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TO CREATE THE STUDY COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIAL SELECTION PROCESS AND PROVIDE FOR ITS MEMBERSHIP, DUTIES, AND TERMINATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. (A) There is created the Study Committee on the Judicial Selection Process to be composed of:
(1) three members of the Senate to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate;
(2) three members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(3) three persons to be appointed by the Governor;
(4) the dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law, or his designee; and
(5) a retired Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court to be appointed by the Governor.
(B) The General Assembly recognizes that the minority population of South Carolina continues to grow and become more diverse and that this population is not proportionally represented on the bench. The study committee shall study the Judicial Merit Selection Commission's functions and the process of nominating and electing candidates for judicial office in this State with particular emphasis on developing a comprehensive plan to increase diversity on the bench in terms of race and gender. The study committee is directed to make specific suggestions regarding changes in the judicial selection process and the election of justices and judges as provided in Chapter 19, Title 2.
(C) The members of the study committee shall not receive compensation, but are entitled to receive mileage, per diem, and subsistence.
(D) The study committee must be appointed no later than July 1, 2004, and shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than January 15, 2004. Upon submission of the report, the study committee is abolished.
(E) The study committee must be staffed by personnel as provided and assigned by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval of the Governor.
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