S 253 Session 110 (1993-1994)
S 0253 General Bill, By Giese, Bryan, M.T. Rose, Ryberg and Wilson
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 29
to Title 8 so as to provide for recalling and removing from office persons
holding public offices of the state or its political subdivisions in the
executive and legislative branches of state or local government.
01/20/93 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-13
01/20/93 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-13
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
BY ADDING CHAPTER 29 TO TITLE 8 SO AS TO PROVIDE
FOR RECALLING AND REMOVING FROM OFFICE PERSONS
HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICES OF THE STATE OR ITS POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS IN THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE
BRANCHES OF STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding to Title 8:
"CHAPTER 29
Recall of Public Officials
Section 8-29-10. As used in this chapter:
(1) `Public office' means a position of duty, trust, or authority
in the executive or legislative branches of government created by the
Constitution, the General Assembly, or a political subdivision through
authority conferred by the Constitution or the General Assembly that
is filled by a vote of qualified electors for a definite term of office
fixed by law.
(2) `Political subdivision' means a local government unit,
including, but not limited to, a county, municipal corporation, school
district, or special purpose district.
(3) `State-district' means a House of Representatives or
senatorial district or a judicial circuit.
Section 8-29-20. Persons holding public office in the executive or
legislative branches of state or local government may be recalled by
the people as provided in this chapter.
Section 8-29-30. (A) (1) Every person holding a public office of
the State or any of its political subdivisions in the executive or
legislative branches of state or local government filled by a vote of
qualified electors is subject to recall from the office.
(2) A public officer holding an elective office may be recalled by
the qualified electors entitled to vote for his successor.
(3) Physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of
his oath of office, official misconduct, or conviction of a felony
offense enumerated in the current statutory laws of South Carolina is
the only basis for recall. No person may be recalled for performing
a mandatory duty of the office he holds or for not performing any act
that, if performed, would subject him to prosecution for official
misconduct.
Section 8-29-40. The recall is cumulative and additional to, rather
than a substitute for, other methods for removal of public officers.
Section 8-29-50. (A) Every person who is a qualified elector of
this State may sign a petition for recall of a state officer.
(B) Every person who is a qualified elector of a district of the
State from which a state-district officer is elected may sign a petition
for recall of a state-district officer of that district.
(C) Every person who is a qualified elector of a political
subdivision of this State may sign a petition for recall of an officer of
that political subdivision. However, if a political subdivision is
divided into election districts, a person must be a qualified elector in
the election district, to be eligible to sign a petition to recall an officer
elected from that election district and the signature requirements of
Section 8-29-70 apply only to persons registered in the appropriate
election district.
Section 8-29-60. (A) A recall petition may not name more than
one officer to be recalled.
(B) No recall petition against an officer may be approved for
circulation, as required in Section 8-29-100(C), until he has held office
for three months.
(C) No recall petition may be filed against an officer for whom a
recall election has been held for two years during his term of office
unless the State or political subdivision financing the recall election is
reimbursed first for all expenses of the preceding recall election.
Section 8-29-70. Recall petitions for state officers must contain the
signatures of qualified electors equaling at least fifteen percent of the
number of persons registered to vote at the preceding state general
election. A petition for the recall of a state-district officer must
contain the signatures of qualified electors equaling at least twenty-five percent of the number of persons registered to vote in the last
preceding election in that district. Recall petitions for county officers
must contain the signatures of qualified electors equaling at least
twenty-five percent of the number of persons registered to vote at the
preceding county general election. Recall petitions for elected or
appointed officers of municipalities, special purpose districts, or school
districts must contain the signatures of qualified electors equaling at
least twenty-five percent of the number of persons registered to vote
at the preceding election for offices of the municipality, special
purpose district, or school district.
Section 8-29-80. (A) Recall petitions must be filed with the official
who is provided by law to accept the declaration of nomination or
petition for nomination for the office.
(B) If the appropriate filing official refuses to accept and file any
petition for recall with the proper number of signatures of qualified
electors, an elector within ten days after the refusal may apply to the
circuit court for a writ of mandamus. If it is determined that the
petition is sufficient, the circuit court shall order the petition to be
filed with a certified copy of the writ attached as of the date when
originally it was offered for filing. On a showing that a filed petition
is not sufficient, the court may enjoin certification, printing, or recall
election.
(C) All suits or appeals therefrom must be advanced on the court
docket and heard and decided by the court as expeditiously as
possible.
(D) Any aggrieved party may file an appeal within ten days after
any adverse order or decision as provided by law.
Section 8-29-90. (A) The form of the recall petition must be
substantially as follows:
`RECALL PETITION
To the Honorable , (name and office of filing
officer): We, the undersigned qualified electors of the State of South
Carolina (or name of appropriate state-district or political subdivision
and appropriate election district) respectfully petition that an election
be held as provided by law on the question of whether
, holding the office of ,
should be recalled for the following reasons: (Setting out a general
statement of the reasons for recall in not more than two hundred
words). By his signature each signer certifies: "I have
personally signed this petition; I am a qualified elector of the State of
South Carolina (name of appropriate political subdivision and
appropriate election district); and my residence and post office address
are written correctly after my name to the best of my knowledge and
belief".'
(B) Numbered lines must follow the above heading. Each
numbered line must contain spaces for the signature, post office
address, and printed last name of the signer. Each separate sheet of
the petition must contain the heading and reasons for the proposed
recall as prescribed above.
Section 8-29-100. (A) The signatures on each petition must be
placed on sheets of paper known as circulation sheets. Each circulation
sheet must be substantially 8 1/2 x 14 inches or a continuous sheet
may be folded so as to meet this size limitation. The circulation
sheets must be ruled with a horizontal line 1 1/2 inches from the top.
The space above the line must remain blank and must be for the
purpose of binding.
(B) The petition, for purposes of circulation, may be divided into
sections, each section to contain not more than twenty-five circulation
sheets.
(C) Before a petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample
circulation sheet must be submitted to the officer with whom the
petition must be filed in the form in which it must be circulated. The
filing officer shall review the petition for sufficiency as to form and
approve or reject the form of the petition, stating his reasons, within
one week of receiving the sheet.
(D) The petition form submitted must be accompanied by a written
statement containing the reasons for the desired recall as stated on the
petition. The truth of purported facts contained in the statement must
be sworn to by at least one of the petitioners before a person
authorized to administer oaths.
(E) The filing officer shall number serially all approved petitions
continuously from year to year.
Section 8-29-110. (A) Signed circulation sheets or sections of a
petition for recall must be submitted to the officer responsible for
registration of electors in the county in which the signatures were
obtained within three months of the date the form of the petition was
approved under Section 8-29-100.
(B) An affidavit, in substantially the following form, must be
attached to each circulation sheet or section submitted to the county
officer:
` (Name of person circulating petition),
being first sworn, deposes and says: "I circulated or assisted in
circulating the petition to which this affidavit is attached, and I believe
the signatures thereon are genuine, are the signatures of the persons
whose names they purport to be, and that the signers knew the
contents of the petition before signing it."
(Signature)
Subscribed and sworn before me this day of
, 19
(Person authorized to take oaths)
(Title or notarial information) Seal'.
Section 8-29-120. (A) The county election commission in each
county in which a petition is signed shall verify and compare the
signatures of each person who has signed the petition to assure that he
is an elector in that county and, if satisfied the signatures are genuine,
certify that fact to the officer with whom the recall petition is to be
filed, in substantially the following form:
`To the Honorable , (name and title of filing
officer):
I, , (title) of County
certify that I have compared the signatures on sheets
(specifying number of sheets) of the petition for recall No.
attached, in the manner prescribed by law, and I believe
(number) signatures are valid for the purpose of the petition. I
further certify that the affidavit of the circulator of the (sheet; section)
of the petition is attached and that the post office address is completed
for each valid signature.
Signed (Date) (Signature)
Seal (Title)'.
(B) The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it,
and the officer receiving the recall petition may consider and count
only the signatures certified. However, the officer with whom the
recall petition is filed shall consider and count any remaining
signatures of the registered voters which prove to be genuine, and
those signatures must be considered and counted if they are attested
to in the manner and form as provided contested ballots in general
elections.
(C) The county election commission may not retain any portion of
a petition for more than thirty days following the receipt of that
portion. At the expiration of the thirty-day period, the commission
clerk shall certify the valid signatures on that portion of the petition
and deliver it to the person with whom the petition is required to be
filed.
Section 8-29-130. Upon filing the petition or a portion of the
petition containing the number of valid signatures required under
Section 8-29-60, the official with whom it is filed immediately shall
give written notice to the officer named in the petition. The notice
must state that a recall petition has been filed, set forth the reasons
contained in it, and notify the officer named in the recall petition that
he has the right to prepare and have printed on the ballot a statement
containing not more than two hundred words giving reasons why he
should not be recalled. No statement of justification may be printed
on the ballot unless it is delivered to the filing official within ten days
of the date notice is given.
Section 8-29-140. (A) If the officer named in the petition for
recall submits his resignation in writing, it must be accepted and
becomes effective the day it is offered. The vacancy created by the
resignation must be filled as provided by law, provided that the officer
named in the petition for recall may not be appointed to fill the
vacancy. If the officer named in the petition for recall refuses to
resign or does not resign within five days after the petition is filed, a
special election must be called unless the filing is within ninety days
of a general election, in which case the question must be placed on a
separate ballot at the same time as the general election.
(B) The call of a special election must be made by the Governor
in the case of a state or state-district officer or by the board or officer
empowered by law to call special elections for a political subdivision
in the case of any officer of a political subdivision of the State.
Section 8-29-150. The notice of a recall election must be
in substantially the following form:
`NOTICE OF RECALL ELECTION
Notice is hereby given pursuant to law that a recall election will be
held on (Date) for the purpose of voting upon the
recall of who holds the office of
DATED at , (Date)'.
Section 8-29-160. A special election for recall must be conducted
and the results canvassed and certified in the same manner that the law
in effect at the time of the election for recall requires for an election
to fill the office that is the subject of the recall petition, except as
otherwise provided in this section. The powers and duties conferred
or imposed by law upon election commissioners, registration officers,
canvassing boards, and other public officials who conduct general
elections are conferred and imposed upon similar officers conducting
recall elections under the provisions of this section together with the
penalties prescribed for breach.
Section 8-29-170. (A) The ballot at a recall election shall set forth
the statement contained in the recall petition stating the reasons for
demanding the recall of the officer and the officer's statement of
reasons why he should not be recalled. The question of whether the
officer should be recalled must be placed on the ballot in a form
similar to the following:
/ / FOR recalling who holds
the office of
/ / AGAINST recalling who holds
the office of
(B) The form of the ballot must be approved as provided in the
election laws of this State.
Section 8-29-180. Expenses of a recall election must be paid in the
same manner as the expenses for any other election. The expenditure
of the funds constitutes an emergency expenditure of funds, and the
political subdivision affected may fund the costs of a recall election
through emergency funding procedures. If a recall election is held for
a state or state-district officer, the General Assembly shall appropriate
funds to reimburse the counties involved for costs incurred in
conducting the election.
Section 8-29-190. The officer named in the recall petition
continues in office until he resigns or the results of the recall election
officially are declared. If a majority of those voting on the question
vote to remove the officer, the office becomes vacant and the vacancy
must be filled as provided by law, provided that the officer recalled
may not be appointed to fill the vacancy."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect when the Constitution is
amended to authorize the provisions of this act.
-----XX----- |