Bill 3177

                    Current Status

Introducing Body:               House
Bill Number:                    3177
Ratification Number:            26
Act Number:                     7
Primary Sponsor:                Cooper
Type of Legislation:            GB
Subject:                        Corporate certificate
                                requirements
Date Bill Passed both Bodies:   Feb 14, 1991
Computer Document Number:       JIC/5159.HC
Governor's Action:              S
Date of Governor's Action:      Mar 18, 1991
Introduced Date:                Jan 09, 1991
Last History Body:              ------
Last History Date:              Mar 18, 1991
Last History Type:              Signed by Governor
Scope of Legislation:           Statewide
All Sponsors:                   Cooper
                                Chamblee
Type of Legislation:            General Bill

 Bill  Body    Date          Action Description              CMN
 ----  ------  ------------  ------------------------------  ---
 3177  ------  Mar 18, 1991  Act No. 7
 3177  ------  Mar 18, 1991  Signed by Governor
 3177  ------  Mar 12, 1991  Ratified R 26
 3177  Senate  Feb 14, 1991  Read third time, enrolled for
                             ratification
 3177  Senate  Feb 13, 1991  Read second time, unanimous
                             consent for third reading on
                             Thursday, February 14
 3177  Senate  Feb 08, 1991  Placed on Local and
                             Uncontested Calendar without
                             reference
 3177  Senate  Feb 08, 1991  Introduced, read first time
 3177  House   Feb 08, 1991  Read third time, sent to
                             Senate
 3177  House   Feb 07, 1991  Unanimous consent for third
                             reading on next Legislative
                             day
 3177  House   Feb 07, 1991  Read second time
 3177  House   Feb 06, 1991  Committee Report: Favorable     27
 3177  House   Jan 09, 1991  Introduced, referred to         27
                             Committee

(A7, R26, H3177)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 5-1-30, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENTS THAT MUST BE MET BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF STATE MAY ISSUE A CORPORATE CERTIFICATE AND THE EXCEPTIONS TO THESE REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS.

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

Incorporation of municipality

SECTION 1. Section 5-1-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 5-1-30. Before issuing a corporate certificate to a proposed municipality, the Secretary of State shall first determine:

(1) that the area seeking to be incorporated has a population density of at least three hundred persons a square mile according to the latest official United States Census;

(2) that no part of the area is within five miles of the boundary of an active incorporated municipality; and

(3) that an approved service feasibility study for the proposed municipality has been filed with and approved by the Secretary of State.

When an area seeking incorporation has petitioned pursuant to Chapter 17 the nearest incorporated municipality to be annexed to the municipality, and has been refused annexation by the municipality for six months, or when the population of the area seeking incorporation exceeds fifteen thousand persons, then the provision of the five-mile limitation of this section does not apply to the area.

The five-mile limit does not apply when the boundaries of the area seeking incorporation are within five miles of the boundaries of two different incorporated municipalities in two separate counties other than the county within which the area seeking incorporation lies, and when the boundaries of the proposed municipality are more than five miles from the boundaries of the nearest incorporated municipality that lies within the same county within which the proposed municipality lies, and when the land area of the territory seeking incorporation exceeds one-fourth of the land area of the nearest incorporated municipality.

The population requirements do not apply to areas bordering on and being within two miles of the Atlantic Ocean and to all sea islands bounded on at least one side by the Atlantic Ocean, both of which have a minimum of one hundred fifty dwelling units and at least an average of one dwelling unit for each three acres of land within the area and for which petitions for incorporation contain the signatures of at least fifteen percent of the freeholders and fifty of the electors of the respective areas seeking incorporation. The freeholders and electors need not be all different persons.

This section does not apply to those areas which have petitioned to the Secretary of State before June 25, 1975, or which may be under adjudication in the courts of this State. The five-mile limit does not apply to counties with a population according to the latest official United States Census of less than fifty-one thousand."

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Approved the 18th day of March, 1991.