S 205 Session 111 (1995-1996)
S 0205 Joint Resolution, By Wilson and M.T. Rose
Similar(S 191, H 3248)
A JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE XV OF THE CONSTITUTION OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1895, RELATING TO IMPEACHMENT OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE AND
JUDICIAL OFFICERS OF THIS STATE, BY ADDING SECTION 4 SO AS TO PROVIDE
PROCEDURES FOR RECALLING AND REMOVING FROM PUBLIC OFFICE PERSONS HOLDING
PUBLIC OFFICES OF THE STATE OR ITS POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS IN THE EXECUTIVE AND
LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES OF STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
10/17/94 Senate Prefiled
10/17/94 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
01/10/95 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-71
01/10/95 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-71
A JOINT RESOLUTION
PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE XV OF THE
CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1895, RELATING TO
IMPEACHMENT OF CERTAIN EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL
OFFICERS OF THIS STATE, BY ADDING SECTION 4 SO AS
TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES FOR RECALLING AND
REMOVING FROM PUBLIC OFFICE PERSONS HOLDING
PUBLIC OFFICES OF THE STATE OR ITS POLITICAL
SUBDIVISIONS IN THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE
BRANCHES OF STATE OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. It is proposed that Article XV of the Constitution
of this State be amended by adding at the end:
"Section 4. Persons holding public office in the executive
or legislative branch of state or local governments may be recalled
by the people as follows:
(1) As used in this section:
(a) `Public office' means a position of duty, trust, or
authority in the executive or legislative branch 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.
(b) `Political subdivision' means a local government unit,
including, but not limited to, a county, municipal corporation,
school district, or special purpose district.
(c) `State-district' means a house of representatives or
senatorial district, or a judicial circuit.
(2)(a) Every person holding a public office of the State or any
of its political subdivisions in the executive or legislative branch of
state or local government, filled by a vote of qualified electors is
subject to recall from the office.
(b) A public officer holding an elective office may be
recalled by the qualified electors entitled to vote for his successor.
(c) 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 this
State 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 an act that, if performed, would subject him to
prosecution for official misconduct.
(3) The recall is cumulative and additional to, rather than a
substitute for, other methods for removal of public officers.
(4)(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 item (6) apply only to persons registered in the
appropriate election district.
(5)(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 paragraph (9)(c) of this
section, until the officer 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 a period of two years
during his term of office unless the State or political subdivision
financing the recall election is first reimbursed for all expenses of
the preceding recall election.
(6) 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 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.
(7)(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 a petition for recall with the proper number of signatures of
qualified electors, an elector may within ten days after the refusal
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 it was originally 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) An aggrieved party may file an appeal within ten
days after an adverse order or decision as provided by law.
(8)(a) The form of the recall petition is 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 and (name of appropriate
political subdivision and appropriate election district); and my
residence and post-office address are correctly written 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.
(9)(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 serially shall number all approved
petitions continuously from year to year.
(10)(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 item (9).
(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'.
(11)(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 as are 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.
(12) Upon filing the petition or a portion of the petition
containing the number of valid signatures required under item (5),
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, must set forth the reasons
contained in it, and must 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.
(13)(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 an officer of a political
subdivision of the State.
(14) 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)'.
(15) 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.
(16)(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.
(17) 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.
(18) The officer named in the recall petition continues in
office until he resigns or the results of the recall election are
officially 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. The proposed amendment must be submitted to the
qualified electors at the next general election for representatives.
Ballots must be provided at the various voting precincts with the
following words printed or written thereon: "Shall Article
XV of the Constitution of this State be amended to add Section 4 so
as to provide that a person holding a public office of the State or
any of its political subdivisions who is elected by a vote of the
qualified electors for a definite term fixed by law must be recalled
and removed from office if at least fifteen percent of the qualified
electors of this State, in the case of a state-elected officer, or at
least twenty-five percent of the qualified electors of a state-district
office in the case of a state-district officer, or twenty-five percent of
the qualified electors of a county, municipal corporation, school
district, or special purpose district or twenty-five percent of an
election district thereof in the case of single member districts in the
case of an officer of any of those entities, by petition request a
special election to determine whether or not the qualified electors of
the State or political subdivision desire to recall and remove the
official and if a majority of those persons voting in the special
election vote in favor of recalling and removing the official?
Yes []
No []
Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a
check or cross mark in the square after the word `Yes' and those
voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or
cross mark in the square after the word `No'."
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