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We all hear it everyday, "The Government is corrupt!" but most are talking about the Federal Government when they say this. But, how about at state level? 

As it turns out, those who rail against corruption in government at the state level in South Carolina are mostly right. In an 18 month long investigation, the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity, a nonpartisan, good-government groups based in Washington D.C., found that South Carolina is the 45th state Government most ripe for corruption, just ahead of Maine, Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota and Georgia. 

Screen shot from StateIntegrity.orgBut why is South Carolina on the receiving end of an F grade?

via KansasCity.com

...because of government secrecy, weak ethics enforcement, little disclosure of legislators' finances and low accountability for legislative and executive branch members...

However, South Carolina fared well in four areas, "lobbying disclosure, procurement, redistricting procedures and internal auditing."

The study looked closely at reports by The State newspaper, regarding Governor Haley and her staff deleting emails that should be kept as public record. Further, KasasCity.com reports that the state government isn't too keen on the press and that the report found that, “There is no agency that enforces the Freedom of Information law or monitors the state government’s compliance with it. There is also no appeal process, relegating to the courts any problem a member of the public or press experiences in obtaining public information.”

Governor Haley of course dismisses the report. Read KansasCity.com's full write-up here. Read all about the 'Story behind the Score' for South Carolina over at StateIntegrity.com. And over at iWatchNews.com, they have a very nice interactive map that shows each state's score and rank.