State & Local Government Law
Powers of State and Local Governments
Our representation of State and local governmental entities is not limited to public finance and bond matters. Our lawyers have considerable experience in all matters of municipal law, including issues involving powers of governmental bodies. Whether it entails litigation, negotiation, or draughting legislation, the lawyers at Howell Linkous & Nettles can provide your agency or government with the experienced “know how” to address your issues of State and local government law.
This experience was garnered not just from our extensive legal backgrounds, but also from personal service on various governmental boards and commissions. Sam Howell served as the Charleston County Attorney for four years, garnering extensive experience in all aspects of local government law. He has also served on several State boards and commissions, including the South Carolina State Election Commission and the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority, where he gained first-hand knowledge of the workings of State agencies and the issues of State government law.
Our attorneys have been counsel in several of the more significant appellate cases deciding fundamental issues of State and local government law in South Carolina. In the Vander Linden case, where Sam Howell represented all of the legislative delegations in the State as a class, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the rôle that the Legislative Delegation should play in county affairs in light of County Home Rule. We have also represented local government in such crucial matters as property tax reform measures, annexation disputes, property tax levies, and the powers of charter schools, such as City of North Charleston, et al. v. Charleston County, et al.; Riverwoods LLC, et al. v. Charleston County, et al.; and Charleston County Parents for Public Schools, Inc., et al. v. Charleston County Auditor, et al.
Election Law
As a part of its local government law practice, Howell Linkous & Nettles has one of the most active election law practices in South Carolina. Aspects of the election, campaign, and political law practice include advising and assisting local governments in the conduct of municipal bond and local option tax referendums, representing local election commissions and boards of voter registration, and representing candidates in election protests and contests. The firm’s experience in handling election protests includes candidates for local office as well as State-wide offices. This practice area also involves campaign practices and the application of state ethics laws on the conduct of campaigns and elections. Attorneys in the firm appear before the South Carolina State Election Commission and the South Carolina State Ethics Commission, in addition to appearing in the courts and local election commissions, on behalf of candidates.
Our attorneys have successfully argued several of the landmark court decisions in South Carolina election law, and represented candidates in many election protests or contests. In George, et al. v. Municipal Election Commission of the City of Charleston, Sam Howell successfully argued overturning a municipal referendum election where constitutional rights to the secret ballot were violated. Novel issues of voter residency and the use of after-discovered evidence were the bases for the firm’s successful election protest to overturn a mayoral election in the landmark opinion in Dukes v. Redmond. In Douan v. Charleston County, the State Supreme Court rejected a taxpayer challenge to a municipal bond referendum where the firm represented the local election board. In addition to their familiarity with election law, the attorneys in the firm have also prevailed in election protests by using the Freedom of Information Act (sunshine laws) and the State Ethics Act as the basis for the court’s decision. As Chairman of the South Carolina State Election Commission, Sam Howell was instrumental in successfully challenging the use of impermissible election materials in a municipal bond referendum in Charleston County School District v. Charleston County Election Commission, et al.
Sam Howell's experience in election issues extends well beyond his legal practice. He served as the Governor's representative on the Election Law Study Committee of the South Carolina General Assembly from 1989 to 1994, where he reviewed and commented on pending legislation under consideration by the State Legislature. Mr Howell was one of the five members of the South Carolina State Election Commission from 1992 to 2002. He served as Chairman of the State Election Commission from 1997 to 2000. In his rôle as a member and Chairman of the State Election Commission, Mr Howell was responsible for the conduct of elections across the State. In addition, he heard every election protest or appeal that came before the State Election Commission during his 10-year term on the Commission. Many of the decisions rendered by the Commission during Mr Howell's years of service became the black-letter law when they were affirmed by the State Supreme Court. These decisions include In re Bamberg Ehrhardt Sch. Bd. Election v. Kilgus; Greene v. S.C. Election Comm’n; Orangeburg County Democratic Party v. State Election Commission; and Paschal et al. v. State Election Commission.
Howell Linkous & Nettles serves as general counsel to the local board of elections and voter registration for one of the largest counties in the State. As such, our attorneys are kept current on developments not only in election law, but also advances and issues involving election technology, voting systems, voter registration issues, and campaign practices.
The firm regularly assists local governments with compliance issues involving the Voting Rights Act, including the preparation of pre-clearance requests to the U.S. Justice Department under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a requirement for a bond referendum in the South. Sam Howell has also represented local governments in challenges brought by the Justice Department or others against local governments in the South over redistricting and other voting rights, including the landmark decisions of Vander Linden, et al. v. Hodges, et al. and U.S.A. v. Charleston County Council, et al.
With extensive experience in assisting local governments with all aspects of local bond referendums and other local issue elections, our firm can prepare all the necessary resolutions and ordinances, public notices, and pre-clearance requests. Lawyers in the firm can assist local officials in formulating the ballot questions, as well as negotiating the thorny issues of campaign practices, advocacy for the questions, and defending the results if challenged. Howell Linkous & Nettles can remove much of the administrative burden from the local government staff by taking charge of printing and publishing ballot forms, public notices, and making the proper filings of the results of the referendum.
Property Taxation
Our property tax practice involves such issues as property tax appeals and contests of property tax assessments and valuations, qualification for complete or partial exemptions from property taxation, tax sales and foreclosures, and appeals of classification of property. This practice area combines the expertise of our lawyers in taxation matters in general with their experience with governmental finance. In addition, Sam Howell’s personal experience includes his handling every property tax case and appeal in Charleston County when he was the Charleston County Attorney. Some of these cases are Riverwoods LLC, et al. v. Charleston County, et al.; Charleston County Assessor v. Hodges; Charleston County Assessor v. Gladsky; Buist v. Charleston County Assessor; Young v. Charleston County Assessor; Gift Plantation v. Charleston County Assessor; North Charleston River Place v. Charleston County Assessor; Dunmeyer v. Charleston County Assessor; Charleston County Assessor v. Golf Wheels, Inc.; Charleston County Assessor v. Schmidt; and Garretson v. Charleston County Assessor.
In addition to representing industries, developers, and homeowners in property tax controversies, the firm also assists local governments in disputes involving property taxation and collections. For example, our firm has successfully represented school districts in recovering large tax collections from county government. We have represented special purpose districts in municipal annexation disputes over the continuation of taxes to fund services. And we have represented county government in litigation and appeals regarding property tax reform measures.
The lawyers at Howell Linkous & Nettles can provide the counsel and advocacy needed to assist taxpayers and governmental bodies in the resolution of property tax controversies.
Sunshine Laws and FOIA
“FOIA creates a mechanism for members of the public to obtain information from an obstinate or otherwise un-cooperative public body.” - Judge Ralph King Anderson, Jr. At least that is one way of viewing the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, pursuant to which State and local government bodies are required to disclose information and cause their deliberative processes to be transparent to the public. For most of our firm’s clients, however, FOIA is a legal framework for conducting their governmental business of which they must be ever mindful.
The FOIA framework of rules for disclosure of information, and the exemptions from those rules, is a powerful tool for good government and pervasive aspect of the governmental law practice for the attorneys of Howell Linkous & Nettles. Failure of a governmental body to comply with FOIA can result in public criticism, media scrutiny, and, in extreme situations, paying the cost of a plaintiff’s legal fees. Our attorneys counsel clients in how to comply with the State’s Sunshine Laws while protecting sensitive information and, occasionally, obtaining information from an “obstinate or otherwise un-cooperative public body.”
We have written a summary reference guide to FOIA, the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, Annotated, which you are welcome to download. We encourage all of our governmental clients to become familiar with these laws, and to contact us if we can lend our experience of knowledge of this area of the law.
