‘There is a pattern’: Horry County breaking the law in fee estimates, lawsuit says
Horry County has a pattern of inflating Freedom of Information Act request fees in violation of state law, a Cornell University law student alleges in a lawsuit.
Emily Christianson filed the lawsuit against the county on Thursday afternoon.
“There is a pattern of inflating FOIA request fees in Horry County that violates the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act,” Christianson says in the filing.
The suit relates to her January request from the County Clerk of Court’s office about homicides in Horry County.
Christianson visited the clerk’s office in person and an employee said the records were available online. The employee also said she would email the requested information without a FOIA request -- therefore without fees.
However, later that day Christianson received an email saying she would need to file a FOIA request for the information, the suit claims.
The employee told Christianson there was personal information that would need to be redacted before being shared, the suit says.
The student sent a FOIA that listed 211 case numbers related to homicides and sought warrants, sentencing sheets and indictments, according to the filing.
Six days after sending the request, Kelly Brosky, with the Horry County Office of Public Information, sent an email that estimated a cost of more than $2,000 to fulfill the request.
Christianson asked for information on how the cost was calculated and Brosky wrote back “the fees assessed are in compliance with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act,” the suit states. Christianson asked for an itemized list of reasons and said she was using the information for educational purposes. Brosky responded with the same answer.
Christianson then filed a FOIA request for emails about her request and Brosky cited a $25 fee to meet that request, the filing states.
One of the emails between a member of the Clerk’s office and Brosky said it would take a week’s worth of time and estimated the cost between $1,500 and $2,000.
The suit says the state’s FOIA law calls for public officials to provide information at a “minimum cost.”
Christianson said the county is charging fees that exceed the actual cost of the search and redaction work, which is required under state law.
The county estimates a $25 an hour cost for FOIA searches. That information is posted online. Christianson calculated that based on Brosky’s $2,000 estimate at $25 an hour, it would take about 85 hours of work to meet her request. That is despite an email that estimated a week’s worth of work, the filing states.
The suit also alleges that even the week’s worth of work estimate to redact one line of information in the requested documents is excessive.
Christianson’s filing also references a January article in The Sun News. The report details a similar experience when The Sun News asked for information and was assessed a $75,000 fee. A newspaper calculation based on the same $25 an hour fee, estimated the cost should be less than $9,350. Brosky again told the newspaper the estimate was in compliance with state law.
Greenwood-based attorney Charles Grose represents Christianson and provided a statement about the lawsuit.
“Courts in South Carolina are open to the public, and the public has the right to review and obtain copies of public court records. Horry County wants to impose unreasonable fees for access and copying these records. Discouraging the public from accessing these records appears to be the County’s purpose for imposing these fees, which is precisely what the Freedom of Information Act seeks to avoid. Ms. Christianson hopes Horry County will reconsider its policy. We look forward to the Court deciding this issue.”
Horry County Spokeswoman Kelly Moore said its policy not to comment on pending litigation.
This story was originally published April 12, 2019 at 11:14 AM with the headline "‘There is a pattern’: Horry County breaking the law in fee estimates, lawsuit says."
