South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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H. 3267

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. G.M. Smith, Cotty, Delleney, McLeod, Simrill and Weeks
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ms\7117ahb07.doc

Introduced in the House on January 17, 2007
Introduced in the Senate on February 28, 2007
Last Amended on February 22, 2007
Currently residing in the Senate

Summary: At-large judges

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/17/2007  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-7
   1/17/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-7
   1/24/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cotty
    2/7/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Delleney, McLeod
    2/7/2007  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary HJ-2
    2/8/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Simrill, Weeks
    2/8/2007          Scrivener's error corrected
   2/13/2007  House   Objection by Rep. Young HJ-22
   2/13/2007  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s). Kirsh, Cooper, Scott, Hayes, 
                        Merrill, Pinson, Owens, Mahaffey, Toole, and Cotty 
                        HJ-22
   2/13/2007  House   Debate adjourned until Wednesday, February 14, 2007 HJ-36
   2/15/2007  House   Debate adjourned until Tuesday, February 20, 2007 HJ-25
   2/22/2007  House   Amended HJ-28
   2/22/2007  House   Read second time HJ-32
   2/22/2007  House   Roll call Yeas-95  Nays-9 HJ-32
   2/23/2007          Scrivener's error corrected
   2/28/2007  House   Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-19
   2/28/2007  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-19
   2/28/2007  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-19
    3/7/2007  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Moore (ch), Ford, Mescher, 
                        Rankin, Scott
    5/2/2007  Senate  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary 
                        SJ-15
    5/3/2007  Senate  Committee Amendment Adopted SJ-51
    5/4/2007          Scrivener's error corrected

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/17/2007
2/7/2007
2/8/2007
2/22/2007
2/23/2007
5/2/2007
5/3/2007
5/4/2007

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

Indicates Matter Stricken

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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED

May 3, 2007

H. 3267

Introduced by Reps. G.M. Smith, Cotty, Delleney, McLeod, Simrill and Weeks

S. Printed 5/3/07--S.    [SEC 5/4/07 1:53 PM]

Read the first time February 28, 2007.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 14-5-610, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIXTEEN JUDICIAL CIRCUITS AND ADDITIONAL AT-LARGE JUDGES, SO AS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF AT-LARGE CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES FROM THIRTEEN TO SIXTEEN; TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-1410, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO FAMILY COURT JUDGES ELECTED FROM EACH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, SO AS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES BY ADDING THREE AT-LARGE JUDGES.

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

SECTION    1.    A.        Section 14-5-610 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 155 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 14-5-610.    (A)    The State is divided into sixteen judicial circuits as follows:

(1)    The first circuit is composed of the counties of Calhoun, Dorchester, and Orangeburg.

(2)    The second circuit is composed of the counties of Aiken, Bamberg, and Barnwell.

(3)    The third circuit is composed of the counties of Clarendon, Lee, Sumter, and Williamsburg.

(4)    The fourth circuit is composed of the counties of Chesterfield, Darlington, Marlboro, and Dillon.

(5)    The fifth circuit is composed of the counties of Kershaw and Richland.

(6)    The sixth circuit is composed of the counties of Chester, Lancaster, and Fairfield.

(7)    The seventh circuit is composed of the counties of Cherokee and Spartanburg.

(8)    The eighth circuit is composed of the counties of Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, and Newberry.

(9)    The ninth circuit is composed of the counties of Charleston and Berkeley.

(10)    The tenth circuit is composed of the counties of Anderson and Oconee.

(11)    The eleventh circuit is composed of the counties of Lexington, McCormick, Saluda, and Edgefield.

(12)    The twelfth circuit is composed of the counties of Florence and Marion.

(13)    The thirteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Greenville and Pickens.

(14)    The fourteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Allendale, Hampton, Colleton, Jasper, and Beaufort.

(15)    The fifteenth circuit is composed of the counties of Georgetown and Horry.

(16)    The sixteenth circuit is composed of the counties of York and Union.

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

(C)    In addition to the above judges authorized by this section, there must be thirteen sixteen additional circuit judges elected by the General Assembly from the State at large for terms of office of six years. These additional judges must be elected without regard to county or circuit of residence. Each office of the at-large judges is a separate office and is assigned numerical designations of Seat No. 1 through Seat No. 13 16 respectively."

B.        The Judicial Merit Selection Commission shall begin the process of nominating candidates for the judicial offices authorized by this Section, 14-5-610, at the next available screening date, and the General Assembly shall then elect these judges from the nominees of the commission.

SECTION    2.    A.        Section 20-7-1410 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 155 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"Section 20-7-1410.    (A)    The General Assembly shall elect a number of family court judges from each judicial circuit as follows:

First Circuit                    Three Judges

Second Circuit            Two Judges

Third Circuit                Three Judges

Fourth Circuit                Three Judges

Fifth Circuit                Four Judges

Sixth Circuit                Two Judges

Seventh Circuit            Three 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            Two Judges

(B)    In    the following judicial circuits at least one family court judge must be a resident of each county in the circuit: fifth, seventh, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth. In those judicial circuits made up of three or more counties at least one family court judge must be a resident of one of the counties which does not have the largest population in the circuit. In the ninth circuit, both counties in the circuit must have at least two resident family court judges.

(C)    No county in the sixth circuit shall have more than one resident family court judge.

(D)    In addition to the above judges authorized by this section, there must be three additional family court judges elected by the General Assembly from the State at-large for terms of office of six years. These additional judges must be elected without regard to county or circuit of residence. Each office of the at-large judges is a separate office and is assigned numerical designations of Seat No. 1 through Seat No. 3 respectively."

B.        The Judicial Merit Selection Commission shall begin the process of nominating candidates for the judicial offices authorized by this Section, 20-7-1410, at the next available screening date, and the General Assembly shall then elect these judges from the nominees of the commission.

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect July 1, 2007, the next fiscal year.

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