Bill 3705

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3705
Ratification Number:       309
Act Number                 304
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Union County Board of School
                           Trustees

(A304, R309, H3705)

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR NINE MEMBERS OF THE UNION COUNTY BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES, PROVIDE FOR ELECTION OF MEMBERS IN NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS IN THE GENERAL ELECTION, PROVIDE FOR DEFINED SINGLE-MEMBER ELECTION DISTRICTS WITH ONE TRUSTEE EACH, PROVIDE FOR THE TERMS OF THE MEMBERS, PROVIDE FOR THE FILLING OF VACANCIES ON THE BOARD, PROVIDE FOR THE EXPIRATION OF THE TERMS OF CURRENT MEMBERS, AND PROVIDE THAT IF A MEMBER OF THE BOARD MOVES HIS RESIDENCE FROM THE SINGLE-MEMBER ELECTION DISTRICT FROM WHICH HE WAS ELECTED, HIS OFFICE BECOMES VACANT AUTOMATICALLY; AND TO REPEAL ACTS 615 AND 616 OF 1984, RELATING TO THE UNION COUNTY BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES AND NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS, TERMS OF OFFICE OF THE MEMBERS SO ELECTED, THE MANNER IN WHICH THE NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS MUST BE CONDUCTED, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH VACANCIES MUST BE FILLED.

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

Board of school trustees

SECTION 1. Beginning with the 1990 election, the Union County Board of School Trustees consists of nine members who must be elected in nonpartisan elections to be held in the manner hereinafter provided. 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. The members of the board shall elect a chairman and other officers they consider necessary to serve terms of one year each in these capacities. Any member may be reelected to an office of the board. The nine members of the board must be elected to the board in a nonpartisan election to be conducted at the same time as the 1990 general election for terms of office of four years each; however, the five members elected in 1990 who received the highest percentages of the votes cast in their respective election contests shall serve initial terms of four years each, and the other four members elected in 1990 shall serve initial terms of two years each. Their successors must be elected in a nonpartisan election to be conducted at the same time as the general election four or two years thereafter, respectively, as the case may be, for terms of four years each. All members of the board shall serve 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 board 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 at the next regular election.

Each member of the board must be elected by the qualified electors of that district. All persons desiring to qualify as a candidate shall file written notice of candidacy with the county election commission at least sixty days before the date set for the election but not earlier than ninety days before the election. This notice 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 information as the county election commission requires.

The county commissioners of election 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 commissioners 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 commissioners shall advertise the date of the election ninety days preceding the election in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county and shall publish a second notice thirty days before the election. The costs of the election must be borne by the school district.

The candidate receiving the highest number of the votes in each district in the election must be declared elected.

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 of Laws. The current members of the board shall continue to serve in office until the terms of the members elected in the 1990 election begin as provided above.

Single-member districts

SECTION 2. The nine defined single-member election districts are as follows:

District and Population Variance

Composition of District

District 1

ED 168 503

ED 170 908

ED 171 499

ED 172 672

ED 173 650

Totals 3,232 -5.41%

District 2

ED 167 455

ED 169 62

ED 143 596

ED 144 433

ED 145 1

ED 146 184

ED 147A 1,139

ED 147B 141

ED 148 72

Tract 303,

Blks 101-107 301

Tract 301,

Blks 101, 102 164

Totals 3,548 +3.83%

District 3

ED 125 85

ED 127 695

ED 128 534

ED 129 513

ED 149 544

ED 150 176

ED 130 6

ED 126,

Sub Area A 460

Totals 3,013 -11.82%

District 4

ED 131 321

ED 132 867

ED 133 164

ED 134 996

ED 137 937

ED 151 298

ED 126,

Sub Area B 366

Totals 3,949 +15.57%

District 5

ED 138 423

ED 139 786

ED 140 504

ED 141 981

ED 142 660

ED 154 99

ED 155 14

ED 159 0

Totals 3,467 +1.46%

District 6

ED 135 91

ED 136 138

ED 152 1,107

ED 153 186

ED 160A 10

Tract 304 1,090

Tract 301,

BG 3 663

Totals 3,285 -3.86%

District 7

ED 162A 236

ED 163 0

ED 164 0

ED 165 104

Tract 302,

Blks 204, 205,

212-217 299

Blk 301 13

Blks 401-405,

408-421 889

Blks 511-517 182

Tract 303,

Blks 216-239 877

Blks 310-315,

320, 321 785

Tract 305

Blks 102, 107 17

Totals 3,402 -0.44%

District 8

ED 158 113

ED 161A 0

ED 161C 5

ED 166 1,494

Tract 302,

Blks 118, 119,

121 102

Blks 201-203,

206-211 334

Blks 302-317 614

Blks 406, 407 172

Blks 501-510 430

Tract 305

Blk 101 36

Blk 510 0

Totals 3,300 -3.42%

District 9

Tract 301

Blks 103-112 233

BG 2 1,478

Tract 302,

Blks 101-117,

122-140 572

Tract 303,

Blks 108-115 401

Blks 201-213,

215 269

Blks 301-309,

316-319,

323-328 602

Totals 3,555 +4.04%

Change of residence; vacancy

SECTION 3. If a member of the board moves his residence from the single-member election district from which he was elected, his office becomes vacant automatically.

Repeal

SECTION 4. Acts 615 and 616 of 1984 are repealed.

Time effective

SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.