Bill 2425

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               2425
Ratification Number:       57
Act Number:                278
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                        Jasper County Board of Education, so
                           as to provide notice of election and petition
                           of

(A278, R57, H2425)

AN ACT TO AMEND ACT 601 OF 1971, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE JASPER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, SO AS TO PROVIDE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, FOR NOTICE OF ELECTION AND PETITION OF CANDIDACY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Board of Education - terms, composition, etc.

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Act 601 of 1971, as last amended by Act 240 of 1983, is further amended to read:

"Section 1. The central authority of Jasper County's education system is the Jasper County Board of Education (hereafter called the board) which is, ex officio, the board of trustees of the Jasper County School District, and all powers and functions vested in school trustees by general or special enactment are vested in the board.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board is composed of nine members who must be resident electors of the district and who are to be elected for terms of four years from the district at large. Any vacancies must be filled for the unexpired term only by appointment of the Governor on the recommendation of a majority of the Jasper County Council. In the general election of 1980

the five candidates elected to the board who receive the highest number of votes shall serve terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify and the other four members elected shall serve terms of two years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Thereafter, all members shall serve terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Commencing with the general election of 1984, the five members of the board elected in the general election of 1980 who received the highest number of votes in that election, and the successors of any of those five members, must be elected in nonpartisan elections in the general election and in nonpartisan elections in the general election every four years thereafter. Commencing with the general election of 1986, the other four members of the board elected in the general election of 1980 and whose offices were voted upon again in the general election of 1982, and the successors of any of those four members, must be elected in nonpartisan elections in the general election and in nonpartisan elections in the general election every four years thereafter.

Notice of the election must be published by the Jasper County Election Commission in a newspaper of general circulation in the district which shall contain appropriate information concerning the election, such as the date of the election, the qualifications of a candidate for election, the method of securing a place on the ballot, the legal requirements regarding the number of necessary signatures on the required petition, all pertinent deadlines, and the authority to whom the candidate's petition must be submitted. The notice must be published not earlier than one hundred fifty days, and not later than one hundred twenty days, before the date of the election. The notice published pursuant to this statute is additional to any general law requirements of notice of election pursuant to Title 7 of the S. C. Code of Laws, 1976.

To have his name placed on the ballot as a candidate, a person shall submit to the county election commission a petition which, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-11-70 of the 1976 Code, shall contain the signatures of at least two and one-half percent of the qualified registered electors of the district.

The name of the candidate, if he is otherwise qualified, must be placed upon the ballot by the officer, commissioners, or other authority charged by law with preparing the ballot if the petition is submitted, as required by this section, not later than twelve o'clock noon on August first prior to the date of the election, or if August first falls on Sunday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday. At the time the petition is submitted, the authority charged with accepting it shall issue a receipt to the person submitting the petition which shall reflect the date it was submitted and the total number of signatures it contains. The Jasper County Board of Voter Registration shall check the petition at the request of the authority charged with printing the ballot and shall certify the results to that authority not later than twelve o'clock noon on September first prior to the date of the election, or if September first falls on Sunday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday. Once submitted for verification, the petition may not be returned to the petitioner but must be retained by the authority to whom it was submitted and must become a part of the public records of the election for which it was submitted."

Provisions not affected

SECTION 2. The provisions of this act do not affect any other provision of law relating to the election of members of the Jasper County Board of Education not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon approval by the Governor.