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Jay King, Hometown News 
First time FOI criminal provisions applied in SC
For the first time in South Carolina history, public officials are facing charges under the criminal provisions of the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Judge William H. Womble Jr. found probable cause for violations of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act at a secret meeting June 16 during which Holly Springs fire commissioners voted behind closed doors to terminate Fire Chief Lee Jeffcoat.
Womble signed courtesy summons against Holly Springs Fire commission chairman Ryan Phillips, vice-chairman Roscoe Kyle, and commissioners Clarence Gibbs and Kelly Waters requiring them to appear before the court Sept. 21 to face charges they willfully violated the state’s open meetings law.
Hometown News reporter Jay King presented the court with an affidavit of probable cause for violations at the June 16 meeting. Attorney John M. Rollins Jr. helped prepare the document and explained to the judge the circumstances behind the charges.
Rollins told the judge that King was the only media representative at the secret meeting and attempted to explain the requirements of FOI to the commissioners but was ejected from the meeting.
The affidavit asserts that the commissioners “willfully” committed a crime against King as a media representative and the citizens of Spartanburg County by violating several provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, specifically that the commission took a secret vote, that the meeting was not open to the public, that the commission failed to give proper notice, and that the commission failed to take proper minutes of the meeting.
King then told the judge that on June 18 he met with principal deputy solicitor Barry Barnette with the Seventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office about the violations. He explained that Barnette agreed there appeared to be violations but that because such violations were classified as misdemeanors, the solicitor’s office would not be involved and advised King to take the information to either the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office or the State Law Enforcement Division.
King said he next went to the sheriff’s office and met with Maj. Dan Johnson, head of the department’s investigations division. He said Johnson also agreed that there were evident violations but cautioned that the sheriff’s office might have a conflict because the department’s arson investigators work closely with area fire departments.
King told the judge that Johnson subsequently called and informed him that the county attorney had confirmed that there would be a conflict and advised King that he had forwarded the information to Lt. Robbie Hendrix with the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED.)
Since SLED was given the information King said no action has been taken, which prompted bringing the matter directly before a judge. King and Rollins had presented the affidavit at Spartanburg County Magistrate’s Court July 30 but was informed the magistrates had a conflict as they were appointed by the same legislators who appointed the fire commissioners.
Womble said it looked like King had pursued every avenue available to try to bring the commission into compliance with the FOIA.
“It is abundantly clear that there is probable cause,” Womble said.
Womble is a magistrate in Richland County and has served on the bench for more than 20 years. When asked about the perceived conflict for the sheriff’s office, the judge said the department should enforce the law and leave any suspected conflicts to be addressed by the court when the matter comes before a judge.
Bill Rogers, the executive director of the South Carolina Press Association, was on hand to witness the historic event and said after the signing of the summons that this action would set a tremendous precedent throughout the state.
“This is a historic occasion and will send a strong message across South Carolina,” Rogers said.
Rollins also said afterward that the state’s Freedom of Information Act was designed to ensure the people’s business was conducted out in the open where the people could see how their representatives make decisions. He said the Holly Springs Fire commission – all but commissioner Hugh Jackson who alone protested the conduct of meetings like the one on June 16 – has acted in violation of the state open meetings law so egregiously that they had to be held to account.
“These board members have operated with impunity for so long and the authorities have ignored it,” Rollins said. “I look forward to their day in court.”
Rollins also questioned what level the corruption of public officials would have to reach before a law enforcement agency would act.
Rollins and King both described to Judge Womble the evident pattern of behavior of the commission since the June 16 meeting and enumerated further violations of FOIA, including the commission discussing budget matters behind closed doors at its August 3 meeting and the illegal meeting of Phillips, Kyle and Waters sometime on August 4 while searching for financial records at the fire station.
Phillips called the sheriff’s office August 5 to report the theft of the records, and the sheriff’s office incident report lists Phillips, Kyle and Waters looking for but failing to find the documents. The three cannot be in the same place together as it constitutes a quorum of the commission and the state Freedom of Information Act prohibits chance meetings.
As the plaintiff in the action against the commissioners, King and Hometown News will act in the place of a law enforcement agency as the prosecutors at the Sept. 21 hearing. Rollins said he would continue to assist in helping to bring the commissioners to account.
Rollins added that this action has set a precedent in another way by showing other media organizations and public citizens a way to have the state’s laws enforced in cases where law enforcement agencies can’t or won’t take action.
Jed Blackwell contributed to this article.
jking@hometown-news.com
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