http://sccountylaw.com helping american county and municipal lawyers do the people's work better & faster Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:49:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Thanks to outgoing president of the SC Association of County Attorneys D'Anne Haydel for the kind invitation to appear at her group's 2008 CLE. What a turnout!  It was fabulous to see all those faces, as anxious as I know they were for the infamous reception to begin! Thanks for ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/08/scaca-2008/ Senate Bill 638, which I wrote about extensively here, has been signed into law by the Governor, and is already effective. You can read the full text of the new law here. http://sccountylaw.com/2008/06/s638-becomes-law/ Senate Bill 642 affects public finance investments and should be reviewed. It will be codified at sections 6-5-10, 6-5-15, 11-14-110, and 11-13-60 in the SC Code of Laws. This bill became law without the signature of the Governor on May 22, 2008. http://sccountylaw.com/2008/06/new-legislation-affects-uninsured-public-funds-on-deposit/ I've been invited to present at the South Carolina County Attorneys' annual two-day continuing legal education seminar this year at Hilton Head Island. I'll be presenting Friday morning on the topic of indemnification provisions from the government attorney's perspective. Other tentatively-planned topics include: The Law of the Open Road: Public Rights-of-Way Bankruptcy: What ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/06/ill-be-at-sc-county-attorneys-cle-731-81-join-me/ A bill sponsored by Senator Chip Campsen (Isle of Palms) is making its way to the House, and would have significant implications for the governing bodies of SC political subdivisions who offer (or want to offer) prayers before public meetings, as most do. The bill is S. 638; I've uploaded a ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/05/sc-bill-to-help-councils-constitutionally-pray-before-meetings/ City leaders in Vallejo, California voted this week to resolve its worsening financial crisis by filing for protection under federal bankruptcy laws. In so doing, Vallejo will become the largest California municipality to file for bankruptcy. The vote taken was unanimous, reflecting the reality of a $16 million budget deficit many ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/05/vallejo-ca-to-file-for-bankruptcy-protection/ Case & Cite Info Date of Opinion: April 23, 2008 Court: 4th Circuit Case Number: 07-1348 Published: Yes Link: Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County MD (PDF file) Facts of Case Piney Run Stream in Maryland is allegedly being polluted by discharge of effluent (treated wastewater) by Carroll County in violation of ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/04/case-law-update-piney-run-preservation-association-v-county-commissioners-of-carroll-county-md/ One of my other blogs, arguably the most popular one, is The Inspired Solo. From time to time, I'll cross-post items of interest that I've published at one blog that might be of interest to readers of another. When I do, I'll preface the subject as I've done here: "At ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/04/at-the-inspired-solo-rss-day/ I wonder how many county and city attorneys in South Carolina have heard about this one yet from their finance directors ... I heard about S. 1144 initially through a news alert that led me to this editorial at the Charleston Post & Courier's website from state Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom. ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/04/s1144-local-government-finance/ In the first post in our "Organizing Your State's County Bar" series, we took a look at four different kinds of tools that attorneys can use to organize a state's county and/or municipal attorneys as a group: Google Groups (and its Yahoo! counterpart, Yahoo! Groups), Basecamp, blogs, and wikis. Here ... http://sccountylaw.com/2008/04/nine-steps-to-conquering-your-email-inbox-for-busy-attorneys/