S 504 Session 111 (1995-1996)
S 0504 General Bill, By Giese
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 31
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.
02/14/95 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-7
02/14/95 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-7
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 31 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 31
Recall of Public Officials
Section 8-31-10. (A) 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:
(B) 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 8-31-20. (A) 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.
(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 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 8-13-30. The recall is cumulative and additional to,
rather than a substitute for, other methods for removal of public
officers.
Section 8-13-40. (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 8-31-60 apply only to persons registered in
the appropriate election district.
Section 8-31-50. (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 8-31-90(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 8-31-60. (A) 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 8-31-70. (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 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 8-31-80 (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 8-31-90. (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 8-31-100. (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 8-31-90.
(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 8-31-110. (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 Number 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 8-31-120. Upon filing the petition or a portion of the
petition containing the number of valid signatures required under
Section 8-31-50, 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 8-31-130. (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 8-31-140 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 8-31-150. 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 chapter. 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 chapter together with the penalties prescribed for
breach.
Section 8-31-160. (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 8-31-170. 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 8-31-180. 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.
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