H 3135 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 3135 General Bill, By R.S.Corning, J.J.Bailey, G.A.Brown, Cato, Davenport,
L.O.Graham, H.M.Hallman, Harrell, Harrison, Haskins, M.F.Jaskwhich, Kirsh,
Littlejohn, Meacham, Quinn, Robinson, J.S.Shissias, Simrill, C.H.Stone, Vaughn,
C.Y.Waites, Walker, C.C.Wells, Wilder, J.B.Wilder and Young-Brickell
A Bill to amend Act 610 of 1990, relating to the Judiciary, so as to extend
the limit on direct soliciting members of the General Assembly for votes for
judicial candidates before the qualifications of all candidates for the office
are determined by the Judicial Screening Committee to indirect solicitation,
to define indirect solicitation and provide exceptions to require the
committee to consider violations of this Section when considering a
candidate's qualifications; and to designate Section 6, Part IV, Act 610 of
1990 as Section 2-19-70, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976. View full text
01/14/93 House Introduced and read first time HJ-12
01/14/93 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-13
02/03/93 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary HJ-5
02/09/93 House Debate adjourned until Wednesday, February 10, 1993
02/10/93 House Amended HJ-20
02/10/93 House Read second time HJ-21
02/11/93 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-13
02/11/93 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-16
02/11/93 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-17
05/18/93 Senate Recalled from Committee on Judiciary SJ-6
05/25/93 Senate Amended SJ-30
05/25/93 Senate Read second time SJ-33
05/25/93 Senate Unanimous consent for third reading on next
legislative day SJ-33
05/26/93 Senate Read third time and returned to House with
amendments SJ-28
06/01/93 House Debate adjourned on Senate amendments until
Thursday, June 3, 1993 HJ-67
06/03/93 House Non-concurrence in Senate amendment HJ-20
06/03/93 Senate Senate insists upon amendment and conference
committee appointed Sens. Holland, Stilwell,
Courtney SJ-16
06/03/93 House Conference committee appointed Corning, Thomas &
Tucker HJ-54
06/14/93 House Free conference powers granted HJ-40
06/14/93 House Free conference committee appointed Corning,
Thomas & Tucker HJ-42
06/14/93 House Free conference report received and adopted HJ-42
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
May 25, 1993
H. 3135
Introduced by REPS. Corning, Quinn, Hallman, Cato, Jaskwhich,
Shissias, Harrison, Harrell, Waites, Littlejohn, A. Young, Vaughn,
Haskins, J. Bailey, Walker, Simrill, Robinson, D. Wilder, J. Wilder,
G. Brown, Graham, Kirsh, Davenport, Stone, Meacham and Wells
S. Printed 5/25/93--S.
Read the first time February 11, 1993.
A BILL
TO AMEND ACT 610 OF 1990, RELATING TO THE JUDICIARY,
SO AS TO EXTEND THE LIMIT ON DIRECT SOLICITING OF
MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR VOTES FOR
JUDICIAL CANDIDATES BEFORE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF
ALL CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE ARE DETERMINED BY
THE JUDICIAL SCREENING COMMITTEE TO INDIRECT
SOLICITATION, TO DEFINE INDIRECT SOLICITATION AND
PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS TO REQUIRE THE COMMITTEE TO
CONSIDER VIOLATIONS OF THIS SECTION WHEN
CONSIDERING A CANDIDATE'S QUALIFICATIONS; AND TO
DESIGNATE SECTION 6, PART IV, ACT 610 OF 1990 AS
SECTION 2-19-70, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 2-19-30 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 2-19-30. Upon completion of the investigation, the
chairman of the joint committee shall schedule a public hearing
concerning the qualifications of the candidates. Such hearings shall
be conducted no later than two weeks prior to the date set in the
election resolution for such election. Any person who desires to
testify at the hearing, including candidates, shall furnish a written
statement of his proposed testimony to the chairman of the joint
committee. Such statements shall be furnished no later than forty-eight hours prior to the date and time set for the hearing. The joint
committee shall determine the persons who shall testify at the hearing.
All testimony, including documents furnished to the joint committee,
shall be submitted under oath and persons knowingly furnishing false
information either orally or in writing shall be subject to the penalties
provided by law for perjury and false swearing. During the course of
the investigation, the joint committee may schedule an executive
session at which each candidate, and other persons whom the
committee wishes to interview, may be interviewed by the joint
committee on matters pertinent to the candidate's qualification for the
office to be filled. A reasonable time thereafter the committee shall
render its tentative findings as to whether the candidate is qualified
for the office to be filled and its reasons therefor
as to each candidate.
As soon as possible after the completion of the hearing, a
verbatim copy of the testimony, documents submitted at the hearing,
and findings of fact shall be transcribed and published in the Journals
of both Houses houses or otherwise made available in a
reasonable number of copies to the members of both houses prior
to the date of the scheduled election, and a copy thereof shall
be furnished to each candidate.
A candidate may withdraw at any stage of the proceedings and in
such event no further inquiry, report on, or consideration of
his candidacy shall be made."
SECTION 2. Section 6, Part IV of Act 610 of 1990 is designated as
Section 2-19-70 of the 1976 Code and amended to read:
"Section 2-19-70. No candidate for judicial office may seek
directly or indirectly the pledge of a member of the General
Assembly's vote until the qualifications of all candidates for that
office have been determined by the judicial screening committee, nor
may a member offer the pledge until the qualifications of all
candidates for that office have been determined by the judicial
screening committee. For purposes of this section, indirectly
seeking a pledge means the candidate or someone acting on behalf of
and at the request of the candidate requesting a person, before
screening, to contact a member of the General Assembly on behalf of
the candidate. The prohibitions of this section do not extend to an
announcement of candidacy by the candidate and statements by the
candidate detailing the candidate's qualifications.
Violations of this section may be considered by the screening
committee when it considers the candidate's qualifications."
SECTION 3. Section 58-3-23 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 58-3-23. (A) The Merit Selection Panel shall
nominate candidates for election to the South Carolina Public Service
Commission in the manner provided in this section. When a vacancy
occurs on the Public Service Commission after July 1, 1979,
by reason of expiration of a term or otherwise, or when the number
of members of the Public Service Commission is to be increased or
decreased, the Merit Selection Panel shall submit to the General
Assembly while in regular or special session the names of two persons
qualified, legally and otherwise, as candidates to fill the
vacancy. and in In selecting persons for
nomination to the Public Service Commission, the Merit Selection
Panel must they shall endeavor to select the most qualified
persons for each vacancy. However, the panel, by a vote of seventy-five percent of its total membership, may submit only one name, three
names, or four names for a vacancy. Each name submitted
must receive eight votes from the panel before submission to the
General Assembly. Nominations by the Merit Panel must
be submitted to the General Assembly not less than ninety days
before the expiration of the term of a member of the commission
elected under the provisions of this chapter except where the Joint
Legislative Screening Committee grants additional time to the panel
to consider or reconsider such nominations. Upon selecting
persons for nomination Nominations to the commission
their names must be made public and submitted to the Joint
Legislative Screening Committee for its acceptance or rejection.
General Assembly for election or nonelection. If the General
Assembly is not in regular or special session when such vacancy
occurs, the Merit Selection Panel shall submit the names in the same
manner as provided in this section to the General Assembly at the
beginning of its next regular or special session. The General
Assembly shall elect one of the candidates to fill the vacancy on the
Public Service Commission. However, nothing prevents the General
Assembly or the Joint Legislative Screening Committee from
rejecting any or all of the candidates nominated. If
the General Assembly rejects the persons first nominated
are rejected, the Merit Selection Panel shall submit in the
same manner as provided in this section the names of other persons
qualified as candidates. Further nominations shall continue to be made
until the vacancy is filled. Nothing may be considered to exclude
incumbent members of the commission from being eligible for re-election to the commission and the Merit Selection Panel when
submitting the names of persons qualified as candidates for election to
the commission may include names of incumbent members.
(B) Persons nominated as provided herein to fill vacancies on the
Public Service Commission shall be screened and reviewed by the
Joint Legislative Screening Committee pursuant to Chapter 19 of Title
2 of the 1976 Code to determine if they are legally and otherwise
qualified for service on the Public Service Commission.
(C) No person shall be eligible for election to the commission
unless he is nominated by the Merit Selection Panel. The panel shall
be an independent agency and shall not, except as otherwise
provided by this article, confer with or consider suggestions or
requests from the Governor or any member of the General
Assembly."
SECTION 4. Section 58-3-24 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 58-3-24. No member of the South Carolina Public
Service Merit Selection Panel and no member of his immediate family
to include his spouse, children, brothers, sisters, parents, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews
shall be elected to the Public Service Commission while such person
is serving on the Merit Selection Panel, nor shall such person
or members of his family as stipulated above be elected to the Public
Service Commission for a period of four years after such person
ceases to be a member of the Merit Selection Panel. Additionally,
after January 1, 1981, no No member of the General
Assembly shall be elected to the Public Service Commission while
such person is serving in the General Assembly nor shall such person
be elected to the Public Service Commission for a period of four years
after he ceases to be a member of the General Assembly."
SECTION 5. Section 58-3-25 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 58-3-25. The Merit Selection Panel and the Joint
Legislative Screening Committee shall utilize such application form as
may be adopted by the Joint Legislative Screening Committee.
In selecting such persons for nomination to the Public Service
Commission, the panel Merit Selection Panel
shall seek to establish a commission which shall be broadly
representative of the people of the State, men and women of ability
and dedication with compassion and common sense. In selecting
persons for nomination to the Public Service Commission, the
merit selection panel Merit Selection Panel shall
consider the knowledge and experience of the potential appointees in
such varied fields as business, regulated utilities, government,
accounting, law, engineering, statistics, consumer affairs,
environmental affairs, and finance. In making its
recommendation, the Merit Selection Panel shall seek to find
the best qualified people giving due consideration to their ability and
integrity."
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