The office of South Carolina fifth circuit solicitor Dan Johnson is under fire after a new watchdog website posted dozens of documents suggesting fiscal mismanagement on the part of the agency and its employees.
The website – PAPR.org – posted documents obtained via the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws related to “audits, budgets, bank records, credit card statements, accounting records, check requests and receipts, and records pertaining to vendors tasked with managing programs that generate fees” for Johnson’s office.
The fifth circuit covers Richland and Kershaw counties, including much of the Columbia, S.C. metropolitan area.
The trove of documents – which we are just now beginning to digest – can be accessed here.
PAPR (Public Access to Public Records) is a website “dedicated to shining a light on the actions of South Carolina public officials and agencies.”
“Our mission is to promote public access to public records, as well as protect and strengthen the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act and other public disclosure laws that enable citizens to fully exercise their right to know how their government works on their behalf,” the site’s mission statement noted.
Multiple state lawmakers have reached out to S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) chief Mark Keel and requested his agency launch an immediate investigation into the information contained on the website.
No word yet on how Keel will handle those requests.
Developing …
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