South Carolina Regulations § 52-301 Advisory Opinions, Generally

A. An informal or formal advisory opinion may be requested by any person to whom the Act could reasonably be expected to apply. The request must be in writing and relate prospectively to a real or hypothetical set of facts or circumstances.

B. The Commission will not issue an advisory opinion to a third party about another person without authorization from the affected person.

C. It shall be the general practice of the Commission to consider advisory opinion requests having prospective application only. An opinion request requiring consideration of past conduct and/or events may be referred to the appropriate supervisory office and an investigation of any potential violation may be conducted.

D. A person requesting an advisory opinion may request confidentiality in which case his name and governmental entity will not be disclosed in the advisory opinion. Upon a majority vote of the Commission members present, a confidential advisory opinion may be discussed in executive session.

E. A request for opinion shall include the signature, address, and telephone number of the requestor and shall set forth a complete set of facts and circumstances giving rise to the request. Failure to disclose relevant information may void the opinion.