South Carolina General Assembly
114th Session, 2001-2002

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Bill 3879


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)


Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

INTRODUCED

April 5, 2001

    H. 3879

Introduced by Reps. Klauber, Carnell and Parks

L. Printed 4/5/01--H.

Read the first time April 5, 2001.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND ACT 546 OF 1982, RELATING TO THE ELECTION AND TERMS OF OFFICE OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF GREENWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICTS 50, 51, AND 52, SO AS TO DELETE FROM THE PROVISIONS THE ELECTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF GREENWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT 50, DELETE ARCHAIC REFERENCES TO THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, MAKE OTHER CHANGES IN THE MANNER OF ELECTION OF THE TRUSTEES OF THESE DISTRICTS TO MAKE CERTAIN CHANGES CONSISTENT WITH THE OTHER TRUSTEES ELECTED IN GREENWOOD COUNTY, TO AMEND ACT 595 OF 1994, RELATING TO THE MANNER IN WHICH MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF GREENWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT 50 ARE ELECTED, SO AS TO DELETE ARCHAIC REFERENCES, AND MAKE OTHER CHANGES SO THAT THE ELECTION OF TRUSTEES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT 50 ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE ELECTION OF OTHER TRUSTEES IN THE COUNTY.

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

SECTION    1.    Section 1 of Act 546 of 1982 is amended to read:

    "Section 1.    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following provisions shall be applicable to the election of members of the boards of trustees of Greenwood School District No. 50 (District 50), School District No. 51 composed of areas of Abbeville, Greenwood and Laurens Counties (District 51), and Ninety-Six School District No. 52 in Greenwood County (District 52):

    (1)    The board of trustees of District 50 shall consist of nine members and the board of trustees of School Districts 51 and 52 shall consist of five members.

    (2)    The terms of office of members of the board of trustees of District 50 shall be four years each and the terms of office of members of the board of trustees of Districts 51 and 52 shall be are three years each.

    (3)    Members of each board shall must be elected in the manner hereinafter specified in this act. Elections to fill vacancies on the respective boards occurring because of the expiration of a term shall must be held on the second Tuesday of May. If a current member's term expires in a particular year on or before the thirtieth day of June of that year, the election to fill such the vacancy shall must be held on the second Tuesday of May of that year. If a current member's term expires in a particular year after the thirtieth day of June of that year, then the election to fill such the vacancy shall must be held on the second Tuesday of May of the following year. Thereafter, a successor to each such member from District 50 shall be elected in an election to be held on the second Tuesday in May every four years thereafter and a successor to each such member from Districts 51 and 52 shall must be elected in an election to be held on the second Tuesday in May every three years thereafter. All persons so elected shall take office on the first day of July following their election and the terms of office of the present members of each respective board are hereby extended to and shall expire on the thirtieth day of June following the election in which a successor to such the member has been elected pursuant to the provisions of this act. Terms of office of the members of each board elected in succeeding years shall also must expire on the thirtieth day of June following the election in which successors to such these members have been elected and all members shall serve until their successors are elected and qualify.

    (4)    Vacancies occurring for any reason other than the expiration of a term shall must be filled by election at the next scheduled election for trustees of that district for the remainder of the unexpired term or for a full term as the case may be.

    (5)    The Greenwood County Board of Education Election Commission shall conduct and supervise such these elections in the manner governed by the election laws of this State mutates mutandi. Members of each board shall must be qualified electors and residents of their district and shall must be elected from the district at large by the qualified electors of the district. The county board election commission shall establish the opening and ending date for the filing of notice of candidacy for election to each board. All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate and be elected to a particular board shall file a written notice of their statement of candidacy with the county board of education election commission within the time stipulated by the county board election commission. This notice statement of candidacy shall be a sworn statement and shall must include the candidate's name, age, voting precinct, school district in which such candidate resides, period of residence in the district and such other information as the county board election commission shall require requires.

    The county board of education election commission shall give at least thirty days' notice of such an election by publishing a notice thereof of it in a newspaper of general circulation in the district at least once a week for three two consecutive weeks all of which notices shall must be run at least thirty days before the scheduled election. The notices shall include, but not be limited to, the date and time of the election, the voting polling place places of such the election, and the place where candidates may file for election. The notice, in the discretion of the board of education, county election commission shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts and do all things necessary to carry out such the elections, including the supervision of the counting of ballots and declaring the results thereof of the election. The cost of an election for trustees from a particular district shall must be paid by that district and such the cost shall must be determined by the county board of education county election commission based in part on the number of precincts in each district. Box Poll managers shall must be paid the same as in general elections.

    (6)    In such these elections the number of candidates equal to the number of positions to be filled who receive the highest number of votes shall be deemed elected results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality method as contained in Section 5-15-61 of the 1976 Code. In the event that the number of candidates offering for the position of trustee in any district is less than or equal to the number of positions to be filled, then the board of education shall declare those who have filed as elected to the positions, and shall appoint such additional persons, if any, as are necessary to complete the board, and in such instances, no election shall beheld in these districts. If no candidate files for the office of trustee the provision of Section 7-13-1120 of the 1976 Code relating to write-in ballots applies.

    (7)    Any person aggrieved by the election of a trustee pursuant to the provisions of this act shall, within fifteen days after such the election, shall file with the county board of education election commission a written petition stating his grievance and the grounds thereof for it. The board county election commission shall rule upon such the petition within sixty days after its filing."

SECTION    2.    Section 1 of Act 595 of 1994 is amended to read:

    "Section 1.    (A)    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board of Trustees of Greenwood School District 50 consists of nine members who must be elected in nonpartisan elections to be held beginning in 1994 at the same time as the general election in the year specified or required in the manner hereinafter provided. Based on the implementation schedule provided in subsection (B), one member of the board must be a resident of and elected from each of the nine defined single-member election districts established in Section 2 of this act. Except for initial terms otherwise provided in subsection (B), members of the board shall be elected for four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify. In the event of a vacancy on the board occurring for any reason other than expiration of a term, the Greenwood County Board of Education Election Commission shall call a special election to fill the unexpired term, so long as the vacancy does not occur within ten months of a regular trustee election. In this case, the vacancy must be filled for the unexpired term or for a full term as appropriate at the next regular election.

    Each member of the board must be elected by the qualified electors of the respective district from which the candidate seeks election. All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate shall file a written notice statement of candidacy with the county election commission on forms furnished by the election commission. This notice statement of candidacy must be a sworn statement and must include the candidate's name, age, residence address, voting precinct, period of residence in the election district from which election is sought, and other such information as the county election commission requires. The filing period opens on the first Tuesday in September at noon to run for two weeks.

    The county election commission shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the board in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The county election commission shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The county election commission shall publish notices of the time, polling places, and purpose of the election give at least thirty days' notice of an election by publishing a notice of it in a newspaper of general circulation within in the district at least once a week for at least two successive consecutive weeks all of which notices must be run at least thirty days before the scheduled election. The notices shall include, but not be limited to, the date and time of the election, the polling places of the election, and the place where candidates may file for election. The results of the elections must be determined by the nonpartisan plurality method as contained in Section 5-15-61 of the 1976 Code. The costs of the elections shall must be borne by the school district and be determined by the county election commission.

    Any person aggrieved by the election of a trustee pursuant to this act, within fifteen days after the election shall file with the county election commission a written petition stating his grievance and the grounds for it. The county election commission shall rule upon the petition within sixty days after its filing.

    The members of the board elected in these nonpartisan elections shall take office one week following certification of their election as provided in Section 59-19-315 of the 1976 Code.

    (B)(1)    In 1994, members from Districts 1, 2, and 4 must be elected and the three current members of the board whose terms are scheduled to expire on June 30, 1994, shall continue to serve until the members elected in 1994 from Districts 1, 2, and 4 qualify and take office, at which time the terms of these three current members shall expire. All other current members of the board shall continue to serve in the manner specified in this subsection. The initial terms of members elected in 1994 from Districts 1 and 2 shall be four years each, and the initial term of the member elected in 1994 from District 4 shall be two years.

        (2)    In 1996, members from Districts 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 must be elected and the three current members of the board whose terms are scheduled to expire on June 30, 1996, and the three current members of the board whose terms are scheduled to expire on June 30, 1997, shall serve until the members elected in 1996 from Districts 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 qualify and take office, at which time the terms of these six current members shall expire. The initial terms of the members elected in 1996 from Districts 3, 5, 7, and 9 shall be four years each, and the initial terms of the members elected in 1996 from Districts 6 and 8 shall be two years each.

        (3)    After the initial election of a member of the board from a respective election district in the manner specified herein, his successors shall be elected at the elections conducted at two or four-year intervals thereafter as appropriate to serve for terms of four years each."

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

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