Committee approves amendments to Act 56 changes for restricting online records of law-enforcement and judiciary

Senate Bill 126 would revise portions of 2023's Act 56 to clarify how county and state agencies restrict access to certain personal contact information for judges and law-enforcement officers on publicly available online records. The Judiciary Subcommittee adopted an amendment and voted the measure out favorably.

Committee staff said the bill and its amendment are intended to distinguish the official, permanent record that counties maintain in courthouses from the image or data displayed online; the amendment strikes "name" from the definition of "personal contact information" and focuses restrictions on home addresses and tax map numbers in online disclosures. The amendment also specifies that an eligible requesting party must submit a designated form, to be created by court administration with the Criminal Justice Academy, and may provide supplemental information the local or state agency needs to process the request.

Multiple county register of deeds and land-title representatives testified. Julie Stutz, Aiken County register of deeds, and Margaret Bailey, Dorchester County register and president of the South Carolina Clerks of Court and Registers of Deeds Association, supported the amendment, saying it resolved county implementation concerns by limiting changes to online records and not altering the permanent official documents. Don (Dawn) Watkins of the Palmetto Land Title Association and other title-industry witnesses said the amendment makes Act 56 workable and protects those intended to be shielded while preserving necessary access for real-estate transactions.

The amendment added exceptions: personal contact information in UCC filings with the Secretary of State would not be restricted; restrictions do not automatically cover subsequent moves unless a new request is filed; government-to-government disclosures remain allowed; and certain professional/industry classes (title insurers, attorneys, professional engineers and surveyors) may be eligible to receive restricted information when appropriate. The bill also includes a procedure for petitioning a court to compel compliance when necessary and protects individual employees from personal liability where restricted information appears on an official record.

Senator Johnson, the bill sponsor from York, and the committee credited staff work resolving stakeholder concerns. The committee adopted the amendment by voice vote and reported the bill favorably to the full committee.