The price of refusing to comply with FOIA
For the City of North Myrtle Beach, $47, 802. Some law enforcement agencies readily comply with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. Others stubbornly refuse, citing inapplicable exceptions in their response or sometimes not responding at all. The thing about FOIA is, if the agency refuses to comply and the party requesting the information is forced to file suit, the statute provides for an award of attorney fees to the requesting party.
At issue was a videotaped confrontation between Melissa Edge, the wife of state Rep. Tracy Edge and a former North Myrtle Beach police officer, which apparently shows Edge highly intoxicated, cursing, and threatening the former officer's job if he arrests her - ultimately the officer does not make the arrest and instead calls the congressman to come and pick her up. Following the confrontation, the city's former public safety director and the Sun News filed suit to obtain the videotape after the city refused to release it pursuant to FOIA.
Ultimately, the city paid $22,184 to it's own law firm to fight the lawsuit, $20,836 to Kenneth Moss, who represented Bailey, and $4,782 to The Sun News lawyer Jay Bender, after the circuit court found that the video is a public document and ordered the city to release it.
