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General Information - Legal

Procurement Law Basics

Click here to access the Consolidated Procurement Code, the State's procurement regulations, an index of both, and a list of procurement exemptions.

Ethics Act & Public Contracts

The State's standard bidding instructions require that each offeror certify that it has and will comply with, and has not, and will not, induce a person to violate the ethics laws appearing in Title 8, Chapter 13 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. To access a complete copy of South Carolina's ethics statutes, click here.

For those involved in public contracts, the following sections require special attention:
Section 8-13-700, regarding use of official position for financial gain
Section 8-13-705, regarding gifts to influence action of public official
Section 8-13-720, regarding offering money for advice or assistance of public official
Sections 8-13-755 and 8-13-760, regarding restrictions on employment by former public official
Section 8-13-775, prohibiting public official with economic interests from acting on contracts
Section 8-13-790, regarding recovery of kickbacks
Section 8-13-1150, regarding statements to be filed by consultants
Section 8-13-1342, regarding restrictions on contributions by contractor to candidate who participated in awarding of contract

For a distinct but related rule regarding gifts to government agencies, please see Regulation 19-445.2165

FOIA Guides

SFAA publishes two guides with recommendations to assist procurement officers in the State's Division of Procurement Services in fulfilling their responsibiities under South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. One guide describes how to respond to a document request during the procurement process. The other describes how to conduct meetings of advisory, evaluation, and selection committees.

Illegal Immigration & Public Contracts

An overview of how the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act effects public contracts is available at www.procurement.sc.gov/immigration

Protest Process Overview

The following attachments provide an overview of the protest procedures, including any hearings conducted as part of the administrative process.

Introduction to Protests
Panel Procedural Rules (Revised December 2012)

Protective Orders

Pursuant to Regulation 19-445.2200, outside attorneys for any party to a pending protest or contract controversy may request that the applicable Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) enter a protective order that would allow the inspection of material otherwise protected from disclosure by law. Requests should be sent to the CPO directly or to protest-itmo@itmo.sc.gov, protest-mmo@mmo.sc.gov, or protest-OSE@mmo.sc.gov, whichever is applicable. The CPO has discretion to approve or deny requests for a protective order and to tailor its scope. Applications from a party’s in-house counsel will not be approved.

If the CPO issues a protective order, outside attorneys, independent consultants engaged by the outside attorney, and the employees of both may apply to view the materials. Each individual must make a separate application. Applications must be submitted to the CPO who issued the protective order. A protective order will only be issued if an intent to protest, protest, or a contract controversy has already been filed and is still pending before the CPO.