FOIA requests remain unfulfilled in Allendale County

Multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests sent by The People-Sentinel to elected officials in Allendale County remain unfulfilled and The People-Sentinel has not been able to make contact with public officials regarding their status.

The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act is a law that requires governments and municipalities throughout the state to provide the public with records upon request. The law aims to increase transparency by compelling governments to reveal information about non-public decision making by political figures.

Under S.C. FOIA law, if a request is for records that are less than 24 months old, public officials have 10 business days to return a letter of determination. If a request is more than 24 months old, public officials have 20 business days to return a letter of determination. A letter of determination allows public officials to state whether or not the requested records exist and if they can be turned over.

Since May 2023, The People-Sentinel has submitted six FOIA requests to public bodies in Allendale County: one to the Town of Allendale, one to the Town of Fairfax, one to Allendale County Council, one to the Allendale Police Department, and one to the Allendale County Sheriff’s Office.

Of these requests, two have been fulfilled — a request regarding the county’s termination of former administrator Bert O’Rear and a request regarding a former Allendale County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) deputy.

Firing of Allendale County Administrator

The People-Sentinel’s FOIA request regarding the administrator asked for “all communications between Allendale County public officials and former county administrator Bert O'Rear regarding his firing and performance” and “the termination notice that was given to former county administrator Bert O'Rear.”

The purpose of The People-Sentinel’s request was to uncover the reason why O’Rear was fired in June 2023 by looking at the council members’ communications.

The fulfilled FOIA request contained only the termination notice that O’Rear received and contained no communications between county officials regarding O’Rear’s firing. In the county’s fulfillment letter, it explained that there were no documented communications between the county officials and all communication regarding O’Rear’s performance and firing were “mostly verbal.”

Following the council’s FOIA fulfillment, The People-Sentinel spoke to Taylor Smith, a media lawyer at the South Carolina Press Association who represents newspapers like The People-Sentinel.

“It seems there are likely records they possess about his performance that they are not turning over,” Smith wrote in an email. “Particularly if this person served for any extended period of time. … Otherwise, if all communications about the firing were indeed verbal then there are no records for them to produce. This wouldn’t violate SCFOIA but is stupid.”

Fairfax Community Center

On July 28, The People-Sentinel gave a Fairfax Town Hall employee a FOIA request directed at town mayor Dorothy Riley regarding the Fairfax Community Center, which began construction in 2019 and remains uncompleted.

The request asked for “all communications between public officials regarding budget overages and delays of the construction of the Fairfax Community Center,” “all budgets, spending receipts and documents regarding the construction of the Fairfax Community Center,” and “all receipts regarding state and federal funds for the Fairfax Community Center.”

The People-Sentinel was initially told to deliver the request to Riley’s place of work, but Riley refused to take the physical copy of the request, saying that she does not conduct mayoral business while at work. The People-Sentinel left the FOIA request at the Fairfax Town Hall.

Since The People-Sentinel delivered the request, the 10 allotted business days have passed, meaning that the Town of Fairfax now must turn over all communications, documents and receipts pertaining to the Fairfax community center. 

At 4:59 p.m. on The People-Sentinel’s Tuesday, August 30 deadline, a Fairfax town employee called The People-Sentinel and offered the newspaper an interview about the Fairfax Community Center, rather than fulfilling the FOIA request. The reason cited was because the town doesn’t have a clerk, and fulfilling a FOIA would be difficult.

Lack of County Auditor

For multiple years, Allendale County has not had an auditor. At the county council’s July meeting, the council discussed the need for an auditor.

Following the meeting, The People-Sentinel sent Allendale County Treasurer Valaree Chess-Smith a FOIA request asking for “all communications by Allendale County public officials related to the county’s search for a new auditor” and “all communications regarding the 2021-22 audit.”

Since The People-Sentinel delivered the request, the allotted business days have passed, meaning the county of Allendale now must turn over all communications regarding the county’s lack of an auditor.

Allendale County Sheriff’s Office

The People-Sentinel submitted a FOIA request to ACSO on the afternoon of July 10 requesting the personnel file of a former officer. Sheriff James Freeman spoke with the newspaper eight days later explaining he received the request and will begin retrieving documents. On August 9, The People-Sentinel met with Sheriff Freeman to pick up the file and discuss other elements of the request. Overall, ACSO completely complied with FOIA law.

Allendale Police Department

On May 4, The People-Sentinel hand delivered a FOIA request to the Allendale Police Department regarding the personnel file of an officer.

The People-Sentinel made numerous calls to Allendale Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins to confirm this FOIA was received and being processed – all of which were not returned.

By June 2, the request had still not been fulfilled and there was no update as to its status.

On June 14, The People-Sentinel called the Town of Allendale administrative office and spoke with councilmember Harvey-Fitts to see where the request stood. Harvey-Fitts was sent a copy of the FOIA via email and explained she would speak with the chief.

The People-Sentinel continued to contact Chief Wiggins with no response.

On July 6, the newspaper was informed the FOIA request delivered to the police department had been lost, yet a copy had been sent to the town’s attorney for review.

The People-Sentinel then resent a copy of the FOIA via email to Chief Wiggins. Another call to the department was made on July 10 with no response.

On August 7, over three months since it was first delivered, the FOIA was finally fulfilled by the Allendale Police Department.

Read more about the S.C. Freedom of Information Act at https://scpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/FOIBook.pdf.