South Carolina General Assembly
111th Session, 1995-1996

Bill 1308


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                       1308
Type of Legislation:               General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                  Senate
Introduced Date:                   19960328
Primary Sponsor:                   Judiciary Committee SJ 11
All Sponsors:                      Judiciary Committee
Drafted Document Number:           jud6076.11
Residing Body:                     Senate
Subject:                           Magistrate, family court judge;
                                   terms limited



History


Body    Date      Action Description                       Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  _______________________________________  _______ ____________

Senate  19960328  Introduced, read first time,
                  placed on Calendar without reference

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

INTRODUCED

March 28, 1996

S. 1308

Introduced by Judiciary Committee

S. Printed 3/28/96--S.

Read the first time March 28, 1996.

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-1370, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE QUALIFICATIONS OF FAMILY COURT JUDGES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NO FAMILY COURT JUDGE MAY SERVE MORE THAN TWO COMPLETE TERMS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 22-1-10, RELATING TO APPOINTMENT AND TERMS OF MAGISTRATES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT NO MAGISTRATE MAY SERVE MORE THAN THREE COMPLETE TERMS.

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

SECTION 1. Subsections C., D., and E. of Section 20-7-1370 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"C. No family court judge may serve more than two complete terms. Upon the effective date of this section, a person who is in the last year of a second term as a member of the family court is not eligible for a seat on the family court. No family court judge is required to vacate his seat during any term for which he was elected.

D. The terms of all family court judges expire on the thirtieth day of June of the year in which their terms are scheduled to expire.

D. E. For the purpose of electing family court judges, if more than one judge is to be elected from a circuit, each judgeship in that circuit shall be serially numbered beginning with the number (1) and the General Assembly shall elect a judge for each such judgeship. Any candidate for the office of family court judge in a circuit shall specifically file and run for a serially-numbered judgeship in that circuit.

E. F. When a vacancy occurs for an unexpired term in an office of family court judge, the Governor, upon recommendation of the Chief Justice, shall commission a temporary family court judge to fill such the vacancy until such time as the General Assembly shall elect a successor who shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. Such The temporary family court judge shall receive as compensation for his services the salary paid to a regular family court judge and in addition thereto shall also receive the subsistence and mileage as authorized by law for family court judges."

SECTION 2. Section 22-1-10(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A) The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may appoint magistrates in each county of the State for a term of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualified. No magistrate may serve more than three complete terms. Upon the effective date of this section, a person who is in the last year of a third term as a magistrate is not eligible to be appointed as a magistrate. No magistrate is required to vacate his seat during any term for which he was appointed.

Magistrates serving the counties of Abbeville, Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Colleton, Dillon, Edgefield, Florence, Greenville, Hampton, Jasper, Lancaster, Lee, Marion, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, Saluda, Sumter, and Williamsburg shall serve terms of four years commencing May 1, 1990. Magistrates serving the counties of Aiken, Anderson, Barnwell, Berkeley, Charleston, Chester, Darlington, Dorchester, Fairfield, Georgetown, Greenwood, Horry, Kershaw, Laurens, Lexington, Marlboro, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Spartanburg, Union, and York shall serve terms of four years commencing May 1, 1991.

At least ninety days before the date of the commencement of the terms provided in the preceding paragraph and every four years thereafter, each county governing body must inform, in writing, the senators representing that county of the number of full-time and part-time magistrate positions available in the county, the number of work hours required by each position, the compensation for each position, and the area of the county to which each position is assigned. If the county governing body fails to inform, in writing, the senators representing that county of the information as required in this section, then the compensation, hours, and location of the full-time and part-time magistrate positions available in the county remain as designated for the previous four years.

Each magistrate's number of work hours, compensation, and work location must remain the same throughout the term of office, except for a change (1) specifically allowed by statute or (2) authorized by the county governing body at least four years after the magistrate's most recent appointment and after a material change in conditions has occurred which warrants the change. Nothing provided in this section prohibits the raising of compensation or hours and compensation during a term of office. No magistrate may be paid for work not performed except for bona fide illness or as otherwise provided by law.

The number of magistrates to be appointed for each county and their territorial jurisdiction are as prescribed by law before March 2, 1897, for trial justices in the respective counties of the State, except as otherwise provided in this section."

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon ratification of the amendments to Sections 7, 9, and 20 of Article III of the Constitution of this State; Sections 3, 8, and 13 of Article V of the Constitution of this State; and Sections 1 and 7 of Article VI of the Constitution of this State, and to the addition of appropriate provisions to Article III of the Constitution of this State, relating to the creation of a joint budget committee, and appropriate provisions to Article XVII of the Constitution of this State, relating to the enactment of statutory laws by initiative petition.

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