Could Fort Lawn discard old town council minutes and financial records?

Plain-English summary

In 2011, Fort Lawn's mayor asked whether the town could eliminate stored council minutes and financial records. The South Carolina Attorney General said these were public records covered by preservation requirements, so the town had to follow the Public Records Act and applicable records schedules before disposal. The municipal schedule called for council minutes to be retained permanently and microfilmed for security. Different categories of financial records had their own schedule provisions.

The opinion distinguished official records from convenience or duplicate copies. It described the Department of Archives and History's general municipal schedules, including a report after eligible records were destroyed and a check for remaining audit, legal, or fiscal value. The town also had the statutory option to establish a specific schedule approved by the Archives director and the town council.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later
AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current
legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy
mentioned here.

Common questions

Could the town destroy old council minutes?
A: Under the municipal schedule described in the 2011 opinion, council minutes had a permanent retention period, with microfilming for security. The town could not simply eliminate them as old files.

Were all financial records kept for the same period?
A: The AG directed the mayor to the separate schedule for financial records, including purchase orders, receipts, check registers, bids, and ledgers. It did not assign one retention period to all of them.

Were duplicate reference copies treated like the official record? A: The opinion quoted the regulation as applying minimum periods to official copies regardless of format, while convenience, informational, or duplicate copies could be destroyed when no longer needed for reference.

Could the town use a schedule tailored to its own records? A: The AG said the town could opt out of the general schedule and establish a specific one approved by both the Director of Archives and the town council under Section 30-1-90(A).

Background and statutory framework

The mayor's request concerned town council minutes and financial materials the municipality stored. The AG treated them as public records because a public body had prepared, used, possessed, or retained them. It reviewed the custodian's protection duties, the Archives' municipal retention regulations, and the alternative scheduling process.

Citations and references

The opinion discussed the Public Records Act, municipal retention regulations for council minutes and financial records, and Section 30-1-90(A) on specific schedules.

Subject

Concerning retention of Fort Lawn municipal records.

Requester

The Honorable John Rumford, Mayor, Town of Fort Lawn

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/february-16-2011/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/rumford-j-os-9193-2-16-11-foia-records-retention-.pdf

Original opinion text

ALAN WILSON
A TIORNEY GENERAL

February 16, 2011

The Honorable John Rumford
Mayor
Town of Fort Lawn
Post Office Box 37
Fort Lawn, South Carolina 29714-0037
Dear Mayor Rumford:
We received your letter requesting an opinion of this Office concerning the legal requirements with regard to the retention of certain municipality records currently being stored by the Town of Fort Lawn. Specifically, your letter states that the records retained include minutes from town council meetings and financial records and that you wish to "eliminate" these records. This opinion addresses the relevant statutes, regulations, and former opinions of this Office with regard to this issue. Law/Analysis

As we have stated in prior opinions, "the public policy of this State is to preserve, rather than destroy public records." Ops. S.C. Att'y Gen., August 25, 1997 and May 21, 2007. The Public Records Act (S.C. CODE ANN. § 30-1-10 - 180) governs the custody and preservation of public records. Public records include "all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, orretained by a public body." S.C. CODE ANN.§ 30-4-20(c) (§ 30-1-10 states that "public record" has the meaning provided § 30-4-20(c), which is the definition section of the Freedom ofInformation Act). As we have previously noted, "city council clearly is a public body.'' Op. S.C. Att'y Gen., May 21, 2007. Accordingly, as the Fort Lawn Town Council either prepared, owned, used, possessed, or retained the documents described in your letter, said documents are public records. In South Carolina, the chief administrative officer of each agency, subdivision, or public body is the custodian of these records. S.C. CODE.ANN.§ 30-1-20. The custodian of said records is responsible for protecting the records.

R EMBERT C. D ENNIS B UlLDING • POST OFFICE Box 11549

•

COL.UMBIA, SC 292 11-1549

• TELEPHONE 803-734-3970 •

FACSIMILE 803-253-6283

The Honorable John Rumford
Page2
February 16, 2011

The legal custodian of public records shall protect them against deterioration, mutilation, theft, loss, or destruction and shall keep them secure in vaults or rooms having proper ventilation and fire protection in such arrangement as to be easily accessible for convenient use. S.C. CODE ANN.§ 30-1-70. Moreover, "[a] person who unlawfully removes a public record from the office where it usually is kept or alters, defaces, mutilates, secretes, or destroys it is guilty of a misdemeanor .... " S.C. CODE ANN. § 30-1-30. In prior opinions we interpreted this provision as preventing the destruction of public records in the absence of specific guidance from the Legislature. Op. S.C. Att'y Gen., May 21, 2007. The Public Records Act provides that the Department of Archives must establish and administer a "records management program directed to the application of efficient and economical management methods and relating to the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of public records." S.C. CODE ANN. § 30-1-80. The Archives has established a general retention schedule for municipal records in accordance with S.C. CODE ANN.§ 30-1-90(B). These schedules "contain minimum records retention periods for the official copy ofthe records" and apply regardless of the "physical format" of the records. S.C. CODE ANN. REG.12-601(Supp.2010) "Convenience, informational or duplicate copies are not governed by this regulation and may be destroyed when no longer needed for reference." Id. Further, "[t]o destroy records in accordance with this regulation, municipal governments must complete and submit a report on records destroyed form to the Department of Archives and History after eligible records have been destroyed." ld. 1 Moreover, "[b ]efore disposing of public records under these general schedules, municipal governments should insure that the records have no further audit, legal, or fiscal value." Id. It would be beneficial for you to review the "General Retention Schedules for Municipal Records," S.C. CODE ANN. REGS. 12-601- 611.11 (Supp. 2010), for familiarization and guidance as to the retention schedules of a variety of municipal records. Specifically, with regard to your question as to Town of Fort Lawn Council minutes, S.C. CODE ANN. REG. 12-604.2 (Supp. 2010), which is entitled "Council Minutes," provides:

A.

Description:

Record of proceedings at meetings of the municipal council
which includes written descriptions of the financial and
administrative business conducted. Information includes
dates of meetings, names of council members present, claim
approvals, petitions, bids, proposals, other matters discussed by or brought to the attention of the council, and attachments.

These forms are available from the Department of Archives and History's Division of Archives and Records Management. The phone number for the Department of Archives and History is 803-8966100.

The Honorable John Rumford
Page 3
February 16, 2011

B.

Retention:

Permanent. Microfilm for security.

As to your second question regarding various financial records, this Office recommends that you review S.C. CooEANN. REG.12-605 (Supp. 2010). This regulation specifically addresses financial documents, including those detailed in your letter, such as purchase orders (REG. 12-605 .8), receipts (REG. 12-605.13), check registers (REG. 12-605.9), bids (REG. 12-605.6), general ledgers (REG. 12605.4), and various other financial documents. In addition, S.C. CODE ANN. § 30-1-90(B) provides the option to "opt out of these general schedules and proceed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (A) in the establishment of specific records schedules." Section 30-1-90(A) of the South Carolina Code provides for the creation of schedules to be approved of by both the Director of the Archives and the "governing body of each subdivision or the executive officer of each agency or body having custody of the records."

Conclusion
The records described in your letter constitute public records under the provisions of the Public Records Act. Thus, the Fort Lawn Town Council must comply with the provisions of this Act before "eliminating" any of the described records. The regulations discussed above provide detailed retention schedules for municipal documents, or, as discussed, the Council may "opt out" of said schedules in favor of complying with the provisions of Section 30-1-90(A) of the South Carolina Code. This statute provides for the creation of schedules to be approved of by both the Director of the Archives and the Fort Lawn Town Council. Sincerely,

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Elizab~tliAnn L. Felder

Assistant Attorney General
REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

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Deputy Attorney General