S 0202 {Rat #251, Act #223 of 2022} General Bill, By Hembree and Bennett
 AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION
 1-6-35 SO AS TO PROVIDE UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL
 MAY INVESTIGATE CERTAIN SCHOOLS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 1-6-10, RELATING TO
 DEFINITIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL, SO AS TO DEFINE
 NECESSARY TERMS. - ratified title

   12/09/20  Senate Prefiled
   12/09/20  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
   01/12/21  Senate Introduced and read first time
                     (Senate Journal-page 215)
   01/12/21  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
                     (Senate Journal-page 215)
   02/25/21  Senate Recalled from Committee on Judiciary
                     (Senate Journal-page 3)
   02/25/21  Senate Recommitted to Committee on Education
                     (Senate Journal-page 3)
   03/11/21  Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Education (Senate Journal-page 9)
   03/12/21         Scrivener's error corrected
   03/25/21  Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 12)
   03/31/22  Senate Amended (Senate Journal-page 8)
   03/31/22         Scrivener's error corrected
   04/04/22         Scrivener's error corrected
   04/05/22  Senate Amended (Senate Journal-page 13)
   04/05/22  Senate Read third time and sent to House
                     (Senate Journal-page 13)
   04/05/22  Senate Roll call Ayes-40  Nays-1 (Senate Journal-page 13)
   04/06/22  House  Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 15)
   04/06/22  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary
                     (House Journal-page 15)
   05/03/22  House  Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Judiciary (House Journal-page 79)
   05/05/22  House  Debate adjourned (House Journal-page 92)
   05/10/22  House  Amended (House Journal-page 182)
   05/10/22  House  Requests for debate-Rep(s).  Govan, JL Johnson,
                     McDaniel, Ott, Henegan, Thigpen, Rivers,
                     Robinson, Jefferson (House Journal-page 182)
   05/11/22  House  Amended (House Journal-page 102)
   05/11/22  House  Read second time (House Journal-page 102)
   05/11/22  House  Roll call Yeas-114  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 103)
   05/12/22  House  Read third time and returned to Senate with
                     amendments (House Journal-page 109)
   05/12/22  Senate Non-concurrence in House amendment
                     (Senate Journal-page 45)
   05/12/22  House  House insists upon amendment and conference
                     committee appointed Reps.  Bernstein, Caskey,
                     Collins (House Journal-page 191)
   05/12/22  Senate Conference committee appointed  Hembree, Young, 
                     Hutto (Senate Journal-page 47)
   06/10/22         Scrivener's error corrected
   06/15/22  House  Conference report received and adopted
                     (House Journal-page 76)
   06/15/22  House  Roll call Yeas-105  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 78)
   06/15/22  Senate Conference report received and adopted
                     (Senate Journal-page 82)
   06/15/22  Senate Roll call Ayes-39  Nays-2 (Senate Journal-page 82)
   06/15/22  Senate Ordered enrolled for ratification
                     (Senate Journal-page 85)
   06/16/22         Ratified R  251
   06/17/22         Signed By Governor
   06/28/22         Effective date  06/17/22
   06/28/22         Act No.  223

(A223, R251, S202)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 1-6-35 SO AS TO PROVIDE UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL MAY INVESTIGATE CERTAIN SCHOOLS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 1-6-10, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL, SO AS TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS.

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

Interscholastic sports competition investigation

SECTION    1.    Chapter 6, Title 1 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 1-6-35.    (A)    The State Inspector General may only initiate, supervise, and coordinate an investigation of a public school, public school district, public charter school, public charter school authorizer, or voluntary association that establishes and enforces bylaws or rules for interscholastic sports competition for public secondary schools in the State upon the request of:

(1)    the Governor;

(2)    the State Superintendent of Education; or

(3)    the majority of the membership of the legislative delegation of the county in which the subject of the investigation is located, as determined by a weighted vote of that delegation.

(B)    A request to investigate pursuant to this section must be transmitted in writing to the Office of the State Inspector General. The request for the investigation must articulate the basis of any alleged wrongdoing.

(C)    Any report generating recommendations from the Inspector General regarding investigations conducted pursuant to this section must be transmitted to the State Superintendent of Education, the appropriate legislative delegation, and the chairman of the local board of trustees or the chairman of the charter school authorizer.

(D)    By December thirty-first of each year, the Inspector General shall report to the General Assembly the number of requests for investigations that the office has received, the number of investigations requested by each individual or entity making the request, and the status of those requests.

(E)    Any information relating to the investigation initiated by the Inspector General shall remain confidential for a period not to exceed ten days after the report is finalized and published."

Definition

SECTION    2.    Section 1-6-10(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(1)    'Agency' means an authority, board, branch, commission, committee, department, division, or other instrumentality of the executive department of state government, including administrative bodies and bodies corporate and politic established as an instrumentality of the State. For the purpose of this chapter, 'Agency' also includes public schools, public school districts, public charter schools, public charter school authorizers, and any voluntary association that establishes and enforces bylaws or rules for interscholastic sports competition for public secondary schools in the State. 'Agency' does not include:

(a)    the judicial department of state government;

(b)    quasi-judicial bodies of state government;

(c)    the legislative department of state government; or

(d)    political subdivisions, unless otherwise provided herein."

Time effective

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 16th day of June, 2022.

Approved the 17th day of June, 2022.