Archives > 1976 South Carolina Code of Laws - Previous Versions > 2006 Session > Title 10

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Title 10 - Public Buildings and Property

CHAPTER 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 10-1-10. Care of State House and State House grounds.

The State Budget and Control Board shall keep, landscape, cultivate and beautify the State House and State House grounds with authority to expend such amounts as may be annually appropriated therefor. The Board shall employ all help and labor in policing, protecting and caring for the State House and State House grounds and shall have full authority over them.

SECTION 10-1-20. Annual report as to care of State House and State House grounds.

The State Budget and Control Board shall report to the General Assembly annually all its acts and doings in the improvement of said grounds, together with an itemized statement of all money expended.

SECTION 10-1-30. Use of State House lobbies, steps and other public buildings and grounds.

The Director of the Division of General Services of the State Budget and Control Board may authorize the use of the State House lobbies, the State House steps and grounds, and other public buildings and grounds in accordance with regulations promulgated by the board. The director shall obtain the approval of the Clerk of the Senate before authorizing any use of the Gressette Building and shall obtain the approval of the Clerk of the House of Representatives before authorizing any use of the Blatt Building. The regulations must contain provisions to insure that the public health, safety, and welfare will be protected in the use of the areas including reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions and application periods before use. If sufficient measures cannot be taken to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the director shall deny the requested use. Other restrictions may be imposed on the use of the areas as are necessary for the conduct of business in those areas and the maintenance of the dignity, decorum, and aesthetics of the areas.

SECTION 10-1-40. State House Committee.

There is hereby established a committee to be known as the "State House Committee", consisting of five members of the Senate, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and five members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker, whose duties shall be to review all proposals for alterations and/or renovations to the State House. No alterations or renovations shall be undertaken without the approval of this committee.

SECTION 10-1-45. Improvements or additions to State House.

Improvements and additions to the State House must be recommended or approved by the State House Committee of the General Assembly, and that bidding, executing, and carrying out of contracts must be in accordance with standing regulations and procedures for any other work of the same type applicable to agencies and institutions of state government.

SECTION 10-1-50. Agencies housed in State office building shall pay rent; disposition of revenue derived.

The State Budget and Control Board is hereby directed to require that all State or Federal agencies to be housed in the new State office building shall pay rent therefor at a square foot rate to be determined by the State Budget and Control Board, such rent to begin on and continue after July 1, 1965. The revenue derived from the rental paid for space in the said building shall be used by the State Budget and Control Board to apply to the amortization of the cost of the said building, the new office and laboratory building of the Department of Health, and Environmental Control, the purchase of the Standard Oil building on Gervais Street, the equipment for and renovation of the other State office buildings, and for certain other parcels of land previously bought for the account of the State sinking funds in connection with the building program cited above. The total expenditures for which this program is provided shall not exceed the sum of six million five hundred thousand dollars. The amortization of this debt shall be on the basis of three per cent interest for a period of twenty-five years.

SECTION 10-1-55. Local governments demanding rent from state agencies; state aid reduction.

A local government entity which demands payment of rent or lease payments from a state agency or institution, unless approved by that state agency, must have deducted from that local government's State Aid to Subdivisions allocation an amount equal to one hundred ten percent of the amount charged. The state agency must be reimbursed the actual amount paid and the balance must be credited to the general fund of the State from the portion of the allocation deducted.

SECTION 10-1-70. Roofs of public buildings.

Every public building erected, enlarged or reroofed after May 27, 1936, whether owned by the State or a county or school district, shall have the roof of such building and also the roof top and sides of all roof structures, including dormer windows, covered with fireproof and incombustible material.

SECTION 10-1-75. Smoke actuated door closers on patient rooms in institutional facilities licensed by State agencies.

Whenever any patient room in any institutional facility licensed by a State agency is equipped with an approved smoke detecting system and provided that the facility is equipped with an approved automatic fire extinguishing system, smoke actuated door closers shall not be required on patient room doors opening into the corridor.

SECTION 10-1-100. Public construction projects shall provide for antipollution devices.

All invitations for bid proposals for construction projects (but not including South Carolina Highway Department projects) issued by the State, its authorities, commissions, departments, committees or agencies, or any political subdivision of the State, shall set forth in the contract documents, to the extent they are reasonably obtainable by the public awarding authority, those provisions of Federal, State and local statutes, ordinances and regulations dealing with the prevention of environmental pollution and the preservation of public natural resources that affect or are affected by the projects. If the successful bidder must undertake additional work which was not specified in the invitation for bid proposals or which are due to the enactment of new or the amendment of existing statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations occurring after the submission of the successful proposal, the awarding agency shall issue a change order, setting forth the additional work that must be undertaken, which shall not invalidate the contract. The cost of such a change order to the awarding agency shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the contract for change orders or force accounts and that such additional costs to undertake work not specified in the contract documents shall not be approved unless written authorization is given the successful bidder/contractor prior to his undertaking such additional activity. In the event of a dispute between the awarding agency and the successful bidder/contractor, arbitration procedures may be commenced under the applicable terms of the construction contract under the provisions of Chapter 47, Title 15.

SECTION 10-1-105. Buildings constructed with public funds to include windows which can be opened.

Whereas, state office buildings have been constructed recently with windows that cannot be opened; therefore, heating or air conditioning equipment is in use most all of the time causing use of electrical energy which could be avoided; and

Whereas, it is incumbent upon the General Assembly to do everything within its power to help alleviate the ever-present energy crisis and having windows which could be conveniently opened to let fresh air in would help to some extent in conserving energy. Now, therefore:

Unless agreed to by the State Budget and Control Board, any building constructed with the state funds shall include windows which may be conveniently opened.

SECTION 10-1-110. State Board of Education must approve certain contracts not awarded to lowest bidder.

Where bids are received as a result of advertisement for the construction of public buildings to be built with funds furnished by the State Board of Education and the lowest bid is rejected and another accepted, any contract based on the bid shall be subject to the approval of the State Board of Education.

SECTION 10-1-130. State institutions and agencies may grant easements and rights of way on consent of Budget and Control Board.

The trustees or governing bodies of State institutions and agencies may grant easements and rights of way over any property under their control, upon the concurrence and acquiescence of the State Budget and Control Board, whenever it appears that such easements will not materially impair the utility of the property or damage it and, when a consideration is paid therefor, any such amounts shall be placed in the State Treasury to the credit of the institution or agency having control of the property involved.

SECTION 10-1-135. Encroachments on state-owned lands of natural significance.

For easements, rights-of-way, or any other encroachment on or over any state park, state forest, state historic area, state wildlife refuge or preserve, Heritage Trust Site, or other state-owned lands of natural significance the responsible management agency shall, in addition to the provisions of Section 10-1-130, make the following determinations prior to requesting approval from the State Budget and Control Board:

(a) There is an important public necessity for the encroachment;

(b) Alternative routes or locations not on state property are neither prudent nor feasible, and the proposed encroachment is not disruptive of the existing or planned uses of the state property;

(c) The entity responsible for the encroachment shall make reasonable mitigation of the impacts of the proposed encroachment, upon the recommendation of the governing body of the responsible management agency.

SECTION 10-1-140. Responsibility for personal property of State departments, agencies and institutions.

The head of each department, agency, or institution of this State is responsible for all personal property under his supervision and each fiscal year shall make an inventory of all property under his supervision, except expendables.

SECTION 10-1-150. Accounting for expenses of public buildings.

All expenditures from amounts specified in appropriations for expenses in connection with the public buildings of the State shall be itemized and verified by the contractors and certified to by the respective officers in charge thereof.

SECTION 10-1-160. Display of certain flags.

(A) The United States flag and the State flag shall be flown daily, except in rainy weather, from a staff upon the State House, and shall be displayed above the rostrum in the chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate and in the first floor north foyer of the State House. No other flag shall be displayed in these locations or atop the dome or roof, or within the foyers or common or public areas within the capitol building. The State Budget and Control Board shall purchase suitable flags for display at the State House locations and cause them to be displayed, the expense to be borne out of the funds appropriated to it.

(B) The provisions of this section may only be amended or repealed upon passage of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the General Assembly.

(C) The term "chambers" of the House or Senate for purposes of this section does not include individual members' offices. The provisions of this section do not prohibit a private individual on the capitol complex grounds from wearing as a part of his clothing or carrying or displaying any type of flag including a Confederate Flag.

SECTION 10-1-161. State Capitol Building flags flown at half-staff.

(A) On Memorial Day the flags, which are flown atop the State Capitol Building, must be displayed at half-staff until noon, then raised to the top of the staff.

(B) To honor and pay tribute to the following public officials the flags which are flown atop the State Capitol Building must be lowered to half-staff on the day on which funeral services are conducted for these public officials:

(1) current and past members of the United States Congress from the State of South Carolina;

(2) current constitutional officers of the State of South Carolina;

(3) former Governors and Lieutenant Governors of the State of South Carolina;

(4) current members of the South Carolina General Assembly;

(5) current members of the South Carolina Supreme Court; and

(6) current and former Presidents of the United States.

(C) As contained in this section, "half-staff"means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff.

(D) In addition to the public officials enumerated in subsection (B), flags atop the State Capitol Building must be lowered to half-staff on the day when funeral services are conducted for members of the United States military services who were residents of South Carolina and who lost their lives in the line of duty while in combat.

(E) The flags atop the State Capitol Building must be flown at half-staff for a period of thirty days from the date of death of the President or a former President; for a period of ten days from the date of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice, or a retired Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, or the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; and from the date of death through the date of interment of an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, or a secretary of a federal executive or military department, or a former Vice President.

(F) Upon the occurrence of an extraordinary event resulting in death or upon the death of a person of extraordinary stature, the Governor may order that the flags atop the State Capitol Building be lowered to half-staff at a designated time or for a designated period of time.

(G) The Governor may order the flags atop the State Capitol Building to be lowered to half-staff for the same designated time when an act of the United States Congress or a presidential order is issued to lower flags to half-staff over federal buildings.

(H) The flags atop the State Capitol Building, when flown at half-staff must first be hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flags must be again raised to the peak before they are lowered for the day.

SECTION 10-1-163. Location of portraits, flags, banners, monuments, statues, and plaques removed from State House during renovations; payment of costs of removal and return.

(A) All portraits, flags, banners, monuments, statues, and plaques which were in or on the State House on May 1, 1995, which may be removed from the State House during renovations must be returned to their original location when the State House is reoccupied. Cost for removing and returning these items must be paid from the funds of the State Budget and Control Board for maintenance. When all portraits, flags, banners, monuments, statues, and plaques are returned to their original location after the renovations are completed, the location of these items must not be changed in the chambers of the House of Representatives unless approved by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and in the chambers of the Senate unless approved by an absolute majority of the Senate members. The location of all portraits, flags, banners, monuments, statues, and plaques located outside of the respective chambers must not be changed unless approved by an act passed by the General Assembly. For purposes of this subsection, "original location" means the general vicinity or at an alternative location if the wall or structure is removed or modified such that the portrait, flag, banner, monument, statue, or plaque cannot be returned to its original location.

(B) All costs for the display, cleaning, and restoration of all portraits, flags, banners, monuments, statues, and plaques on the exterior or interior of the State House except those inside the Senate and House Chambers must be paid from the accounts of General Services, Division of the State Budget and Control Board unless otherwise directed by the General Assembly.

SECTION 10-1-165. Protection of certain monuments and memorials.

(A) No Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, War Between the States, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War, Native American, or African-American History monuments or memorials erected on public property of the State or any of its political subdivisions may be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered. No street, bridge, structure, park, preserve, reserve, or other public area of the State or any of its political subdivisions dedicated in memory of or named for any historic figure or historic event may be renamed or rededicated. No person may prevent the public body responsible for the monument or memorial from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation, and care of these monuments, memorials, or nameplates.

(B) The provisions of this section may only be amended or repealed upon passage of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the General Assembly.

SECTION 10-1-170. Memorial in honor of South Carolina war dead, prisoners of war, servicemen missing in action, and veterans.

A. The Division of General Services and the South Carolina Arts Commission are authorized to erect a memorial on the State House grounds in honor of the South Carolina war dead who served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam as well as the prisoners of war and those missing in action and in appreciation for those South Carolinians who have served our State and nation honorably in the armed forces at the site designated in the feasibility study made by the Division of General Services dated April 25, 1983.

B. In order to carry out the purposes of this section the Division of General Services is authorized to accept gifts or grants of services, properties, or monies from posts or chapters of nationally organized and recognized organizations of war veterans or any other private organization or persons.

C. The Arts Commission and the Division of General Services shall cooperate with the S. C. Veterans Monument Association as to the design, selection, and construction of the monument to be erected and shall be authorized to use such funds as necessary out of the state Sinking Fund, not to exceed three hundred thousand dollars.

SECTION 10-1-175. Law enforcement officer memorial.

(A) In addition to the memorial on the State House grounds authorized to be erected to honor South Carolina war dead as provided in Section 10-1-170, the Division of General Services is also authorized to erect a memorial on the State House grounds at an appropriate location it determines to honor state or local law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

(B) In order to carry out the purposes of this section, the Division of General Services is authorized to accept gifts or grants of services, properties, or monies from law enforcement support organizations or from any other private persons or organizations.

SECTION 10-1-178. African-American History Monument.

There is hereby established on the grounds of the State House an African-American History Monument. The design and location of the monument shall be determined by the commission appointed pursuant to Section 10-1-179. The commission shall make reasonable efforts to incorporate all eras of African-American history in the design. The monument shall be erected as soon as is reasonably possible after it is approved by the General Assembly by concurrent resolution and the State House Renovation Project is completed.

SECTION 10-1-179. African-American History Monument Commission; museum; dissolution of commission.

(A) An African-American History Monument Commission is created to determine the design of the monument and to determine the location of the monument on the State House grounds. The commission is empowered and directed to raise private funds and to receive gifts and grants to carry out the purpose for which it is created. The commission in this regard shall have the power to cause to be created a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation the purpose of which shall be to receive and disburse funds for the African-American History Monument. The staff of the State Budget and Control Board shall assist the commission with the preparation and maintenance of financial records for the purpose of ensuring proper accounting of the records. The financial records are public records for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, except that the names of anonymous donors shall not be disclosed.

By April 1, 1997, the commission shall report the proposed design and location of the monument to the State House Committee for its approval. After action by the committee approving the design and location, the State House Committee shall cause to be introduced the concurrent resolution serving as the instrument of approval as provided in Section 1 of this act. The State shall ensure proper maintenance of the monument as is done for other historical monuments on the State House grounds.

Four members of the commission must be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, four members must be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and one member must be appointed by the Governor. Notwithstanding Section 8-13-770 of the 1976 Code, members of the General Assembly may be appointed to this commission. One of the members appointed by the President Pro Tempore must be a Senator and one of the members appointed by the Speaker must be a member of the House of Representatives.

The commission shall elect a chairman, vice chairman, and such other officers as it deems appropriate from among its membership. The senior senator of the commission shall call an organizational meeting for the purpose of electing officers and such other matters as may arise. Commission members are not entitled to receive the subsistence, mileage, and per diem otherwise provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions.

(B) The commission also shall study the feasibility of establishing an African-American History Museum analogous to the Confederate Relic Room and make recommendations with respect to its findings on this subject to the State House Committee. This new museum shall collect and display historical artifacts and other items reflecting African-American history in this State. A preliminary report on this study must be made to the State House Committee no later than April 1, 1997, and a final report and recommendation on this study must be made by January 1, 2001.

(C) The commission established pursuant to this act is dissolved on January 1, 2001. However, the commission must be dissolved earlier if both the monument is dedicated and the final report is made before January 1, 2001, in which case the commission must be dissolved on the date of the later occurring event of the dedication of the monument or the receipt of the final report. If the African-American History Monument has not been dedicated by January 1, 2001, the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the African-American History Monument Commission shall be devolved upon the State House Committee.

SECTION 10-1-180. Expenditure of funds by state agency subject to approval and regulation of State Budget and Control Board; exception.

The expenditure of funds by any state agency, except the Department of Transportation for permanent improvements as defined in the state budget, is subject to approval and regulation of the State Budget and Control Board. The board shall have authority to allot to specific projects from funds made available for such purposes, such amounts as are estimated to cover the respective costs of such projects, to declare the completion of any such projects, and to dispose, according to law, of any unexpended balances of allotments, or appropriations, or funds otherwise provided for such projects, upon the completion thereof. The approval of the Budget and Control Board is not required for minor construction projects, including renovations and alterations, where the cost does not exceed an amount determined by the Joint Bond Review Committee and the Budget and Control Board.

All construction, improvement, and renovation of state buildings shall comply with the applicable standards and specifications set forth in each of the following codes: The Standard Building Code, The Standard Existing Building Code, The Standard Gas Code, The Standard Mechanical Code, The Standard Plumbing Code and The Standard Fire Prevention Code, all as adopted by the Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc.; and the National Electrical Code NFPA 70, The National Electrical Safety Code-ANSI-C2, The National Fire Protection Association Standard-NFPA 59, all with the code editions, revision years, and deletions as specified in the Manual For Planning and Execution of State Permanent Improvements. The State Engineer shall determine the enforcement and interpretation of the aforementioned codes and referenced standards on state buildings. Any interested local officials shall coordinate their comments related to state buildings through the State Engineer and shall neither delay construction nor delay or deny water, sewer, power, other utilities, or firefighting services. Agencies may appeal to the Director of Office of General Services regarding the application of these codes to state buildings.

SECTION 10-1-190. State Budget and Control Board may apply net proceeds from trade of property to the improvement of property.

As part of the approval process relating to trades of state property for nonstate property, the Budget and Control Board is authorized to approve the application of any net proceeds resulting from such a transaction to the improvement of the property held by the board.

SECTION 10-1-200. Regulation of parking facilities owned or controlled by agencies of state government.

Parking facilities owned or controlled by agencies of the state government must be regulated as follows:

(1) The State Budget and Control Board is director to establish and collect a schedule of charges for the use of the parking facilities in the Capitol Complex and other individually assigned spaces in state-owned parking lots and facilities administered by the Budget and Control Board. Proceeds of these charges, except where the proceeds are pledged to the retirement of indebtedness or to expenses related to the provision of the facilities, must be deposited in the General Fund of the State. The schedule of charges shall include charges for a fixed number of parking spaces to both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the McEachern Parking Facility in an area adjacent to each respective body's office building, sufficient to provide spaces for all members of the General Assembly and all permanent employees of the Senate and House of Representatives and Joint Legislative Committees as determined by the respective operations and management committees of the body.

(2) Any agency or institution of the state government owning or controlling parking facilities, excluding the South Carolina Educational Television Commission and the Department of Agriculture when receiving revenues from parking during University football games, at its discretion, subject to approval of the Budget and Control Board, may charge such rates as it considers appropriate for the use of such facilities, except where these proceeds are pledged to the retirement of bonded indebtedness, and shall deposit the proceeds to the credit of the General Fund of the State.

(3) Any unauthorized motor vehicle parked in a reserved space on state-owned or controlled property may be removed and the cost involved in removing and storing the vehicle must be paid by the owner of the vehicle.

SECTION 10-1-205. Computers in public libraries; regulation of Internet access.

A computer which:

(1) is located in a lending library supported by public funds, public school library or media arts center, or in the library of a public institution of higher learning as defined in Section 59-103-5;

(2) can access the Internet; and

(3) is available for use by the public or students, or both;

shall have its use policies determined by the library's or center's governing boards, as appropriate. The governing boards must adopt policies intended to reduce the ability of the user to access web sites displaying information or material in violation of Article 3 of Chapter 15 of Title 16.

SECTION 10-1-206. Library pilot program for internet filtering software.

(A)(1) A pilot program is hereby established to assess the feasibility of installing Internet filtering software in libraries or institutions as defined in Section 10-1-205, if funding is available.

(2) The Budget and Control Board shall be responsible for implementing this program and selecting appropriate filtering software. A minimum of three filtering software programs shall be tested.

(B)(1) The Budget and Control Board shall request institutions to voluntarily participate in the pilot program. Pilot areas shall be located in the upstate, midstate, and lowcountry areas of South Carolina. The board shall make every effort to ensure that one public school and one public library in each area are selected. Participating institutions must already have filtering software in place that meets the requirements of item (2) of this subsection or agree to install recommended filtering software purchased by the State.

(2) Participating institutions in the pilot area must equip Internet accessible computers with one of the software filtering devices provided by the Budget and Control Board, if not equipped, as provided by (B)(1). This software must incorporate web-filtering technology designed to eliminate or reduce the ability of the computer to access web sites displaying pornographic pictures or any other obscene material as defined by law. Selected software must be able to distinguish between pornographic and obscene web sites and medical research web sites.

(C) The Budget and Control Board shall be responsible for evaluating this program. The evaluation shall be based on the following criteria:

(1) the filtering programs' ability to limit or restrict access to sources of information or images that are considered obscene including hard-core pornography and child pornography;

(2) the filtering programs' ability to limit or restrict access to sources of pornographic information or images that could be obscene as to minors or harmful to minors; and

(3) the filtering programs' ability to successfully access and not filter legitimate research sites.

(D) Any person blocked from an Internet site he believes contains material that does not meet the criteria listed in items (1) or (2) of subsection (C) above, and desires to access such Internet site, may make a request that the institution unblock the specified site. If the institution determines that the site does not fall within the criteria listed in items (1) or (2) of subsection (C), the institution shall unblock such Internet site. An adult patron may request unfiltered access to the Internet for serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific purposes, and the institution may temporarily disable the blocking software for such purposes.

(E) The pilot program shall take effect on the effective date of this section and shall expire on June 29, 2001. By December 1, 2001, the board shall report its findings to the General Assembly.

(F) Medical schools are exempt from the pilot program.