Getting Public Records
S.C. Code 30-4-30 — a right to inspect and copy, at fees no more than the actual cost
A right, not a favor. A person has a right to inspect, copy or receive an electronic transmission of any public record of a public body, except as the exemptions section or other state and federal laws provide, under reasonable rules on the time and place of access.
A body may charge reasonable fees no more than the actual cost of searching, retrieving and redacting, at no more than the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid employee able to do it, and posts its fee schedule online. Copies are uniformly priced at no more than the prevailing commercial rate, records sent electronically carry no copy charge, and records are furnished at the lowest possible cost.
A body is not required to create an electronic version of a record that does not exist in that form. The right does not extend to people serving a sentence in a correctional facility, apart from their constitutional rights in a criminal case.
The deadlines a body has to answer a request, and the exemptions, are set out in the chapter and are not on this page. Whether a particular record must be released is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- S.C. Code 30-4-30 — Right to inspect or copy public records; fees
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.