Other (indicate in message) Submitted: February 20, 2023 | Updated: February 24, 2023

(February 2023) Request for Spartanburg County, SC Government: Total number of Black employees working in each office of the “County Administration Office”, as of 02/21/2023 (or present day).

Hello Spartanburg County, SC Government (Records Officer),

I'd like to make a public records request for the following information under South Carolina's Public Records Law / Freedom of Information act.

If such a record exists – Please provide the total number of Black employees working in each office of the “County Administration Office” located at 366 N. Church Street in Spartanburg, SC. As of 02/21/2023 or the present day (date the query is performed). If this data is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

** Please Note: I am simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am not asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under public records laws, statutes, etc. **
——————

Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to any request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations upfront, and do not proceed until I can respond.

I do not believe I am required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816

The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

Thank you for your assistance!

Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

02/20/23 Editor’s Note to Sender: We have not submitted a request to Spartanburg County, SC before, so we are not as familiar with records laws / fees in South Carolina as we are in North Carolina.

Please review the following information: https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/563/FOIA

We will submit our request using their FOIA form. However, please note the following —

☀️ Please note that we cannot pay any fees / associated costs related to any of the requests on our site. If it is not possible for a Government Agency to process our request without incurring fees, then it is the responsibility of that Agency to let us know what the potential costs may be — at which point we will ask that they cease processing the request. We will mark the request as “Completed” on our site, and the sender can contact the Government Agency directly, should they wish to further pursue a request.


Additional Note for Users: Sunshine Request does not control if / when Government entities will confirm receipt, begin processing, complete, or deny requests we submit to them via our website. If you would like to make a request that is time sensitive, we recommend that you reach out to the appropriate government entity directly for assistance with a request, rather than submitting through our site.

Sunshine Request is run by a very small team. Due to holidays, unforeseen events / scheduling conflicts, there may be times that we cannot publish or update requests for several days. We will do our best to process all requests as quickly as possible.

We review and send in requests to the appropriate entities as quickly as we are able, and it is up to the Government agency to determine the timeline and speed with which the request can be processed. We generally try to follow up on requests once every 1 – 2 weeks as we’re able, until the government agency has confirmed that the request has been received and is being processed (and there is some timeline for completion), and we will wait to follow up again during the time period they specify.

Please do not send us additional submissions asking that we “follow up on” a request on our site, or to ask for a status update on a request. If at any time you would like to track the status of your request, please “Search” for your request via the “Search box”, or by viewing the list of requests on the View All Requests page. Any updates we receive will be posted on our site as soon as we are able.

Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

Status: Completed

Activity:

  • February 24, 2023 1:30 pm

    1 year ago

    ** Editor’s Note to Sender. 02/24/2023:

     

    Please review the referenced file (”NOTICE-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-OF-REQUESTOR-COMMERCIAL-SOLICITATION.pdf”) at top left in our Documents section.

     

    Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) is an anonymous platform. We do not require any personal info to be submitted in order for our team to process requests. This means we also cannot verify who submits a request or how / if the responsive records may be used by the public.

     

    We do not send the results of requests directly to individuals, and we publish the results of all completed requests on our website. For this reason, we also cannot commit to sign Spartanburg’s form and to be held legally responsible for how public records are used (by anyone other than our 3-person team). We also cannot commit to pay any fees for making requests, including lawyer time to advise our team about filling out this particular form, at this time.

     

    We have now marked this request as “Completed” on our site. We encourage any future senders making records requests to Spartanburg County, SC to reach out to them directly for assistance.

     

    Thank you for using Sunshine Request!


    Status: Completed
  • February 24, 2023 11:24 am

    1 year ago

    from: Spartanburg County SC Public Records <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Feb 24, 2023, 11:24 AM
    subject: Your Spartanburg County, SC public records request #23-171 has been closed.

     

    Spartanburg County, SC Public Records

     

    Record request #23-171 has been closed.

     

    View Request 23-171

    https://spartanburg-county-sc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-171


    Status: Completed
  • February 24, 2023 11:09 am

    1 year ago

    **Editor’s Note: The message below was sent to Spartanburg County today via our account on their public records portal (NextRequest). We will continue to post any updates we receive here, on our own website. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

     

    Good Morning,

     

    Thanks very much for your reply.

     

    I’d ask that you go ahead and “Close” my records request at this time.

     

    I cannot commit to sign this form now or in the future, as I do not know how the information may be used by anyone in the public, other than our immediate 3-person team working at Sunshine Request.

     

    I have noted all of your replies, and all documentation you’ve sent me, on our website. If any future requestors would like to reach out to you directly to further pursue a request like this one, they are encouraged to do so.

     

    Thank you!


    Status: Completed
  • February 24, 2023 10:28 am

    1 year ago

    from: Spartanburg County SC Public Records <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Feb 24, 2023, 10:28 AM
    subject: [External Message Added] Spartanburg County, SC public records request #23-171

     

    Spartanburg County, SC Public Records

     

    A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-171:

     

    Dear Requestor:

    Thank you for your response and consideration.

    The requested acknowledgement is required.

    We would encourage you to consult legal counsel regarding steps that you should take to ensure that you do not create criminal liability for yourself by violating S.C. Code Section 30-2-50 directly or committing an act of criminal conspiracy through the operational plan of your entity.

    Thank you.

    COUNTY FOIA

    The Family Privacy Protection Act (South Carolina Code Annotated §30-2-50) prohibits any person or entity from knowingly obtaining or using any personal information obtained from the County for commercial solicitation directed to any person in the State. Violation of this law is a crime.

     

    View Request 23-171

    https://spartanburg-county-sc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-171


    Status: Clarification Provided
  • February 23, 2023 5:22 pm

    1 year ago

    **Editor’s Note: The message below was sent to Spartanburg County today via our account on their public records portal (NextRequest). We will continue to post any updates we receive here, on our own website. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

     

    Good Afternoon,

     

    Thank you for your reply.

     

    Perhaps I’m overthinking things. However, in order to further clarify my concern about signing this form, I’d like to explain a bit more about our organization and how the request is being made:

     

    Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) is a free community project built by our small team in Asheville, NC. We built this platform to make it easier for citizens to make public records requests. Our 3 person team serves as a proxy to submit requests. Every request we make, and all the emails / responsive documents we receive back, are posted publicly on our website for the benefit of the public. Meaning – this information is available to anyone on the internet.

     

    We allow users to anonymously submit requests for our team to fulfill, and we don’t know who specifically sends a request to our website. We don’t know what their intention may be for using any of the responsive records. In North Carolina that type of detail is not legally required in order to process requests.

     

    Therefore, we do have many policies in place about what types of requests we will and will not submit. And, we have a Code of Conduct on our website that asks users: “Please do not use Sunshine Request or any of the results of public records requests to harass government entities / employees, businesses, private citizens / individuals, or otherwise.”

     

    I want to make sure we understand and follow any legally required processes to have a request fulfilled by Spartanburg County, SC. However, the document and privacy disclaimer you’ve sent is a bit inapplicable to my exact situation. I personally have no control over how (or if) anyone other than the 3 members of our team uses the results of records requests we make. Once information is made public on our site, it is public to all of the internet as well. In the same way that once you publish results of completed Next Requests, they’re also made public to the internet.

     

    Our Team certainly has no plan to do anything with the records other than post them on our website, but I cannot vouch for anyone else in all of the internet who may contact your organization — so I don’t think I can sign this form? I cannot commit to be held legally responsible for any actions taken by anyone, other than the 3 people on our Team.

     

    Do you understand what I’m saying?

     

    I doubt that you will receive solicitation just for turning over records that list totals, not names, of employees, but I cannot promise that. If it is impossible to process the request without my signing this document, please let me know.

     

    I’ll consider my response from there.

     

    Thanks you for your help!


    Status: Clarification Requested
  • February 23, 2023 4:15 pm

    1 year ago

    from: Spartanburg County SC Public Records <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Feb 23, 2023, 4:15 PM
    subject: [External Message Added] Spartanburg County, SC public records request #23-171

     

    Spartanburg County, SC Public Records

     

    A message was sent to you regarding record request #23-171:

     

    Dear Requestor:

    Yes, the notice provided to you is required of all requestors. Section 30-2-50(C) of the S.C. Code of Laws requires all governmental entities to :take reasonable measures to ensure that no person or private entity obtains or distributes personal information obtained from a public record for commercial solicitation.”

    We have adopted use of the notice provided to you to ensure that all requestors are aware that using public records to make commercial solicitations is a criminal act and receive assurance that the records will not be applied to that purpose.

    COUNTY FOIA

    The Family Privacy Protection Act (South Carolina Code Annotated §30-2-50) prohibits any person or entity from knowingly obtaining or using any personal information obtained from the County for commercial solicitation directed to any person in the State. Violation of this law is a crime.

     

    View Request 23-171

    https://spartanburg-county-sc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-171


    Status: Clarification Provided
  • February 22, 2023 12:57 pm

    1 year ago

    **Editor’s Note: The message below was sent to Spartanburg County today via our account on their public records portal (NextRequest). We will continue to post any updates we receive here, on our own website. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

     

    Good Afternoon,

     

    Thanks for your reply.

     

    Before I can proceed, I’d like to ask if you can please further clarify and explain the necessity to sign the document you’ve provided?

     

    I’m not as familiar with South Carolina Public Records Laws as I am with North Carolina’s. Is this a standard practice of your agency to require a name / signature, on a legal document like the one you’ve provided, in order to process a records request? Or is this specific to me and my particular request?

     

    Additionally — Our Team at Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) are located in Asheville, NC. We help citizens to make public records requests on their behalf, and we posts the results of ALL requests, publicly on our site. I cannot possibly speak to what may be the reason or the intention for making this request.

     

    However, I’ll just point out that we’re not requesting personally identifying information (such as names) about employees, other than demographic info. So I’m not sure why it would be necessary to sign a form like this one:

     

    “The Family Privacy Protection Act (South Carolina Code Annotated §30-2-50) prohibits any person or entity from knowingly obtaining or using any personal information obtained from the County for commercial solicitation directed to any person in the State. Violation of this law is a crime.”

     

    I am explicitly requesting only high level data (totals only). I am not not asking to receive (and do not want to receive) names of specific employees.

     

    Thank you for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Clarification Requested
  • February 22, 2023 9:21 am

    1 year ago

    from: Spartanburg County SC Public Records <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Feb 22, 2023, 9:21 AM
    subject: [Document Released to Requester] Spartanburg County, SC public records request #23-171

     

    Spartanburg County, SC Public Records

     

    A document has been released for record request #23-171 along with the following message:

     

    Dear Requestor:

    To better monitor the use of certain requested information, a Notice and Acknowledgement of Requestor has been attached to this email for your review and signature. Please sign and return to County FOIA at your earliest convenience.

    COUNTY FOIA

    The Family Privacy Protection Act (South Carolina Code Annotated §30-2-50) prohibits any person or entity from knowingly obtaining or using any personal information obtained from the County for commercial solicitation directed to any person in the State. Violation of this law is a crime.

     

    NOTICE – ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF REQUESTOR – COMMERCIAL SOLICITATION.pdf

     

    View Request 23-171

    https://spartanburg-county-sc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-171

     

    Document links are valid for one month. After March 22, you will need to sign in to view the document(s).

    **Editor’s Note: Please see the referenced file (“NOTICE-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-OF-REQUESTOR-COMMERCIAL-SOLICITATION.pdf”) at top left in our Documents section.


    Status: Clarification Requested
  • February 21, 2023 4:37 pm

    1 year ago

    from: Spartanburg County SC Public Records <[email protected]>
    to: [email protected]
    date: Feb 21, 2023, 4:37 PM
    subject: Your first record request #23-171 has been opened.

     

    Spartanburg County, SC Public Records

     

    Your first Spartanburg County, SC record request (request number #23-171) has been submitted. It is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view.

     

    View Request 23-171

    https://spartanburg-county-sc.nextrequest.com/requests/23-171


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • February 21, 2023 4:38 pm

    1 year ago

    **Editor’s Note: This request was sent in via Spartanburg County’s public records portal, NextRequest. We will post any updates we receive here. Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

     

    Hello Spartanburg County, SC (Records Officer),

     

    I’d like to make a public records request for information that may be available in your office.

     

    If you’re not the appropriate party to contact about the request, please provide the correct name and email address of whom I should send it to.

     

    Please confirm receipt to let me know the request will begin processing, and if possible, please provide a rough estimate of when the request may be completed. I will plan on following up again in March if I have not heard back before then.

     

    Here are the details of the request:

     

    Subject: (February 2023) Request for Spartanburg County, SC Government: Total number of Black employees working in each office of the “County Administration Office”, as of 02/21/2023 (or present day).

     

    Message: “Hello Spartanburg County, SC Government (Records Officer),

     

    I’d like to make a public records request for the following information under South Carolina’s Public Records Law / Freedom of Information act.

     

    If such a record exists – Please provide the total number of Black employees working in each office of the “County Administration Office” located at 366 N. Church Street in Spartanburg, SC. As of 02/21/2023 or the present day (date the query is performed). If this data is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

     

    ** Please Note: I am simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am not asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under public records laws, statutes, etc. **

    ——————

     

    Please note that by submitting this request, I am NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to any request. If it is not possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations upfront, and do not proceed until I can respond.

     

    I do not believe I am required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

     

    Sunshine Request

    PO Box 17391

    Asheville, NC 28816

     

    The request has been sent solely from the email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

     

    Thank you for your assistance!”

     

    Thank you!

     

    ** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.


    Status: Sent to Government
  • February 20, 2023 3:09 pm

    1 year ago

    Submitted to Sunshine Request
    Status: Pending