LLC Member Books, Records, and Information Demands in South Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Records and information

Section 33-44-408(a) gives a member, agent, or attorney access to the LLC's records, if any, at its principal office or another reasonable place named in the operating agreement. The opportunity includes inspection and copying during ordinary business hours. The section does not turn every category of information into a record the company must retain. One express retention rule elsewhere in the chapter is § 33-44-205(c): the company must retain powers of attorney used to sign records for filing.

Section 33-44-408(b) separately requires the company to furnish a member, without demand, business or affairs information reasonably required to exercise member rights and perform duties. Other business or affairs information is available on demand unless the demand or information is unreasonable or otherwise improper in the circumstances. The legal representative of a deceased member or member under legal disability also has the furnishing right. These rules do not divide ordinary member access by whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed.

Former members, copies and agreement

A former member and that person's agent or attorney may inspect records pertaining to the membership period for a proper purpose (§ 33-44-408(a)). A transferee who has not become a member cannot demand transactional information or inspect or copy company records merely by holding the distributional interest (§ 33-44-503(d)).

The company may charge for copies only a reasonable amount covering labor and material. A member may obtain a copy of any written operating agreement on written demand to the LLC, at company expense (§ 33-44-408(a), (c)). The general information demand under subsection (b)(2) has no specified written form or fixed response clock in that section.

What trips people up

The records route in § 33-44-408(a) concerns records the company has; subsection (b) concerns information it must furnish. A written demand is expressly required for the special company-paid operating agreement copy under subsection (c). The operating agreement may choose another reasonable access location, but § 33-44-103(b)(1) bars an unreasonable restriction on the statutory information and record rights.

Common questions

Can a former member inspect current records? Section 33-44-408(a) limits that person's route to records pertaining to the time of membership and requires a proper purpose.

Is there a statutory deadline for the company's answer? Section 33-44-408 imposes the access and furnishing duties without specifying a response period or a separate inspection-petition procedure.

Statutes and sources

S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-408

(a) A limited liability company shall provide members and their agents and attorneys access to its records, if any, at the company's principal office or other reasonable locations specified in the operating agreement. The company shall provide former members and their agents and attorneys access for proper purposes to records pertaining to the period during which they were members. The right of access provides the opportunity to inspect and copy records during ordinary business hours. The company may impose a reasonable charge, limited to the costs of labor and material, for copies of records furnished. (b) A limited liability company shall furnish to a member, and to the legal representative of a deceased member or member under legal disability: (1) without demand, information concerning the company's business or affairs reasonably required for the proper exercise of the member's rights and performance of the member's duties under the operating agreement or this chapter; and (2) on demand, other information concerning the company's business or affairs, except to the extent the demand or the information demanded is unreasonable or otherwise improper under the circumstances. (c) A member has the right upon written demand given to the limited liability company to obtain at the company's expense a copy of any written operating agreement.

Source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php (accessed 2026-09-26).

S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-103

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), all members of a limited liability company may enter into an operating agreement, which need not be in writing, to regulate the affairs of the company and the conduct of its business, and to govern relations among the members, managers, and company. To the extent the operating agreement does not otherwise provide, this chapter governs relations among the members, managers, and company. (b) The operating agreement may not: (1) unreasonably restrict a right to information or access to records under Section 33-44-408;

Source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php (accessed 2026-09-26).

S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-205

(c) Any person may sign a record to be filed under subsection (a) by an attorney-in-fact. Powers of attorney relating to the signing of records to be filed under subsection (a) by an attorney-in-fact need not be filed in the office of the Secretary of State as evidence of authority by the person filing but must be retained by the company.

Source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php (accessed 2026-09-26).

S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-503

(d) A transferee who does not become a member is not entitled to participate in the management or conduct of the limited liability company's business, require access to information concerning the company's transactions, or inspect or copy any of the company's records.

Source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php (accessed 2026-09-26).