Candidates, personal contact information

2025-2026 Bill 721: Candidates, personal contact information - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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S. 721
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Tedder
Document Path: LC-0293HDB26.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: Candidates, personal contact information
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/10/2025

Senate

Prefiled

12/10/2025

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary

1/13/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 31
)

1/13/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
Senate Journal-page 31
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/10/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE
"LEGISLATIVE PERSONAL PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT" BY ADDING ARTICLE 9 TO CHAPTER 2,
TITLE 30 SO AS TO PROVIDE A METHOD BY WHICH THE PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION OF
CURRENT AND FORMER LEGISLATORS IN DISCLOSED RECORDS ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
WEBSITES OF STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES MAY BE RESTRICTED UPON
REQUEST, TO PROVIDE FOR PETITIONS TO COURTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ARTICLE,
AND TO PREVENT LIABILITY FROM ACCRUING TO A STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL
EMPLOYEE.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 2, Title 30 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

A
rticle 9

L
egislative Personal Privacy Protection Act

S
ection
30-2-900
.
F
or purposes of this article:

(
1)
"Personal contact information" means the home address, personal cellular
telephone number, or tax map number, if applicable, of the eligible requesting
party.

(
2)
"Eligible requesting party" means a current or former member of the South
Carolina General Assembly who has filed a formal request under the provisions
of this article.

(
3)
"Disclosed records" means records accessible by a database or image of an
official record that are placed on a publicly available internet website
maintained by or operated on behalf of a state or local governmental agency.
Disclosed records for the purpose of this article do not include records
available for purchase or through an account, by registration or subscription,
from a state or local governmental agency.

S
ection
30-2-910
.
(
A) An eligible
requesting party's personal contact information in a disclosed record shall be
restricted on a publicly available internet website maintained by or operated
on behalf of the state or local governmental agency if the legislator:

(
1)
notifies the individual state or local governmental agency of the legislator's
choice to restrict public access to personal contact information in disclosed
records by submission of the designated form and any supplemental information
requested by the state or local governmental agency; and

(
2)
provides a notarized affidavit affirming the current or prior service as a legislator.

(
B) A
choice made under this article remains valid with the following exceptions:

(
1)
the legislator rescinds in writing the request to restrict public access to or
posting online of personal contact information and provides notice to the state
or local governmental agency;

(
2)
the state or local governmental agency discloses personal contact information
related to violations of law or regulation, as permitted by law;

(
3)
the legislator requests release of the legislator's personal contact
information from a state or local governmental agency for a specific purpose
and for a limited time;

(
4)
the personal contact information is included in a collision report or uniform
traffic ticket maintained and provided by the South Carolina Department of
Motor Vehicles, as permitted by law;

(
5)
the personal contact information is included on a business filing or Uniform
Commercial Code filing recorded with the South Carolina Secretary of State; or

(
6)
the eligible requesting party's request to restrict information does not apply
to a subsequent home address of the eligible requesting party. The eligible
requesting party is responsible for notifying, through the designated form,
each state or local governmental agency of a subsequent home address, and any
documents filed after the original request to restrict personal contact
information including, but not limited to, changes to the mortgage on a
property, or any change in personal contact information.

(
C)
Personal contact information provided under the provisions of this article may
be disclosed under subpoena, by order of the court, upon written consent of the
eligible legislator, or to another governmental agency.

(
D)
(
1) Personal contact information
restricted from disclosed records under this section must remain within the
official records held or maintained by a state or local governmental agency,
but may not be included in an index or displayed on an image of an official
record on a publicly available internet website maintained or operated on
behalf of a state or local governmental agency.

(
2)
In the event that a home address or tax map number cannot be restricted from a
disclosed record within an index or from being displayed on an image of an
official record on a publicly available internet website maintained or operated
on behalf of a state or local governmental agency, then the image of the
official record shall not be displayed and the state or local governmental
agency must restrict the home address or tax map number portion from the
display within the index, regardless of the location within the index.

(
E)
Any personal contact information must be restricted, if requested by an
eligible requesting party, from any disclosed record, including the designated
form used to notify the state or local governmental agency and supplemental
information requested by the state or local governmental agency, otherwise
eligible to be released under any other provision of law. The provisions of
this article must not be construed to prevent the disclosure of any other
otherwise public information allowed by law.

(
F) A
governmental agency that restricts or withholds information under this article
shall provide to a requestor a description of the restricted or withheld
information and a citation to this article.

(
G)
Personal contact information restricted pursuant to this article may be
disclosed to:

(
1)
a title insurer or its affiliate;

(
2)
a title insurance agent or agency;

(
3)
a personal representative of a deceased eligible requesting party;

(
4)
an attorney duly admitted to practice law in the State of South Carolina and in
good standing with the South Carolina Bar, or a person appointed in writing by
said attorney to receive the restricted information on his behalf; or

(
5)
a professional engineer or professional surveyor, as defined under Section
40-22-20
, or a person appointed in writing by said professional engineer or
professional surveyor to receive the restricted information on his behalf.

(
H)
The restricted status of a home address contained in the official records
within a county register of deeds is maintained only during the period when an
eligible requesting party resides at the dwelling location. Upon the conveyance
of real property that no longer constitutes an eligible request in the party's
home address, the eligible requesting party must submit the designated form to
release the restriction on personal contact information, including the home
address information, and a notarized affidavit affirming the designated form to
the county register of deeds.

(
I)
Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit access to otherwise
protected information in public records by applicable law including, but not
limited to, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. Section 2721, et
seq.) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681, et seq.).

S
ection
30-2-920
. Any eligible requesting party may petition the court for an order
directing compliance with this article. Liability may not accrue to a state or
local governmental employee or to his agents for claims or damages that arise
from personal contact information on the public record.

S
ECTION 2.
T
he Legislative Services Agency shall create the
designated form for legislators to use to request a state or local governmental
agency restrict public access to personal contact information in disclosed
records. The form shall include a disclaimer to inform the requesting party the
request is specific to the state or local governmental agency and will not be
provided to other entities or apply to changes in personal contact information.
The form must contain fields for the following:

(
1) the requesting
party's personal information including, but not limited to, legal name, date of
birth, home address, driver's license information, personal email address, and
where applicable, tax map numbers;

(
2) the dates of
service and status of service;

(
3) the location
of personal contact information in disclosed records by instrument number, book
and page number of the copy or image, docket number, file number, vehicle
identification number, or title number; and

(
4) an exception
section to notify a state or local governmental agency of rescission of the
request to restrict personal contact information and to permit disclosure of
personal contact information for a specific purpose and for a limited time.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 1:08 PM