One month later, Coastal Carolina University yet to provide report on arrest of Shoreline Behavioral Health Services chairman

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — Friday marked one month since Coastal Carolina University police arrested a now-former teaching associate on an assault-and-battery charge, and News13 is still waiting for school officials to release a copy of the police report.

News13 submitted an online Freedom of Information Act request with CCU on June 26 asking for the police report about the arrest of Mark Singleton , who also serves as the board chairman of Shoreline Behavioral Health Services in Conway.

The university’s FOIA office acknowledged in a July 11 email that it had received the request and later said that an invoice would be sent out on or before Aug. 10. The email also stated that the documents would be released once any fees, if any, were paid.

It’s not the first time CCU has taken more than a month to provide a police report. On April 20, News13 asked for a police report about an incident that happened a day earlier at a baseball game on campus involving an officer and a man who was allegedly drunk. The report was not sent to News13 until June 4.

On Friday, News13 asked the university’s FOIA office in an email to explain its process for when a media outlet requests a police report and if there was anything special or unique about the Singleton case.

The university responded via email with only limited information, saying that the request was being handled in the same manner as all other requests and in accordance with time requirements specified by South Carolina law.

News13 frequently files FOIA requests with Grand Strand and Pee Dee law-enforcement agencies and local governments in order to report about crimes and other issues. Most agencies, including Horry County police, Myrtle Beach police, Conway police, Florence police and the Florence County sheriff’s office, typically provide the records within hours or a day or two of when they are requested.

South Carolina law allows a public agency 10 days, excluding weekends and holidays, to notify the person making the request whether the records can be released. If the request is granted, the record must be furnished or made available for inspection or copying no later than 30 business days from the date on which the determination was provided.

Count on News13 for updates on this case.

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Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13 . He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook , X, formerly Twitter , and read more of his work here .

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