The executive director must respond to all FOIA requests within the timeframes outlined below:

• Documents less than 24 months old - 10 business days
• Documents more than 24 months old - 20 business days

It shall be the policy of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections to respond to FOIA requests as quickly as possible. Where possible, the response to the request should include the requested records. Otherwise, the response should either inform the requestor that the requested records will be made available, along with the means of obtaining them and any additional costs that will be charged for making the records available, or the agency should inform the requestor that the requested records fall under an exemption to FOIA and will not be disclosed. The initial response shall constitute the final determination of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office as to whether records are available and subject in whole to an exemption under FOIA but will not constitute a final opinion as to whether portions of the requested documents are subject to redaction under a FOIA exemption.

Production Deadlines: For all granted requests, Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections shall furnish the records within the time frames outlined below, as measured from the date of initial response or, where applicable, the payment of a deposit.

• Documents less than 24 months old - 30 calendar days
• Documents more than 24 months old - 35 calendar days

The response and production deadlines may be extended by written mutual consent, and the requesting party may not unreasonably withhold such consent. The Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office shall not create new records, nor summarize existing records. Requested records shall be released in the format most convenient to Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office. The Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office may, in its discretion, create electronic records where they do not otherwise exist.

Records Exempt From Disclosure: Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections adopts as a part of this Policy any and all exemptions, restrictions or limitations contained within FOIA, as FOIA may be amended from time to time, along with any other exemptions, restrictions or limitations that may be provided for now or in the future under South Carolina or Federal law. As previously stated herein, the executive director shall consult with the county attorney and/or agency attorney to determine whether an exemption, restriction or limitation to the disclosure requirements of FOIA applies. Where an exemption, restriction or limitation applies, the executive director, based upon consultation with the county attorney and/or agency attorney, should decide whether to deny disclosure based upon the application of the available exemption, restriction or limitation. Where records contain certain information exempt from disclosure, but which otherwise fall outside of an exemption, restriction or limitation, the exempted information shall be redacted and requested records shall otherwise be disclosed.

Relief:
Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections may request for a hearing before the Circuit Court to seek relief from unduly burdensome, overly broad, vague, repetitive, or otherwise improper requests, or where it receives a request but is unable to make a good faith determination as to whether the information is exempt from disclosure.

Failure to Comply: In addition to penalties available under FOIA, willful disregard of, or violation of, this Policy by any employee or other person who is subject to it, may constitute insubordination and be grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

Costs for Processing FOIA Requests: The Board, pursuant to Section 30-4-30 of FOIA, has established the fee schedule below, which has been made available as part of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections’ Office schedule of fees. The charges set forth therein are no greater than, and in some instances may be less than, the actual cost to the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office of searching for and making copies of requested public records. In general, costs for staff time necessary to respond to a FOIA request shall not exceed the prorated hourly salary of the lowest cost employee of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office who, in the opinion of the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office’s Executive Director, has the training necessary to fulfill the request. Costs shall not be charged for time spent examining records to determine whether they may be disclosed. Charges for copies of records will not exceed the standard commercial rate. Additionally, copy charges do not apply to electronic copies; however, the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office may charge a fee for cost of staff time to transfer the document to electronic format and the actual cost to the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office for electronic media. Requesting party shall pay the full amount due prior to delivery of records.

Prohibition on Commercial Solicitation Use: Knowingly obtaining or using personal information obtained from the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office for commercial solicitation is strictly prohibited. The measure employed by the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office to ensure that no record is used for commercial solicitation purposes shall be to deny requests for records under FOIA where the only reasonably perceptible use for the requested records by the requesting party is commercial solicitation. Upon denial of a request by the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office the requesting party is to be notified that it has the burden to demonstrate a purpose for which the requested records may be used that is not commercial solicitation.

Pursuant to § 30-2-50 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, you are prohibited from knowingly using public records obtained from the Clarendon County Voter Registration & Elections Office for commercial solicitation. Violation of this law is punishable by law as a misdemeanor, resulting in up to a year in prison or a fine not to exceed $500.