Honea Path, SC| Tuesday Evening The Mayor of Honea Path held a special meeting for the Town to hire a new Town Attorney. Former Town Attorney Jimmy King of King Law Firm in Anderson, SC, abruptly resigned on Sunday, October 27, 2024, per Mayor Christopher Burton. BUT WHY? Upstatenewstoday.com sent a very lengthy Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to the Town of Honea Path on Friday, October 18, 2024. Nine days after the request was sent to multiple town employees, the Town Attorney abruptly resigned. King had been the Town’s Attorney for 40 plus YEARS. King is a 1976 graduate of the USC School of Law. King received his Bar admission in 1977. Many citizens at the special called meeting questioned why the Attorney left so quickly. Some wonder if the ongoing battles in the Town made for a quick departure for the Attorney.
Many citizens have filed FOIA requests with the town in recent months. Some have received letters from the former Town’s Attorney stating they must pay 25% as a deposit for the town to start working on their request. The South Carolina Code of Law § 30-4-30 states that in order for any government entity to charge for Public Information, the entity must post a FEE Schedule on its website. The Town of Honea Paths website https://honeapathsc.com/forms/ does not have a fee schedule posted. Some citizens have even reported that the Town wanted to charge them over $2,000 for the Public Information they requested.
