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In 2009 the General Assembly passed legislation (H 3352) requiring all school districts to post a transaction register online, as well as a copy of the district’s monthly credit card statement. Initially, school districts had until October 2009 to comply with the new law, but the deadline was extended to June 30, 2010, after some districts asked for more time.
As reported by The Nerve, 70 percent—61 out of 85 school districts—of the state’s school districts have posted their check registers online.
Countywide compliance, however, is not as good. Only 29 counties (out of 46) can boast that all of their school districts have posted the required spending data. Counties home to school districts that have yet to comply with the law include: Greenville, Lexington (District One and District Five), and Dorchester (District Four).
Even worse, many counties are still not making basic financial statements available online—for instance, by posting their county-level Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). Currently, only 25 out of 46 of South Carolina’s counties have posted their most recent CAFR online. Moreover, only 7 counties have created online check registers.
Check out the table below to see how your county and school district are doing in terms of fiscal transparency:
| County | CAFR online? | All school district check registers online? | County check register online? |
| Abbeville | YES | YES | NO |
| Aiken | YES | YES | YES |
| Allendale | NO | YES | NO |
| Anderson | YES | YES | YES |
| Bamberg | NO | NO | NO |
| Barnwell | NO | YES | NO |
| Beaufort | YES | YES | NO |
| Berkeley | YES | YES | NO |
| Calhoun | NO | YES | NO |
| Charleston | YES | YES | YES |
| Cherokee | NO | YES | NO |
| Chester | NO | YES | NO |
| Chesterfield | NO | YES | NO |
| Clarendon | YES | NO | NO |
| Colleton | YES | YES | NO |
| Darlington | YES | YES | NO |
| Dillon | NO | NO | NO |
| Dorchester | YES | NO | YES |
| Edgefield | YES | NO | NO |
| Fairfield | NO | NO | NO |
| Florence | YES | YES | NO |
| Georgetown | YES | YES | NO |
| Greenville | YES | NO | YES |
| Greenwood | YES | NO | NO |
| Hampton | NO | YES | NO |
| Horry | YES | YES | YES |
| Jasper | NO | YES | NO |
| Kershaw | YES | NO | NO |
| Lancaster | NO | YES | NO |
| Laurens | NO | NO | NO |
| Lee | NO | YES | NO |
| Lexington | YES | NO | NO |
| Marion | NO | YES | NO |
| Marlboro | NO | NO | NO |
| McCormick | NO | NO | NO |
| Newberry | YES | NO | NO |
| Oconee | YES | YES | NO |
| Orangeburg | YES | NO | NO |
| Pickens | YES | YES | NO |
| Richland | YES | NO | YES |
| Saluda | NO | NO | NO |
| Spartanburg | YES | YES | NO |
| Sumter | NO | YES | NO |
| Union | NO | YES | NO |
| Williamsburg | YES | YES | NO |
| York | YES | YES | NO |
| TOTAL “YES” counties | 26 | 29 | 7 |
| TOTAL “NO” counties | 20 | 17 | 39 |
| PERCERTANGE “YES” counties | 57% | 63% | 15% |
Nothing in the foregoing should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder passage of any legislation.