South Carolina General Assembly
124th Session, 2021-2022

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A232, R266, H3696

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Lucas, G.M. Smith, Murphy, Simrill, Rutherford, Bannister, Bradley, Erickson, Gatch, Herbkersman, Kimmons, W. Newton, Rivers, Stavrinakis, Weeks, S. Williams, McGarry, Carter, Hart, Jefferson, R. Williams, Govan and Thigpen
Document Path: l:\council\bills\bh\7396ahb21.docx

Introduced in the House on January 14, 2021
Introduced in the Senate on February 25, 2021
Last Amended on June 15, 2022
Passed by the General Assembly on June 15, 2022
Governor's Action: June 17, 2022, Signed

Summary: Number of judges in certain circuits increased

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/14/2021  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 572)
   1/14/2021  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 572)
   1/26/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: McGarry
   2/11/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Carter
   2/18/2021  House   Committee report: Favorable Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 50)
   2/23/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hart, 
                        Jefferson, R.Williams
   2/23/2021  House   Debate adjourned until  Wed., 2-24-21 
                        (House Journal-page 30)
   2/24/2021  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Govan, Thigpen
   2/24/2021  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 25)
   2/24/2021  House   Roll call Yeas-113  Nays-2 (House Journal-page 25)
   2/25/2021  House   Read third time and sent to Senate 
                        (House Journal-page 12)
   2/25/2021  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 8)
   2/25/2021  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 8)
   3/19/2021  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee:  Young (ch), Sabb, Matthews, 
                        Garrett, M.Johnson
    5/5/2021  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 10)
    5/6/2021          Scrivener's error corrected
   5/12/2021  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 41)
   5/13/2021  Senate  Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 21)
   5/13/2021  Senate  Amended (Senate Journal-page 21)
   5/13/2021  Senate  Read third time and returned to House with amendments 
                        (Senate Journal-page 21)
   5/13/2021  Senate  Roll call Ayes-38  Nays-3 (Senate Journal-page 21)
   5/18/2021          Scrivener's error corrected
   1/26/2022  House   Recommitted to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 22)
   3/30/2022  House   Recalled from Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 22)
   3/31/2022  House   Non-concurrence in Senate amendment 
                        (House Journal-page 17)
   3/31/2022  House   Roll call Yeas-0  Nays-104 (House Journal-page 18)
    4/5/2022  Senate  Senate insists upon amendment and conference committee 
                        appointed  Rankin, Hutto, Talley 
                        (Senate Journal-page 11)
    4/6/2022  House   Conference committee appointed  GM Smith, Rutherford, W 
                        Newton (House Journal-page 9)
   6/15/2022  Senate  Conference report received and adopted 
                        (Senate Journal-page 164)
   6/15/2022  Senate  Roll call Ayes-37  Nays-1 (Senate Journal-page 164)
   6/15/2022  House   Conference report received and adopted 
                        (House Journal-page 64)
   6/15/2022  House   Roll call Yeas-108  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 66)
   6/15/2022  House   Ordered enrolled for ratification 
                        (House Journal-page 234)
   6/16/2022          Ratified R  266
   6/17/2022          Signed By Governor
   6/28/2022          Effective date  06/17/22
   6/28/2022          Act No.  232

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/14/2021
2/18/2021
5/5/2021
5/6/2021
5/13/2021
5/18/2021
6/15/2022


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

(A232, R266, H3696)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 14-5-610, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIXTEEN JUDICIAL CIRCUITS, SO AS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES BY ONE IN THE SECOND, NINTH, FOURTEENTH, AND FIFTEENTH CIRCUITS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 63-3-40, RELATING TO FAMILY COURT JUDGES ELECTED FROM EACH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, SO AS TO INCREASE BY ONE THE NUMBER OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES IN THE FIRST, SEVENTH, AND SIXTEENTH CIRCUITS.

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

Additional circuit court judges

SECTION    1.    Section 14-5-610(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(B)    One judge must be elected from the sixth and twelfth circuits. Two judges must be elected from the first, second, third, fourth, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, and sixteenth circuits. Three judges must be elected from the fifth, fourteenth, and fifteenth circuits. Four judges must be elected from the ninth and thirteenth circuits."

Additional family court judges

SECTION    2.    Section 63-3-40(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    The General Assembly shall elect a number of family court judges from each judicial circuit as follows:

First Circuit                    Four Judges

Second Circuit            Two Judges

Third Circuit                Three Judges

Fourth Circuit                Three Judges

Fifth Circuit                Four Judges

Sixth Circuit                Two Judges

Seventh Circuit            Four Judges

Eighth Circuit                Three Judges

Ninth Circuit                Six Judges

Tenth Circuit                Three Judges

Eleventh Circuit            Three Judges

Twelfth Circuit            Three Judges

Thirteenth Circuit        Six Judges

Fourteenth Circuit        Three Judges

Fifteenth Circuit            Three Judges

Sixteenth Circuit            Three Judges."

Judicial Merit Selection Commission process

SECTION    3.    The Judicial Merit Selection Commission shall begin the process of nominating candidates for the judicial offices authorized by the provisions of SECTIONS 1 and 2. The General Assembly then shall elect these judges from the nominees of the commission; except that, the nominating process may not begin until funding for the additional judges is provided in the general appropriations act.

Time effective

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 16th day of June, 2022.

Approved the 17th day of June, 2022.

__________


This web page was last updated on July 19, 2022 at 11:17 AM