South Carolina General Assembly
107th Session, 1987-1988

Bill 561


                    Current Status

Bill Number:               561
Ratification Number:       366
Act Number                 350
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Nomination and election of soil and water
                           conservation districts' commissioners
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A350, R366, S561)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 48-9-1220, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS' COMMISSIONERS, SO AS TO REVISE THE NOMINATION PROCEDURES FOR PLACEMENT ON THE BALLOT AND THE TERMS OF OFFICE OF THESE COMMISSIONERS EFFECTIVE WITH THE 1990 ELECTION AND TO AMEND SECTION 48-9-1230, RELATING TO TERMS OF OFFICE AND VACANCIES OF THESE COMMISSIONERS, SO AS TO REVISE THIS SECTION IN ORDER TO CONFORM IT TO THE ABOVE PROVISIONS.

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

Nomination procedures and terms revised

SECTION 1. Section 48-9-1220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 48-9-1220. Effective November, 1982, and in November of the appropriate years thereafter three commissioners from each district must be elected. The election must be nonpartisan and must be conducted by the county election commission at the same time as other county officers are elected in the general election.

To be placed on the ballot for county offices, each candidate shall submit to the county election commission a nominating petition with the signatures of one hundred qualified registered electors or one percent of the qualified registered electors of the district, whichever is lesser.

The official number of qualified registered electors of the geographical area of any office is the number of registered electors of the area registered ninety days prior to the date of the election for which the nomination petition is being submitted.

The nominees in the petition must be placed on the appropriate official ballot for the election if the petition is submitted to the county election commission not later than twelve noon on August first or, if August first falls on Sunday, not later than twelve noon on the following Monday. The form of the petition shall comply with the requirements in Section 7-11-80 pertaining to the conduct of general elections not conflicting herewith. Candidates must be qualified registered electors and residents of the district in which elected.

The three candidates who receive the largest number of votes cast in the election are elected and shall assume office the following February first.

This election must be conducted pursuant to Title 7, mutatis mutandi, except as otherwise provided for herein.

Effective with the 1990 election, the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes shall serve for terms of four years each and the other candidate who receives the next highest number of votes shall serve for a term of two years. Thereafter, their successors must be elected in a nonpartisan election to be held at the same time as the general election for terms of four years each."

Terms of office revised

SECTION 2. Section 48-9-1230 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 48-9-1230. Except as otherwise provided in Section 48-9- 1220, the term of office of each commissioner is four years, except that in newly created districts the elected commissioners' terms of office are until the next regular election is held under the provisions of Section 48-9-1220 and the first appointed commissioners must be designated to serve for terms of one and two years, respectively, from the date of their appointment. A commissioner shall hold office until his successor has been elected or appointed and has qualified. Vacancies must be filled for the unexpired term. The selection of successors to fill an unexpired term, or for a full term, must be made in the same manner in which the retiring commissioners shall, respectively, have been selected, except that in the case of a vacancy in the unexpired term of an elected commissioner a successor may be appointed by the State Land Resources Conservation Commission upon the unanimous recommendation of the remaining commissioners. Any commissioner may be removed by the State Land Resources Conservation Commission upon notice and hearing for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other reason."

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.