The Gaffney Ledger filed a motion this week in Cherokee County Court of Common Pleas asking for summary judgment of a lawsuit that would grant the newspaper access to the Gaffney Board of Public Works' settlement agreement with a former commissioner.

The newspaper has said in its complaint the utility has failed to provide terms of the settlement agreement in violation of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.

The Gaffney Ledger claims it made a proper request for the information on March 29, 2006, and again on Aug. 2, 2006, and the utility failed or refused to respond to these requests within 15 days.

In its motion for summary judgment, the newspaper contends the Gaffney Board of Public Works has offered no evidence that the information sought by plaintiff is subject to exemption from disclosure under the FOI.

The utility agreed to the settlement with former commissioner Brenda Earls during its long-range planning workshop in January 2006. The agreement contained a confidentiality clause, according to minutes from the workshop.

Earls filed suit against the utility in July 2004, accusing commissioners of applying the wrong law when they discontinued the policy of providing free insurance coverage to commissioners and their spouses after the retirement of the 2-term commissioner who reached age 55.

The commissioners rescinded their free insurance coverage Dec. 2, 2003.

Earls' lawsuit claimed the Board breached its contract with her when it, in effect, reduced her compensation by rescinding its free insurance coverage.

The Board did allow The Ledger to inspect some documents related to the settlement and those documents showed that Earls' attorney received a cash settlement of $55,000.

The utility also paid its attorney $61,834.52 in fees related to the suit.

Additionally, the Board paid $801.24 to a mediator in the case.

In a story published in August 2006, The Ledger reported that "Earls will apparently receive a monthly insurance premium reimbursement until the 'death of the retiree (Brenda Earls) or her dependent spouse (Johnny Earls), whichever shall occur last,'" according to a document on file at the BPW. That document calls for the amount to increase by 3 percent effective January of each year. According to the schedule, the monthly reimbursement to Earls will begin in September 2006 at $690.52 and increase to $900.07 in 2016."

"Even though we were able to uncover most of what the Board and Earls agreed to, we feel strongly that a copy of the settlement agreement should be made public," Ledger Publisher Cody Sossamon said. "The Ledger has spent several thousand dollars in attorneys' fees to ensure that public bodies, such as the Board, cannot make secret agreements. The public has a right to know how every dime of its money is spent and how the decision to spend it was made."

Commissioners and BPW General Manager Donnie Hardin have said previously they have no problem releasing the settlement agreement, but that the confidentiality clause prohibits them from doing so.